Ghosts of Christmas Coming to Family Game Night
There is a pretty big pile of board games in our collection that only ever gets touched in December, and that’s because they’re our Christmas-themed games. Who knew there were so many Christmas board games out there? Some of them are Christmas-skinned classics, and some are Christmas originals - but either way they’re hard for me to resist when they release.
I suppose the nice thing about Christmas-themed games is that, for many people, Christmas is a holiday where extended families get together and play games around the table - and I suppose in many cases it’s the only time of year they play together at all. For that reason alone having a Christmas theme is a nice selling point for a family game.
Of course the downside to being Christmas-themed is that the game is probably going to be relegated to only being used in December, and then it has to compete against the rest of the games in the Christmas pile to ever see the light of day at all. There are only so many Christmas parties and so many family game nights in December, so if you’re going to be a Christmas game, you better be a good one!
Ghosts of Christmas from Board Game Tables is a new game we backed on Kickstarter recently (again, I really can’t resist when I see a cute Christmas game), and not only is it good enough to compete with our Christmas games party, but it’s good enough to be our Game of the Month - and shoot high up on our official list of the best Christmas family board games. The big question is, if I’m going to a family Christmas party, and I’m going to grab a few games, would I grab Ghosts of Christmas? And the answer is a definite yes.
What’s to Like About Ghosts of Christmas?
The primary thing that Ghosts of Christmas has going for it is the terrific theme - perhaps as good as it gets for Christmas. It’s based on Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol - and it features plenty of nice details like cards of famous characters, cute little wreaths, and even a festive top hat to mark the first player. And if you were lucky enough to snatch a copy from Kickstarter, then those are all very nice wooden pieces (so make sure to note that those wooden pieces in our pictures aren’t necessarily included).
It also uses the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future, and that magic number of 3, in a very novel way - which I’ll get into more later. But suffice it to say that I’m impressed with the way they designed the game to highlight and incorporate the 3 spectral portions of this famous story. It’s not just a theme - but rather an integral part of the design.
The other main thing that Ghosts of Christmas has going for it, when someone is trying to pick games for a Christmas party, is that it’s a trick-taking card game. If your extended family is anything like ours, a trick-taking card game is a sure winner. They seem to bring members of all generations together better than any other type of board games.
How to Play Ghosts of Christmas
Ghosts of Christmas also provides an interesting spin on trick-taking games. Each player has a section for past, present, and future sitting in front of them, and each round they must play a card into each section (or era). Whoever plays a card into each era first sets the suit for that era, and other players must follow suit if they can. But hearts is always a trump suit.
And, speaking of suits, I think that Board Game Tables chose some pretty clever ones. Other than the hearts, we also have money scales, music notes, and candles. It’s a very cute concept that hearts or love is the trump suit and more important than anything - and I think their other suit choices are also very fitting for the Christmas Carol theme.
Each hand begins with 12 cards for each player, and you play 3 cards and settle 3 tricks each round until all of your cards are gone. But before you begin everyone has to bid on how many tricks they think they will win with their 12 cards. You can either go for an exact bid and a chance to double your score, or give yourself a little flexibility of +1 trick. If you take too few tricks, or too many, then you score zero points for that round.
When settling a round, and finding out who wins each trick, you start with the past, and you look to the first player to see which suit is leading. Whoever wins that trick is actually the new starting player, and then you score the present the same way. The interesting thing is that the winner of the last trick is the new starting player, and therefore the card they have played in the present is the new leading suit - regardless of if it was the first card played in the era that round.
This method of settling the round adds an interesting layer of strategy that’s new for us. There are occasions, particularly later in the game, where the first card played into an era doesn’t end up being the leading suit - because what happens in the past might affect the future. While you’re playing your cards, you might see who is going to win the past era, and that might change the starting player and the starting suit in the present and future.
Who Can Play Ghosts of Christmas?
Board Game Tables put a recommended age of 14+ on the game, and I think that might very well be the new leader in the clubhouse for biggest overestimate in history. Our 10-year-old learned the rules very quickly, and almost beat all of us in our first playthrough (winning 1 single trick more would have given him the game).
On the other hand, the strategy is certainly a bit too much for our 6-year-old right now. The concept of bidding and the strategy of playing your cards the right way to try and hit your bid is still over her head, but certainly not 8 years over her head. If you asked me, I would probably put 10+ on the box, and tell friends their 8 or 9-year-olds could probably play along.
In fact, there’s even a “Tiny Tim” variation that simplifies the game and removes the bidding process entirely - making it even more accessible than that. In this version you can score the most points by taking zero tricks, and you get punished for taking too many. After just a little bit of practice, I bet even our 6-year-old could join us with these rules.
I think it’s safe to say that our 10-year-old likes this game a lot. He was very close to winning our first playthrough, and he was excited about that. And afterwards I asked him which game he liked better - Ghosts of Christmas or another family-favorite Christmas trick-taking game called 12 Days. And he immediately chose Ghosts of Christmas. At the end of the day I think he’s the kind of guy who really enjoys the interesting layers of strategy.
The only downside to a game like Ghosts of Christmas is how specific the player count is. It doesn’t work with 2 players, and you have to have either 3 or 4 players. That rules out both a 1-on-1 session as well as a big family party, but it’s an excellent holiday choice for a table of 3 or 4. Or I suppose you could buy an extra copy or 2 for that big family party and have the ultimate Ghosts of Christmas holiday tournament!
We have quite the pile of Christmas games now, but realistically there are only a handful that I’d grab for playing with friends and family - especially if we needed to teach them how to play quickly. Now along with 12 Days and the fun Funko Christmas card games, Ghosts of Christmas has quickly shot up very high on that list, and it’s the perfect choice for our holiday Game of the Month.
What’s your favorite Christmas family board game? Have you tried Ghosts of Christmas yet? Let us know in the comments!
