A Family token bluffing game

Secret Santa

Ages 6-92
Players 2-10
10 mins

It’s the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring… except all the naughty boys and girls with the mission of opening presents early.

Secret Santa is a family token bluffing game. The tokens are reminiscent of POGS. Each token has the same back: wrapping paper. The other side is one of the 78 gifts from the 12 days of Christmas: 12 drummers, 1 partridge, and everything in between. 

Your goal is to end up with the rarest token once all gifts have been opened. So if you happen to get your hands on the Partridge remember to keep your cool, or others will try to steal it from you.

Let’s see what gifts are under your magical tree…

HOW TO PLAY

Rules

Goal:

Have the rarest token in your possession when All The gifts are UNWRAPPED

The Setup:

  1. There are 78 gifts in total. (1 partridge, 2 turtle doves, 3 French hens, … 12 drummers drumming)
  2. Place all the gifts wrapped (face-down) in a pile and shuffle them around.
  3. Each player picks 3 gifts, takes a peek, and places them wrapped in front of them.

To Play:

 

  • As per unfair family rules of olde, the oldest goes first. (But they’re always going to be the oldest!) Play continues clockwise.
    On your turn, you must:
    1. Unwrap one of your gifts and toss it into the reject pile, face-up.
    2. Either:
      • Take an unopened gift from the centre pile.
      • Take a gift from any other player. They must then take a gift from the centre pile to replace.

Note: Feel free to shuffle the gifts in front of you to confuse your opponents!

 

End of Game:

  • As soon as the last gift has been taken from the centre, the game is over. Everyone unwraps their gifts.
  • The player with the single rarest gift wins.

Enjoy the game and good luck!