Donkey Kong
You know the type. They see those red overalls and that barrel careening through the screen and they feel something instant and warm that justifies liking video games to people who don’t “get it” better than any explanation ever could. Maybe they grew up with DK on the big screen, maybe their girlfriend dragged them along to the movies and they fell just as hard. No matter how they got there, they’re not a Nintendo fan, they’re a Donkey Kong fan. Doesn’t matter that it’s just one franchise out of many that the company has produced. They love DK so much and that won’t quit being true, so when you’re looking to get them something, let me help you give them something they’ll actually want. The reason we put together this article is because most gamer gifts are furniture anchor spikes and these folks deserve better. A mug shaped like a controller or some pixel art that easily passes for another game’s logo isn’t personalised enough for someone who spends their time worrying about whether Crazy Julius is going to jump or gun them. DK has its own identity; its own pixel filled history. It has a cast of characters that people who love this series can get excited about. Gifts that come from a place like that stick.
Including options that work for the DK fan who already has every obvious tidbit on the shelves, for the person who you know loves video games but can never find the right thing, and for anyone who wants to celebrate a birthday or Christmas- or not celebrate anything at all and just bang some DK merch on a shelf to impress their friends. Our list is small and we don’t have an absurd amount of repetitions either. If something made it on here, we all agreed it was good enough that we would buy it for ourselves and then gift it to someone else feeling confident in the knowledge that they would like it. Stuff that felt gimmicky or like it was only good because of the license bothered us, so it didn’t make the cut. Nintendo’s licensing empire is massive. There’s a lot of stuff out there and not everything is going to be worth your time and money. We did the digging so that you won’t have to. DK is everywhere. Baby onesies, socks, lunch boxes, hats. Heck, there’s a Fire Wings themed Donkey Kong out there just spray painted gold for all I know. The thing is, DK doesn’t get to shine on a lot of these because it’s sharing a bunch of Nintendo logo bumper stickers. Not here though. If you’re trying to find that special something for a DK fan I promise you, it’s here. Everything in this list celebrates Donkey Kong specifically. The right gift for a Donkey Kong fan doesn’t make them squeeze their favorite game onto a shelf with cardboard cutouts of every other Nintendo character they own. It lets DK take pride of place because that’s how they wanted it all along.