Whenever Verge staff is asked to describe their favorite games, smart tech, desktop accessories, or whatever, they are free to talk about things they recently bought, things they picked up 10 years ago, or things they’ve had sitting around their house for decades. And, unsurprisingly, many of those same items are receiving a discount as a result of the many ongoing Black Friday promos. So we thought we’d offer a curated list of a few of them, especially since many of them are likely to stick around through Cyber Monday.
Strategy board game
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, reviewer
A strategy board game in which you enter the mysterious world of the Earth’s oceans.
Finding a board game that will entertain a 13-year-old girl, a 16-year-old boy, my partner, and me is a challenge. We’ve cycled through all the classics as well as newer options — Carcassonne, Ticket to Ride, Catan, and more. While these are all great, inevitably one of the group develops a passionate dislike for the game (usually after a few too many losses) and it drops off our rotation. However, Evolution: Oceans has been a constant crowd-pleaser for over six months now, and we all love it. Part of the Evolution series from NorthStar Game Studio, Oceans is a beautiful, complicated, compelling, and challenging strategy game. You create new species to fill your ocean and fight to develop them and keep them alive using adaptations and abilities such as schooling and speed, tentacles, and parasitic abilities. Cards give you your powers, and these are gorgeously illustrated, making this game a visual feast. It does have a fairly steep learning curve, but once you get going and the strategies unfold, the gameplay is smooth and relatively fast-paced. There is a fair amount of player-to-player interaction, so we’ve had a couple of temper tantrums, but nothing big enough to knock this one off our family’s top spot… at least not yet.
Metering your moisture
Victoria Song, senior reviewer
Quickly tests the soil moisture for indoor and outdoor plants.
At my last apartment, I kept all my plants in the windowsill, and whenever we opened the window for some fresh air, we got fungus gnats. Fungus gnats love overwatered soil, so once you’ve gotten rid of them, you’ve got to be careful and diligent about your watering schedule. For that, I got myself a Gouevn soil moisture meter to teach myself how to properly water my plants. I’ve properly vanquished my fungus gnat issue, but with these two tools, I’m always prepared in case there’s ever another infestation.
A smart garage opener
Wes Davis, weekend editor
Meross makes a handy add-on that can transform a variety of garage door models into smart doors that you can open remotely. It works with Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings.
Most of the things I own are, frankly, just unreliable enough to be annoying. But I do love the Meross Smart Wi-Fi Garage Door Opener for HomeKit. And my love for it isn’t just about its rock-solid performance — it’s because, as far as I can tell, it’s compatible with almost any garage door opener on the market and across time itself. I don’t think that’s an exaggeration, either. The chunky mustard yellow all-metal box that cranks my garage door open — the Model 455 by Automatic Doorman — was made, by my loose estimation, sometime between the fall of Rome and 1975. But Meross’ adapter was $30 — and to my amazement, after a very simple installation, it worked and continues to do so almost every time I need it to. Best of all, I don’t have to carry the chunky remote with me on my bike when I leave because I can just talk into my Apple Watch when I return and coast right in.
Electric screwdriver
Brandon Widder, senior commerce editor
Hoto’s electric screwdriver is perfect for making small- to medium-sized repairs around the house. In addition to a USB-C port, the screwdriver comes with a magnetic case and 25 steel bits.
I picked up Hoto’s electric screwdriver because my former boss at The Verge, Dan Seifert, would often pitch it around gift guide season. I’m glad I did, though, because it now sits alongside a handful of tools I use on an almost weekly basis. I wouldn’t suggest using it for real household projects that require some serious torque, but it’s incredibly handy for tightening the legs on my desk, assembling furniture, and making sure my bike seat isn’t going to come off mid-ride. It’s also equipped with a USB-C port for charging, a nifty LED light that lets you ditch the headlamp, and a case for housing the 25 steel bits. Oh, and it really does make for a great little gift.
Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses
Victoria Song, senior reviewer
Developed by both Ray-Ban and Meta, the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses can perform a range of tasks, including playing music and capturing photos and videos. Read our review.
On sunny walks and runs, I’m not interested in getting flattened by wayward SUVs in my neighborhood — I need that situational awareness. Many open-ear headphones wrap around the top of the ear, and since I often wear glasses, that’s a lot to put on my poor ears. The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses kill two birds with one stone; they’re my go-to headphones these days. The audio quality is great, they protect my eyes from UV rays, and once in a while, I use them to snap a photo of a random bunny or stray cat. There’s a mic right by your nose bridge, so you sound pretty great on calls, too. Who doesn’t love a multitasking gadget?
A reliable smart plug
Sean Hollister, senior editor
Kasa’s smart plugs let you add voice controls and scheduling to any outlet. They can also help you monitor your energy usage and work with Siri, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant.
The single fastest and most reliable device in my entire smart home… is whichever dumb-as-a-brick appliance I plug into this tiny box. Seriously, I’m pretty sure the Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug Mini is the only smart home device that’s never let me down. Whether it’s a string of Christmas lights, a garage freezer, a hot water recirculation pump, a humidifier, a bedside lamp, or a fan — all genuine examples from my home — I always know Alexa or Google or Siri or Home Assistant will flick that virtual switch in an instant and / or follow my programmed schedule.
Plus, I get some energy savings, too! My Brother printer used to draw 4W all day every day; now, I only spend 0.5–0.8W for the Smart Plug Mini it’s plugged into. I just wish TP-Link stopped making so many new versions so I could tell you which one to buy. I do know I’d have bought these energy-monitoring ones if I’d had a little more foresight.
Strings of twinkly lights
Jess Weatherbed, news writer
Twinkly has the best selection of holiday string lights in sizes ranging from 26 to 158 feet and with options that include just color, color and white, or just white. The lights are bright and colorful, and the effects you can find and create in the Twinkly app are very impressive.
When the aesthetic hill you’ve chosen to die on is as gaudy as mine, the traditional red-and-green holiday string lights that get plonked on the tree each year are, frankly, not obnoxious enough. I’ve been using Twinkly Strings instead for the last few years, which are considerably more expensive but provide a great deal more creative freedom. These smart LED lights are fully customizable, enabling you to pick which colors work best for your decorative needs, and are compatible with Alexa and Google smart home setups.
In my flat, they stay out year-round. When not adorning a tree, I hook them to the ceiling of my office to use as ambient mood lighting, which I’ve programmed to turn on automatically at sundown each day. You can control most features via voice commands with Alexa, including switching the lights on or off and adjusting what color the lights are set to. The Twinkly companion app provides more control over color combinations and lighting patterns, but gamers can also integrate them with Razer Synapse if they want to match them with the RGB accessories in their PC setup.
A cost-effective doorbell cam
Christopher Grant, group publisher, The Verge and Polygon
Easily installed video doorbell with a 180-degree view.
I was already out of love with my 2018 Nest Doorbell when Google raised the price of the video cloud storage subscription. That subscription, which was already unpalatable at…