Mario 8-Bit Playing Cards

Mario has a pretty good side gig as a deck of cards. These officially licensed Nintendo playing cards put Mario and friends into retro, dot-style artwork, with a standard-size deck of 52 cards plus two jokers. You still get hearts, spades, clubs and diamonds, so the Nintendo theme comes along for poker night without requiring everyone to learn a Mario-specific game. The pixels are the reason to choose this deck, not a new set of rules.

This makes sense as a small gift for the Nintendo fan who actually plays cards. There’s something pleasing about giving someone a familiar game-night staple with their favorite characters attached, rather than another thing that only sits on a shelf. If your table has more affection for the Mushroom Kingdom than for a plain deck, this is a fun way to deal it in.