I consider trying the surprise button this winter sale. As far as I understand, if I buy it as a gift, I will be able to give the game to a friend if I'm not interested in the game myself. But the question is: When buying a mystery game as a gift, will I be able to give give this gift to myself if I like the game?

Cool, thanks for the quick answer! I will try it out this evening.

This thread is zen as fuck.

I don't know what "zen" means in this context, but this question has been solved.

Harry, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it. Don't wait for it. Just let it happen. It could be a new shirt at the men's store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot black coffee.

Zen koans.

"Two hands clap and there is a sound. What is the sound of one hand?"

You should be aware, though, that if you choose to make the Mystery Game into a gift order before purchasing, it will draw randomly from the list of all available games in the pool -- even ones you own. If you just make the purchase normally (i.e., without marking it as a gift), the system will check the available pool of Mystery Games (some of which have limited quantities which are replenished periodically) against what games are on your Library shelf, and give you one you don't already own if it's possible at that time. If you already own a lot of the games on the list, purchasing a Mystery Game as a gift will make it less likely that you'll get something you don't already have.

In general, though, unless you have a particular recipient in mind for a game (be it yourself or someone else), it is a good idea to purchase anything you're not sure you want to keep as a gift and send the code to your own e-mail.