Is there really such a thing as a bad Christmas?
Actually yes, there really is for too many people out there. Let’s just pretend that the holiday season isn’t one of the hardest times of the year and that no, there is no bad Christmas. Just roll with it…
Is there really such a thing as a bad Christmas? Friends. Family. Games. Presents. Weird and terrible presents… Why is this thing a present? Here, have this thing that was given to me last year…
Bad Christmas is all about trying to get the least bad presents that you can, and maybe regifting a few of the worst bad presents. Here’s the quick and dirty explanation: Each player chooses 6 presents of a possible 19 options. You won’t get them all, but these are the presents you want to end the game with in order to score. On your turn, you can OPEN A PRESENT (play a card from your hand face up in front of you), TRADE A PRESENT with someone (take a card, face up or face down, from another player or the centre of the table, and give that player one of your presents, face up or face down. Then open the gift you took.), or END THE GIFT EXCHANGE (everyone reveals their chosen gifts and scores any open gifts on the list. Cards still in their hand don’t count). Play again until you decide to stop.
A round only lasts 5-10 minutes, and oddly enough more players can sometimes result in a faster game. Because there are only 19 cards, a 3-player game will have players getting 6 cards in their hand while a 5-6 player game will only give each player 3 cards. Since the only way to get more cards is to trade, players are more likely to END THE GIFT EXCHANGE sooner rather than risk losing cards, which they can actually score.
Being so compact, it’s an easy game to carry around and pull out randomly. However, being so compact means there are not a ton of score sheets. My advice would be to print more out from the Steve Jackson Games website whenever you know you’re planning to play, leaving the included scorepad for unexpected games. The other option would be to laminate a set of 6 sheets and use wet/dry erase markers. Unlike many other card games, there is even enough space in the tuckbox for you to comfortably fit those laminated sheets and even sleeved cards if that is your thing. That makes it ideal for board game cafes and similar public settings where a great deal of wear and tear can happen.
The best part about this game is the gifts themselves. Honestly, if they brought out a new edition of the game with new gifts every year, I would totally pick it up every year. The game is small enough that they could realistically probably do that. A few of the terrible gifts in the game include a Christmas Stick, a Santa Toilet Brush, a Recycled Jack-O’-Lantern (ew), and Chocolate Covered Pickles. Actually, that last one may not be terrible. I am partial to pickles and who doesn’t love Christmas chocolate. Yum.
Having a few fast filler games is always a great idea. Having a game that nearly anyone can play is also super important during the holidays. Bad Christmas is labeled 14+ and I’m honestly not sure why. The art is too cartoony to be grotesque, the gameplay is straightforward, and the reading ability is easy to circumvent even for a younger player. I can only assume it’s the reading thing. But 14+, really? Is Bad Christmas my favourite holiday game? No. Is Bad Christmas “bad”? Also no. As I said above, I’d be happy to have multiple versions of the game, and it will probably always be one of the games I drag around to seasonal gatherings to be a filler or short distraction.
You can find Steve Jackson Games online at sjgames.com and on Facebook at facebook.com/sjgames.
Don’t forget you can read all of our current and past holiday reviews at TheRatHole.ca/Christmas!
Here’s a vaguely fun fact. I couldn’t find any songs called Bad Christmas that weren’t… bad. Unfortunate, since we do like ending these with a thematic song. But at least Nuttin’ For Christmas is about a kid who probably deserves the sort of gifts this game has. It’s also a pretty cute song, so enjoy it!