If you’ve got family coming around for Christmas this year, then you are likely looking for a good board game to play with them. The idea of playing a board game together, after you’ve all finished dinner, is simply traditional! The Very Merry Christmas Game aims to be a board game designed to bring loads of Chrstmas spirit and theming to your after dinner game.
The Very Merry Christmas Game is all about getting the highest value gifts in your Christmas stocking. The game can be played by up to four players or teams, each with their own stockings on the board. Each stocking has a matching Santa character that moves around the board.
On your turn, you will roll two dice, then move that number of spaces. There are a bunch of different tiles around the outside that can allow you to do a variety of actions including: putting a item card into your stocking, putting an item card into another player’s stocking, putting on a Paper Crown, singing a carol, or a more complex move that requires you to look at one of your stocking items, another person’s stocking item, and then decide where to put the two.
Each of these gift cards have a star value based on how good they are. Things like PJs and belly button cleaners aren’t worth much, whereas TVs and Laptops are more expensive gifts. The game ends when all of the stockings are filled, so you will need to keep track of your items and make sure you are gathering value items!
In The Very Merry Christmas Game, there are a few sprouts that you can find too. If you end up with one sprout in your stocking, you automatically lose when it comes to scoring, but if you end up with two you will instantly win at the end of the game. This is a big twist that risks a lot.
The paper crown which was mentioned earlier, may feel like a strange tile that you might land on, but this jolly hat makes you immune to the Christmas Carol singing, which is valuable as if you fail to sing then you will lose a random card from your stocking.
When we played The Very Merry Christmas Game, the game itself did feel like it went on too long. If you have one person that refuses to sing, you will be playing for quite some time too as the result is that the card from their scoreboard is taken straight out of the game. There is a bit of strategy in looking at people’s stockings and remembering your own (especially as you often will not see the card that enters your own stocking when it first arrives) but it feels like it’s missing something. We weren’t sure what.
The Very Merry Christmas Game does fulfil the need of a Christmas themed board game that all ages can play, but I don’t think it would be one you’d take out year after year unless you really like the Christmas theme!
The Very Merry Christmas Game is available now from Amazon.
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