For my first post of 2026, please enjoy a random ranting of a few times I was burned by giving a bad gaming gift to someone.

For Secret Santa and gift-giving, I was reminded of a time when I gave two people digital codes for video games and received not the best response. One person’s response was warranted, but the other person wasn’t great, and he just sucked.

In my own little bubble of video game podcasts, I listened to a few new podcasts from community members of the more popular shows from 2017 onward. One in particular was with a group of friends I knew online who started their own niche type of gaming community, and one holiday season, we all decided to do a Secret Santa.

The rules were simple: You were selected a person who was participating, and you had to spend up to $15 USD in a digital Xbox One game for that person (we were mostly Xbox gamers). But my Secret Santa was one of the hosts of the show.

This podcast, nor most of the community members, aren’t around anymore. Some went and did their own thing, while others just disappeared.

My Secret Santa was a father of a few young boys (maybe had a daughter too, I don’t remember), so I thought it was a good idea to find a game that was both kid-friendly, and offered cooperative play. Thus came Portal Knights. It was within the budget, kid-friendly, and allowed cooperative play, so his kids could play together. And I’m pretty sure some games in the past he would go over were similar to Portal Knights, so I thought it was a slam dunk of a gift. I had bought the game and sent the digital code over. I felt confident in it being a great gift!

The day came and everyone got their games, and the person I got, *BITCHED* that he got a game he didn’t want. Like, in the public Discord channel where everyone could see, he showed he wasn’t happy with Portal Knights. Not what I was expecting one bit…

Thankfully, the response to his displeasure was not in his favor. Talking about how unappreciative he was, and how much of a dick he was being. And he’s the kind to throw the “I don’t care” type of remarks, or “Whatever,” because he was throwing a tantrum over this.

I wasn’t too hurt by his comments; I’ve taken that guys words with a grain of salt over the years, but I did tell myself I probably wouldn’t do that again. And to this day, I still haven’t. Even in other gaming communities, I have not participated. That alone was enough to leave it be and let others have fun with it. It takes one bad apple to spoil it all.

I’m sure there are some people that I still keep up with him, but it’s been years since I last spoke to him, and I couldn’t care less what he’s up to now.

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This Secret Santa story also reminded me of a time when I would watch Twitch streamers on a daily basis. I gifted a copy of The Witcher 3 to someone I’d been watching on Twitch who said they wanted the game. Their response: “Oh, I wanted it on Steam, not on GOG (Good Old Games).”

They weren’t asking me to buy the game for them. At the time, they were early in college, didn’t have a job, and were trying to make streaming work out. I knew they couldn’t afford it right away, but I loved the game so much, and I knew they would, too. So I thought, why not surprise them with it? Yeah—I remember regretting that decision five minutes later.

To be fully aware, they did not specifically ask to be gifted this game. Their initial reaction is valid because I didn’t have to act like a hero and buy the game for them. I felt the entitlement in me: “I did this for someone, and their response isn’t what I wanted,” because they weren’t asking for this—I just assumed, that is all. It’s a perfectly valid reaction from them, but I still felt the burn on it, with feeling of not wanting to do that again (in this case, be the *hero*).

The plus side of learning my lessons is that I’m saving more money! No need to gift games to others; even if that person would appreciate it, I doubt I’ll do it again.

Any gifts you have given for Secret Santa, or just because, came with a not-so-great reaction?

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