Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
12 Days of Christmas is a card game designed by Dr. Gord Hamilton for 3-8 players.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Read the full game description
12 Days of Christmas is a card game designed by Dr. Gord Hamilton for 3-8 players. To play, deal out twelve cards to each player; the deck consists of 78 cards: one 1, two 2s, and so on up to twelve 12s. By following the lead established by the first player, each player attempts to give away all of her cards before the other players can. The first player can lead a single card, a set of at least two cards of the same value, or a straight of at least two cards. The next players either pass or play a similar combination of cards (although not necessarily the same number of cards) that includes at least one card that's as low or lower than the lead player's low card. Whoever has played the lowest card once everyone has passed becomes the new lead player. Whoever runs out of cards first claims one of the available gift cards; whoever has the most cards left in hand must give a gift card to this round's winner! Whoever has the most gifts when the gifts run out wins.