Gifts For Gamers 2023 — Packpizzle’s Emporium

Welcome to the table,

‘Tis the season for something special.

As someone who spends long hours in my office working away on one thing or another, I tend to need small things to bring me joy and change things up a bit. I got into wax melts for a while but it’s been so hard to find scents that really fill a room with something more than a kind of plastic-sweet or fake fruit aroma.

I was over on Bluesky and crossed paths with a creator by the name of Gates Councilor. Gates introduced me to his collection of candles at Packpizzle’s Emporium and was kind enough to send me a sampling to see if they would hit home for me.

After spending close to three weeks burning these beautiful candles in my office while writing, working on game design, and running my weekly TTRPG games, I can say with some certainty that Gates truly knows how to craft something memorable.

Currently available in two sizes, 3.5 oz packaged in a small copper-colored tin, or 8 oz in a large glass jar, these candles come with some seriously spectacular-looking label work and packaging. The labeling is carefully crafted to balance some small TTRPG illustration elements along with beautifully balanced typography work making them not only a feast for the nose but also the eyes.

I could easily see these being used in live-action role-play experiences as well as they resemble something one may find in a kindly gnomes candle shop or tucked onto the shelves of a small shop on a bustling street in some far-flung kingdom.

What was truly fun for me as I sat with them all was that the profiles of each candle aroma felt unique and evoked a different mood. The Bandit conjured the feeling of being in an old earth forest near a campfire under the cover of darkness, while The Far Walker produced a scent that was so strange and pleasant that I could not place it but ended up burning it for nearly 8 hours.

If you are looking for a gift for yourself, your players, or those you know who play TTRPGs, love fantasy books, or are into candles then you are going to want to check out Packpizzle’s Emporium this holiday season.

Until next time, candles can elevate the gaming experience and set a mood at the table. I have seen a lot of things that tout the ability to do that but these are spectacular and as someone who has been… burned, yeah I heard it the moment I typed it but I mean it, who has been burned in the past by other things these are really high quality.