While brainstorming my content for this month, I was looking for some holiday themes board games to talk about or put into a list. And then I remembered 12 Days from watching in on Tabletop. I ended up picking this game up from a Target sale, so here is my review.
The premise is clearly based on the 12 Days of Christmas, where you want to win the day by presenting the best gift. The rarer the gift the better. The deck includes the classic gifts, with the 12 Drummers Drumming being the least rare (there are 12 of these in the deck) and the Partridge in a Pear Tree being the rarest (there is only one in the deck). You start on day one, being worth one point, and go through all 12 days with the point values equaling the day number. You can also gain points from having sets in your hand of the cards. For example, the player with the most Five Golden Rings will get five points, the player with the most Ten Lords Leaping gets ten points, etc.
The game is ideally played with three or more people, which is not the games I tend to go for as I play two players games much more often. But I found that it is easily played with two players without having to change any rules or make any exceptions. It definitely goes very quickly, as it is a game that can be played in 30 minutes with 3+ people, so with two it takes about 15 minutes to play a full game. This feels like a great family game, especially for the holidays.
The game does come with one variant, where you only go to 8 days instead of the full 12. It’s referred to as the Hanukkah variant by some people. I have yet to play this way as the game is already short enough as is, but it is an interesting way to play if you have a larger group.
Overall, this game is great for families and for the holidays. It was very easy to learn and play right out of the box. It would make a great stocking stuffer! Is this my favorite game ever, no. Also, the original cost seemed a bit high to me for what I got out of this game, so I would only get the game if it is on sale. It’s a nice game with decent replayability because it is so easy to just pull out and play, but I wouldn’t rush to buy it.
What games do you like to play during the holidays? Share with a comment below!
Awww, sounds like fun! I’ll try Dave’s and see if they have it 😉
This looks like a great game to play on Christmas Eve! It’s also good to know you can play it with just two people! Gonna hit up my Target now to see if they have it!