Our Favorite Gifts for Grandpa This Year: Puzzles and Games

The best gift for a grandpa who has everything is one that gets the family around the table with him: a cribbage board he will reach for every week, a game the grandkids keep asking to play, or a puzzle with his name engraved on it. We make wooden games and puzzles at Creative Crafthouse, our family workshop in Hudson, Florida, and these are the eight we would wrap for a grandpa this year, sorted by the kind of grandpa he is.

Creative Crafthouse has made wooden puzzles and games since 2003. Six of the eight picks below are made in our Hudson workshop (each card says which), every one can be laser-engraved, and every order ships from our Florida shop.

Updated October 2026

What to get a grandpa who says he doesn't need anything

He probably means it, since most grandpas already have the mugs and the shirts, and one more just goes in a drawer. What still lands is something that gives him a reason to sit down with the people he loves, or something with his name on it that nobody else has.

That is why most of this list is games. A cribbage board or a dice game comes out every time the family visits, and each one can be engraved with his name, a year or a note from the grandkids before it ships. If you know what he already enjoys (cards, a good argument over a board game, fiddling with something until it works), start with that section below.

Quick picks

For the card player

Best for the cribbage player

Tournament Cribbage Board

A regulation-size long board for tournament-style cribbage, 16.75 by 4.5 inches, with the playing track and counting holes laser-engraved into the top. You pick the top at checkout: maple, cherry or beetle kill pine, whose blue-grey streaks come from a blue-stain fungus the mountain pine beetle carries into the tree. It comes with six pegs and a rules sheet, and the pegs store in a felt-lined compartment underneath, so nothing gets lost between games. The engraving goes on the tab on the back of the board, up to 45 characters for $4 more. We make it in our Hudson, Florida workshop. Bring your own deck of cards.

Under $80

Best for poker night

Royal Flush Puzzle

I designed this one for card players. Nine maple pieces carry laser-engraved playing cards, and the job is to fit them into the frame so every row, every column and both long diagonals make a royal flush (ten, jack, queen, king and ace of one suit). Getting all twelve lines to work at once is the hard part. The puzzle is 6.3 inches square and made in our Hudson workshop.

Under $25

For the grandpa who wants a game with the grandkids

Best for game night with the grandkids

Penny Drop

My dad, Dave Janelle, invented Penny Drop in 2015, and it is the game we would put in front of a grandpa and a table full of grandkids. Everyone starts with 12 pennies. Roll the die: a 1 to 5 puts a penny in that slot if it is empty, a 6 drops one into the box, and if the slot is already full you take every penny on the board. After a safe roll you can stop or push your luck and roll again, and the first player out of pennies wins. Every edition plays by the same rules and differs only in size and wood, and our Penny Drop page lets you pick from seven of them in one place. Every edition is made in our Hudson workshop and can be engraved. Pennies are not included (most grandpas have a jar of them somewhere).

Under $15 to under $55

Every Penny Drop edition

• Penny Drop Mini: the smallest one, a solid wood box with an engraved top. Under $15.
• Penny Drop Travel: raintree box and lid with a wood penny on the lid, made to pack. Under $20.
• Penny Drop Medium: a raintree box with a maple top, 5.5 inches long, engraved on that maple top. Under $20.
• Penny Drop Artisan: travel size in rubberwood with a deeply engraved top. Under $25.
• The Original Penny Drop: a cherry sliding lid that doubles as the game board, 6 by 2.4 by 2.5 inches. Under $30.
• Penny Drop II: a deeply engraved maple top on a lift-off cover, 6 by 2.5 by 2.7 inches. Under $30.
• Penny Drop Giant: the biggest one, sized for standard poker chips (not included), with a cherry or maple top. Under $55.
• Authentic Penny Drop Gift Set: the Original and the Medium together, two games for two households or a bigger table. Under $55.

Best when the whole family is over

Chinese Checkers for 6 Players

When everybody comes for the holidays, this is the board that seats them: 2 to 6 players on a full-size wooden star 12.2 inches across. We chose wooden pegs over marbles on purpose, because pegs sit firmly in the holes, a bumped table does not scatter the game, and they are easier for small hands to pick up. When the game is over, the board folds in half, latches shut and holds every peg inside.

Under $45

Best dice game for all ages

Shut the Box 1-12

Roll two dice and flip down the numbered tiles that match. This 1 to 12 box gives you a choice on every roll: a 4 and a 5 can be 9, or 20 if you multiply. Younger grandkids can stick to adding, and the older ones figure out fast that multiplying flips more tiles. Fewest tiles left standing wins. It is all hardwood with the numbers burned into the wood, the dice are made from the same wood, and it comes in red, blue or green.

Under $40

If Penny Drop is new to your family, our official Penny Drop rules walk through a full game, and the rest of our games for a crowd are in Family Games. You can also print the one-page rules and a score sheet from our Penny Drop rules and score sheets page.

For the tinkerer

Best for the grandpa who takes things apart

Safecracker 50

Five wooden rings covered in engraved numbers. Turn them until all 16 columns add up to 50. There are more than a million ways to set the rings and only one of them is right. My dad designed it as the harder big brother of the Safecracker 40, and it is 5.75 inches across, a full inch thick, in maple and cherry. It ships unsolved with a solution sheet for when he wants it, and it is made in our Hudson workshop.

Under $35

Best stocking stuffer

10 Penny Puzzle

Ten pennies come with it, and all ten have to lie flat in the recess. Lay them in rows and the tenth will not fit, so the answer is a staggered pattern that is harder to see than it sounds. My dad turned that bit of circle-packing math into the puzzle. At 3.75 by 4 inches it fits in a stocking, and it is made in our Hudson workshop.

Under $15

For the grandpa who has everything: make it his

Best for the morning Sudoku

Sudoku Board

A wooden 9 by 9 Sudoku board with 81 number tiles, six preset puzzles, a solution sheet and a wood cover. He can work through the presets, or the grandkids can set up a puzzle for him and he can return the favor. With his name engraved on it, it is a board nobody else has. Made in our Hudson workshop.

Under $35

Every pick in this guide can be laser-engraved with up to 45 characters for $4 more. A name and a year fits, so does "Grandpa's Board, est. 2026" or a short line from the grandkids. On the cribbage board the engraving goes on the tab on the back, and on every Penny Drop edition it goes on the lid. You can also add our Wood Message Card, a 4 by 3 inch birch card engraved with your note, which ships in the box with the gift. More on how engraving works is on our personalization page.

Getting it there by Christmas

Order by Wednesday, December 16 to have it under the tree, or by Tuesday, December 15 for anything engraved, since those pieces are made after you order. Our holiday shipping cutoff page has every date, including Thanksgiving and Hanukkah.

Frequently asked questions

What do you get a grandpa who has everything?

Something personal or something you can do together, and ideally both. An engraved cribbage board, a Penny Drop game with the grandkids' names on the lid, or a Sudoku board with his name on it are all things he will not already own.

What is a good gift for grandpa from the grandkids?

A game they can play with him. Penny Drop takes a minute to learn and Shut the Box works for any kid who can add two dice. Engrave it with a line from the grandkids and tuck a Wood Message Card in the box with a note in their words.

Which of these can he play by himself?

The Royal Flush Puzzle, Safecracker 50, 10 Penny Puzzle and Sudoku Board are all one-person puzzles. The cribbage board, Penny Drop, Chinese Checkers and Shut the Box are games for two or more.

Can I have it engraved, and will it arrive by Christmas?

Yes. Every pick here can be laser-engraved, up to 45 characters, for $4 more. Order engraved pieces by Tuesday, December 15 and everything else by Wednesday, December 16 to have it under the tree. Every date is on our holiday shipping cutoff page.

Can I return it if it is not the right fit?

Items that are not personalized can come back within 30 days, and we cover return shipping. Personalized and custom items cannot be returned. If we make a mistake on your order, we'll replace or refund it at no cost.

For more ideas, browse our Card Games and Board Games collections, our Gifts for Dad picks, and our wooden puzzle gift guide. If grandpa is a serious puzzler, our gifts for puzzle lovers guide goes deeper. From our family to yours.