Mother's Day gifts for the Mom who's got game

If mom's snatching moments here and there to indulge her gaming, get her a console she can carry: the Nintendo Switch. If that's too expensive a gift ($300), a controller designed to work with her phone is a lot more affordable and still gives her an edge when jumping into a quick battle royale while carpooling. The Steelseries Nimbus (see at Amazon)  is a good choice if she uses an iPhone, while the Stratus Duo (see at Amazon) goes with her Galaxy -- or any other Android phone or Windows PC. 

When mom goes on the road for work, the Zenbook (see at Amazon) and Spectre are a couple of laptops she'll feel comfortable pulling out in a meeting but still will let her play some lightweight games in a hotel room at night. Both have a little more graphics oomph than a typical thin-and-light notebook, enough to power a platformer, puzzler or 8-bit adventure. The convertible Spectre is convenient for gaming at bedtime: Just flip it into the tent position, connect the controller and she can Gris until her eyes close.

They may thrive on the gore of a slash-and-hack, but some will still shudder when they see the unsightly cables that enable their zombie-killing sprees. For the mom who likes an uncluttered gaming space, Logitech's sub-$100 each wireless mouse and mechanical keyboard (see at Amazon) play way above their price. And the $120 HyperX Cloud Flight (see at Amazon) is one of the lightest, most comfortable headsets you can find, but with sufficient battery life to make it through the war.

If "why did you spend so much on me?" is a familiar refrain, reassure mom that you didn't with one these cheap-for-their kind presents. The 15-inch Dell G5 is one of the best budget gaming laptops we've tested -- and the design doesn't scream "I game!" -- and it starts at only $900. Not a cheap gift, but a great value. If your budget only stretches to accessories, the Aukey KM-G6 (see at Amazon) is a terrific-feeling mechanical keyboard (I'm typing on it right now) with RGB lighting that costs less than $35. The Logitech G300s (see at Amazon) is a highly rated wired mouse for only $20 that's good for the righty or lefty mom.

Razer's gaming gear is almost uniformly great, if pricey, and doesn't go overboard on the gaming bling. Mom would be proud to tote one of the company's laptops into a board meeting, and the accessories can be as tasteful as she wants -- or even pink, if that's how she rolls. There's also a Mercury White model of the Blade 15. And the laptops are fast, despite being thin and relatively light, so they're up for accompanying Lara Croft on her latest adventure.

When mom's in that demon-killing mood, she should be able to frag with the best of them. Help her overcome the annoyance of gaming in a world designed around right-handed people or the frustration of using mainstream game controllers. Like the Logitech G300s mentioned above, the Roccat Kova (see at Amazon) is an ambidextrous mouse that feels responsive and comfortable in women's smaller hands, comes in a snazzy white and costs less than $40. For more challenging input issues, Microsoft's $100 Xbox Adaptive Controller maps all the typical controller functions to a design which requires less coordination to operate. While it works with an Xbox console, it also works with PC games.