Fun-and-Games Gifts for Dads and Grads

Batman: Arkham City Escape

Price: $44.99

Board games are having a moment, and Cryptozoic Entertainment’s Batman: Arkham City Escape—based on the best-selling video game—allows grads to play as the World’s Greatest Detective or as some of the most lethal villains in Batman’s rogues gallery. Designed by Matt Hyra, this two-player game is deceptively simple: The villains make their escape from Arkham Asylum, and Batman must stop them. Cards offer up an assortment of Bat-gadgets, combat moves, and characters familiar to anyone who’s ever played the video games.

Fortune and Glory: The Cliffhanger Game

Price: $99.99

Dad may wish he had a weathered fedora or a trusty bullwhip to accompany Fortune and Glory: The Cliffhanger Game. Weighing in at over 9 pounds, Flying Frog Productions has outdone itself with this sprawling tribute to the world of pulp fiction and serial adventures of the 1930s. Players can work together or make it every man for himself as they brave unknown dangers and scour the globe fending off mobsters, cultists, and Nazis in search of rare treasure and priceless artifacts.

Discraft Deluxe Disc Golf Set

Price: $49.99

If golf is really just a good walk spoiled, gift your grad this cheaper, greener alternative instead. The popularity of disc golf is at an all-time high since it first appeared in the 1960s. Now the sport is played in about 40 countries and on more than 5000 officially recognized courses, according to the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA). As with most sports, a person needs some specialized equipment to get started. Discraft’s Deluxe set includes four of its most popular items, including two long-range drivers, one midrange disc, and a putter designed to stay in the basket.

GoPong CornHole PRO Regulation Size Bean Bag Toss Game Set

Price: $129.99

A common sight on college campuses, and at many outdoor sporting events, Cornhole’s popularity has exploded in recent years, and your backyard barbecues and family outings will never be the same with the addition of these American Cornhole Association (ACA) regulation-size game boards. Amazingly, GoPong’s PRO set folds up into a more compact travel size than its casual set—even though it’s a foot longer—and the lightweight aluminum frame, weatherproof play surface, and 1-pound, pellet-filled bean bags will last for years of fun.

The Last of Us Survival Edition PS3

Price: $79.99

The Last of Us is the latest release from award-winning video-game studio Naughty Dog. Twenty years after the outbreak of a Cordyceps-like parasite has left most of the world’s population either dead or infected, players assume the role of grizzled smuggler Joel, who must use his wits and limited ammo to survive and get 14-year-old Ellie to safety. Naughty Dog promises that a host of new features will make this survival horror unlike anything gamers have played before. The Survival Edition includes a hardcover art book, the “Sights & Sounds” downloadable content pack, and more.

Injustice: Gods Among Us Battle Edition Xbox 360/PS3

Price: $149.99

Sure, you could always build Dad an old-school arcade cabinet like the ones he used to play. Or you could just pony up for the Injustice: Gods Among Us Battle Edition, which includes a custom, tournament-worthy fighting stick courtesy of PDP. Made with Qanba-based components and with LEDs embedded within the individual buttons, this wired joystick really brings the arcade home. Injustice: Gods Among Us pits the heroes and villains of the DC Universe—including Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman—against one another for control of their world.

ChordBuddy Guitar Learning System

Price: $49.95

Finally, a gift that proves all those years spent playing Guitar Hero in the dorm room weren’t a waste of time. The ChordBuddy Guitar Learning System, as seen on ABC’s Shark Tank, uses the same color-coded system popularized by the hit video-game franchise and applies it to the four most common chords played on an actual guitar—C, D, G, and E-minor. Within an hour of installing ChordBuddy on any standard-size acoustic or electric guitar, your grad will be making music.

Incident gTar

Price: $399.00

These days, all it takes to create the seemingly impossible is a dream and a Kickstarter account. Idan Beck, founder of Incident Technologies, wanted to add his own spin to the way people learn and play music. The gTar looks and feels like an electric guitar—it even uses standard electric guitar strings. But the gTar is really a sophisticated MIDI/DSP controller with a built-in dock for your iPhone 4, 4S, 5, and even iPod Touch that can teach anyone to play guitar. The app works in conjunction with the multitouch LED fretboard, which shows you what to play when, and can also track how well you’re doing.

Carrom 521.00 Signature Foosball Table

Price: $659.00

Your recent grads may be heading out kicking and screaming into the real world, but at least let them take a piece of college home when they go. Foosball tables have long been part of the college experience, inhabiting common rooms, rec centers, and off-campus haunts. With a reinforced play area, double-bolted legs with adjustable feet, and triple-chrome-plated steels rods and rod bearings, Carrom’s Signature Foosball Table would make a great gift for a grad and a nice addition to any family game room.

Transformers PIN Pinball Machine

Price: $2699.99

For those of us who grew up with pinball—real pinball—the silver ball still holds a special place in our hearts. That includes many of us here at the Popular Mechanics offices. So when Stern Pinball, the last manufacturer of original pinball games in the world, announced it would release a table for the home, we were more than a little intrigued. For the PIN, Stern was able to cut the weight (and price tag) in half while keeping the look and feel of a full-size table.