Ho Ho Ho! It’s the holiday season, and in many homes that involves eventually putting up a Christmas Tree. Whether that tree is artificial with integrated fiberoptic LEDs, or freshly cut and lovingly decorated, that tree most likely has lights, tinsel, and decorations. Under the tree there may be presents and there may or may not be a stocking hanging nearby.
Alternately, you could slap all of that down on a table to play Holly Jolly.
The setup is as simple as decorating a tree. There is a trunk at the bottom, tree tinsel and/or light cards above that, with eight decoration cards surrounding and above those, topped off with a star. Below the tree are four present or stocking cards, when drawn presents are face-up in the tradition of Santa leaving unwrapped gifts, while stockings remain face-down since a person is never sure what’s in their stocking until they take it down and look.
On your turn choose one of three face-up light or tinsel cards, and place it on top of one of the three light or tinsel cards on the tree. Add up the total of the one, two, or three cards showing whichever you played: tinsel or lights. If that total equals the number showing on an ornament on the tree, take it. If not, take a present or stocking from under the tree.
Each type of ornament and present has a different scoring mechanic (set collection, straight points, points based on X other things). Stockings are a calculated risk; they could be worth points, or if you were naughty they might just be worthless coal. It’s worth noting that unless you have a copy of the Krampus promo card, there are no negative points in Holly Jolly. Negative points just aren’t jolly, but in a tight game, zero points from a lump of coal is almost as bad.
As good as the game plays, I absolutely love the artwork. The card-back are the perfect blend of red, green, and slightly-off-white. The card fronts have a slightly less dated tone to them, but the art is still very classic feeling, with wooden toys and even a comic book with a 10ยข cover price.
This is one of those games that checked every box for me. I’m legitimately surprised at just how much this very easy game hooked me. After 5 years of Christmases featuring holiday games here in The Rat Hole, I have more than a few options to bring to the table. Most of them become little more than part of my holiday background when I’m streaming a show. But I expect this will be one of the few that returns to the table year after year.
You can find 25th Century Games online at 25thcenturygames.com or on Facebook at facebook.com/25thCG.
Don’t forget you can read all of our current and past holiday reviews at TheRatHole.ca/Christmas!
As always for our holiday reviews, we’d like to end with a song. Burl Ives is the obvious choice to pair with this review, but rather than his Rankin-Bass performance, I think this video really drives home what the holidays should and shouldn’t be all about. Enjoy.