Buying gifts for gamers can be a real challenge. They are constantly picking up the newest games, Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: the Gathering might as well be foreign languages. So the Castles & Cooks brain trust joined forces to come up with 25 fantastic holiday gifts in a variety of price points.

Chocolate Dice – $8
If you need a stocking stuffer for any tabletop player, get them a delicious treat in the shape of a set of dice. It’s cheap, adorable and delicious. Available in white, 6o% and dark chocolate.

Bag O Zombies – $10
This is a bag of 100 zombies for $10, how is that not awesome? Any self-respecting DM can find a reason to use these, but when don’t you need a bag of zombies? It doesn’t matter if you play ZOMBIES or not – and they come in regular zombie gray or glow-in-the-dark!

LEGO Gandalf Arrives – $13
Lord of the Rings holds a special place in almost every geek’s heart, but as a desktop decoration, they don’t get more perfect than this. Gandalf’s cart is adorable and full of fireworks and a LEGO Frodo may be the cutest thing in the world.

Hogwarts Acceptance Letter – $15
Even if it didn’t arrive on your 11th birthday, getting a personalized acceptance letter to Hogwarts will bring a smile to any wizard’s holiday. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: accessories, board game, cook, cookbook, cutting board, dice, doctor who, dungeons and dragons, game, game of thrones, gamers, gifts, harry potter, holiday, LEGO, lord of the rings, magic: the gathering, miniatures, mixologist, tardis, zombies

While not truly a capella, this piece is absolutely amazing – even if you aren’t into Game of Thrones (if you aren’t, you’re banished from Castles and Cooks). Lindsey returns again by being the most amazing violinist ever (and she must have like a +10 to cosplaying). Peter is new to me, but I am loving his work and I strongly advise you subscribe to his channel.

Tags: game of thrones, lindsey stirling, nerdy music video, peter hollens, violin

To say that we’re horribly jealous of the girls over at Inn at the Crossroads would be the biggest understatement. With their phenomenal book, A Feast of Ice and Fire, they’ve become the greatest culinary experts on Game of Thrones inspired cooking – surpassing even Tom Colicchio! But I’ve got to say, while I love their recipes (over 200 of them), sometimes you don’t want to eat – you want to drink.

Mulled wine is delicious but hardly in season year around, so Tom and I tasked ourselves with crafting a series of drinks inline with our other attempts to remind everyone that winter may be coming, but you should cool off while the summer still lasts. Unlike most of our drinks though, many of these manage to have non-alcoholic varieties as well. Just omit the alcohol. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: cocktails, drinks, game of thrones, mixologist, recipe

Sorry for starting the week off with this, because nothing will be better than this. Ever. Between Paul & Storm’s excellent harmonies, George R. R. Martin being referred to as a bearded glacier and Vork doing Vork things, I think I have to give Geek & Sundry all my thumbs up.

Tags: game of thrones, george r.r. martin, music, nerdy music video, paul & storm, vork

The lovely Harp Twins, Camille and Kennerly, have returned with another excellent arrangement played on electric harps – the Game of Thrones theme!

Tags: game of thrones, harp twins, nerdy music video

In Brief

The ever-increasing popularity of George R. R. Martin‘s A Song of Ice and Fire book series finds its home in the sturdy and functional Green Ronin RPG of the same name. It uses its own classless system and has a steady emphasis on noble houses and the sweep of history. Green Ronin is a solid company with a good reputation and it’s simple and elegant Song of Ice and Fire system is definitely something to try out, especially if you want to make a big event of Sunday’s Season 2 launch with your gaming group.

Genre: Heroic fantasy-realism.
System: d6-based original system.
Potential Library: Small (3 sourcebooks and 2 adventures).
Publisher: Green Ronin Publishing.

The lands of Westeros sit upon a brink. Robert Baratheon sits the Iron Throne, having taken it in a rebellion against the Mad King, Arys Targaryen. The seven kingdoms are hardly at peace, however, when the Ironmen of the western islands are still fuming over their recent rebellion, the Dornish in the south still smart over the death of their beloved princess in Robert’s rebellion, the Riverlands lords and the Westermen constantly squabble, and the North and the Eyrie remove themselves as much as possible from supporting the king. Everyone wants the Iron Throne and they will need to go through King Robert to do so. But in the Game of Thrones you either win or you die.

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Tags: A Song of Ice and Fire, Arena Review, game of thrones, Green Ronin, RPG

OK, so this game is really called the Game of Thrones Board Game, but ever since a friend (shout out to the Cherv!) coined the phrase “Game of Game of Thrones” it’s stuck more than the original. And yes, since I know you’re wondering, there is a Game of Game of Thrones Throne (or, alternatively the Throne of the Game of Game of Thrones). I got this wonderful baby for Christmas and I’ve been talking friends into playing it since I can’t get enough. With the second season of the Game of Thrones series on HBO starting on Sunday, I thought I owed it to our readers to get a review together so you can get excited in earnest. And a blogger always pays his debts.

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Tags: board game, game of thrones, review

I am very, very excited about the next season of Game of Thrones. Maybe excited enough to finally get around to reading the books. Either way, everyone needs to catch up – like by preordering season 1.

Tags: cold winds, game of thrones, game of thrones season 2, television

Excellent piano cover with decent enough lyrics, this isn’t half bad (also I figured I needed to take a break from plugging Meekakitty all the time).

Tags: game of thrones, heart of snow, music, music video, you win or you die