12 Days Christmas Card Game

Game review: 12 Days, ages 8+, 3-5 players

The game 12 Days is inspired by the 12 Days of Christmas and the gift giving of the original song. The art work on the cards depicts the gits given in the song in a stain glass artform. As we love Christmas and are always on the hunt for a good game, we thought this would make a great game for the holidays.

(If you’re looking for more holiday games see our Grinch Dice, Santa UNO, Christmas Shenanigans Card game. and our Reindeer Dice games in our store here.)

The 12 Days Cards

There are two types of cards in this game. There are the gift cards. These feature stain glass pics of the 12 Days of Christmas gifts. There are 12 cards with drummers drumming, 11 cards with pipers pipping and so on down to only one card with a partridge in a pear tree. There are also a Mr and Mrs Clause cards that are special. 

The other cards are the 12 Day cards. These feature a stain glass Christmas sense with a number on each card.

Setting Up 12 Days

To start, you place the 12 day cards on the side in order from 12 to 1. Next, shuffle and deal 12 gift cards to every player.

Playing

On each turn there are three things to be done. 

First, you select one gift card to pass to the player on your left. 

Next, the players choose a card from their hands to “bid” on the day. Theses cards are placed facedown until all players are ready to turn them over. The lowest value gift card wins the day. The day card is then added to that players stack and will count as points at the end of the game. 

The third thing to do on a turn is to pick up a new card off the draw pile, bringing your hand back up to 12 cards.

Ties

If two or more players bid the same number, then those numbers are ignored.  If all the gift cards are tied, then no one wins that day. The unclaimed day then is added to the next day–making it very profitable to win that second day. 

Santa and Mrs. Claus 

The Santa and Mrs Claus cards are special cards. They have a value of 0, making them winners. However, in the spirit of Christmas, if a player wins a day card using one of these cards, that player then must gift the day card, and the points, to another player.

Ending the Game

The game is over when all 12 Days are played. The players pick up their last gift card and add it to their hands. Next, it is time to tally the scores.

Scoring 12 Days

There are two ways players gain points in 12 Day.

First, is the day cards that they have won through the rounds. Each day card counts for the amount of points of the day. So, if it is day 10, then that player has 10 points.

The second way to score is with gift cards. The remaining gift cards in your hand should be sorted into days. You score points by having the most of one number. You score the number of points for the number of the day. For example, if you have 5 “9 ladies dancing” cards, then you get 9 points. If you have equal amounts of a day as someone else, you both score the points. For example if you both have 3 “6 geese a laying” then you both get 6 points. If you have less cards, then you get no points for that number. For example, if someone else has 3 “5 golden rings” and you have 2, then the other player gets the points and you get none.

Winning

The player who has the largest amount of compiled points wins.

What we like

First, the quality of this game is great. The cards and box are very sturdy and the box is the right size. We like the theme of the game. We also like not knowing who the clear winner of the game is before we finish playing. Having to pass a card at the stat of your turn also mixes things up which keeps things fresh.

What we don’t like

Personally, the artwork is a little busy for us. I hate saying this as it’s quite nicely done and very intricate, but that might be the problem–too much detail on a small space. The next thing that we didn’t care for is that it takes a while to learn how to play. If we haven’t played in a while, we have to stop and go over the rules several times while playing. Even after a few rounds we’re still a little unsure.  The last thing that we don’t favor 12 Days is that there is so much going on that keeping track of the rules and different ways to score takes away some of the fun. That said, the most strategy loving gamer we have likes the multi level play. Also, for the younger kids, holding 12 cards in your hand is a lot to manage.

Is 12 Days Worth Putting on you Family Game Shelf

12 Days is a unique game that takes in the Christmas sprit. I would say that the recommend age of 8 and up is probably right but might be enjoyed by the other kids more than the younger ones. If you enjoy strategy card games, then 12 Days is for you. If you’re looking for some light, easy to play Christmas fun, then maybe look for a different game. With the small sized box, we will keep 12 Days on our Family Game Shelf and puzzle it out every holiday season.

To get your copy of the 12 Days card game shop here. Canadians can shop for 12 Days here.
For more card games, check out our card game section.
And for more fun read more game reviews, click here.
And if you’re in the mood for a dice game, click here.

Rating:

Pros: the winner isn’t clear until the end, quality, Christmas spirit
Cons: a little confusing, small hands have a hard time holding 12 cards
Mom: risk taking, strategy, critical thinking