A fan of the Borderlands series has done an impressive job decorating their Christmas gifts in the spirit of the game. The designs have drawn a ton of appreciation from the game's community, with many noting that they had initially believed it to be a Photoshop or in-game screenshot because it's done such a good job of recreating the iconic thick-outline cel-shaded style of the Borderlands games.
Gamers often bring their favorite titles into the fray when it comes to the holidays, looking to everything from the cozy Animal Crossing to building Christmas trees entirely out of games. While the violence and general crass humor of Borderlands might not make everyone think of Christmas-time, any Borderlands fans would likely be thrilled to receive one of these boxes.
Reddit user jijiopas decided to take a pile of plain cardboard boxes and spruced them up by making them look like they came straight out of Pandora. Jijiopas shared an image of their pile of gift boxes on several subreddits, including that of Borderlands 3. While every gift is inside a simple cardboard box, the decorations they've covered the outside with give it a cel-shaded appearance that immediately brings Borderlands to mind. By using a marker, they followed the natural lines and edges on the boxes, including any dents and imperfections. Some shadows and crosshatching also adds to the effect. The result is so impressive that it looks like a decorative prop one might find somewhere in the game.
Borderlands' cel-shaded, comic book-like style is part of what sets it apart from many other games, though it's not the only one to use this style. Game developer Telltale Games often uses a similar style, from The Walking Dead to its own Borderlands spin-off games. The Walking Dead and Borderlands cosplayers have used similar methods to jijiopas in making their costumes and overall appearances look as game-accurate as possible. The result can be quite spectacular to look at when done well, as with these gift boxes.
Borderlands fans have been quite outspoken about their appreciation for the decorative attempt. Many joked about how the boxes needed a green light to indicate that they could be opened, or perhaps a colored light shining out of the boxes once opened, as Borderlands indicates rarity of loot with color. While that would make the idea even cooler, this simple decorative method would still pop for any fan of cel-shading, and it's an affordable way of gifting packages without creating additional waste.