11 Housewarming Gifts for the Dedicated Gamer

Since we brought you The Retro Fun and Games House, I've found a lot more products that will make serious gamers feel right at home in their own homes. Some are for sale; others are handcrafted, so you may have to plan ahead for a special occasion.

1. Space Invaders Bath Towels

These Space Invaders bath towels come in two colors and three designs to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the game (which was last year). Don't worry about whether it will match your bathroom's decor; the colors are black and white. The same outlet also has a Space Invaders Pillow.

2. Gamer Soap

DigitalSoaps makes bars of soap in the shape of game controllers! Xbox, NES, and PlayStation contoller-shaped soaps are available, as well as soaps shaped like cell phones, calculators, and Space Invaders. They even have Mountain Dew shampoo for the diehard geek.

3. Iceblox

Iceblox is an ice cube tray that gives you ice in the shape of game pieces we all know and love. You can amplify the effect of serving drinks by using Koolade to make your ice in bright colors. Designed by Martin Zampach. If you prefer, another ice tray called Ice Invaders gives you the shape of yet more familiar game icons.

4. PacMan Oven Mitt

Every kitchen needs oven mitts and pot holders. Only a special kitchen has one shaped like Pac-Man!

5. Mario Table

This Mario tabletop is a one-of-a-kind, so you can't go buy one, but you could make your own. Aaron used ceramic tiles to cover a stained table with an 8-bit Mario design.

6. Tic Tac Toast

No need to stop playing games just because you're eating breakfast! Just $3.99 will get you a stamp that puts a tic-tac-toe grid on your toast. It can also be used on your lunch sandwich.

7. Rubik's Cube Salt and Pepper Mills

These Rubik's cube salt and pepper mills are the exact size of a playable Rubik's cube, except that only one row rotates, and that row will grind salt or pepper. One cube of the set comes with a white turning row, the other with a red turning row. If that's too hard to keep straight, remember the pepper mill is the one that pepper comes out of. Add a real Rubik's cube to your table setting to further confuse your guests.

8. Rubik's Cube Clock

Like the salt and pepper mills, you can only turn the top row on this Rubik's cube clock. When you do, the display shifts from time to date to alarm, and even temperature! Also like the salt and pepper mills, it is the same size as a standard Rubik's cube.

9. Red Ring of Death Coasters

With Red Ring of Death coasters, your gamer friends familiar with the Xbox 360 warning will laugh, while your other guests will think they are just nice coasters. I believe these were handmade, though I can see how a manufacturer could be inspired.

10. Mario Quilt

This Mario quilt was handcrafted by Brian's wife out of two-inch squares (or pixels, if you will) in 16 colors. See more pictures here. See more gamer quilts in a previous post.

11. Crocheted Nintendo Blanket

Craftster member NerdyCrochetGal made this awesome Nintendo blanket out of crocheted squares featuring various Nintendo game icons. Even the border between the pictures is made of Tetris blocks!

See also: 8 Awesome Video Game Quilts and The Retro Fun and Games House.