Christmas Game 2015 - Christmas Present Pile On

Why yes, that snowman IS wearing a fez!

When I had a regular gaming group in Virginia, USA, a fiend and I decided to start a tradition of playing a Christmas game after we had read about some clubs in Britain doing the same. The games were light on rules so that it was more a social activity than a game, and the good guys always won.

The first few games used simplified Napoleonic rules with the Rat King attacking Christmas Village to steal the presents and ruin Christmas. The stalwart Teddy Bear Brigade (from Eureka Miniatures) defended the village with the help of the Bumble and reindeer and snowmen. Later a little adult cynicism crept in and I ran a game where the Rat King was a freedom-fighter trying to free the elves after Santa had sold out and forced them all to make cheap electronic toys instead of high quality Euro games.

Then there was the infamous game that another member ran one year involved Walmart mercenaries with automatic weapons arriving in 18-wheeler trucks to bust up the Toymaker Union after they went on strike for higher wages and more time for reinder games. This was deemed too cynical and poor Walt was laughingly banned from ever running the Christmas game again, but it was a lot of fun!

So as a tribute to the ghosts of Christmas games past, I present this year's Christmas Game which I will be running for my family. I'm making the rules and checking them twice, but there might be a few holes or confusing bits so feedback is welcome.

The game is totally free as my Christmas gift to readers.  As an experiment in self-publishing, I'm also offering it as a  pay-what-you-want title through the Paypal Donate button below. 

If you like it and play it with your family, please let me know in the comments!

Fimo snow people and presents and an igloo for home base

Christmas Present Pile On

The Rat King has discovered one of Santa's Pre-positioned Gift Depots and has sent his minions to steal the presents and ruin Christmas! Only a nearby village of friendly snow people can stop him. Get the pile of presents back to your base as quickly as possible. Running them back is safer (unless you get hit by a snowball!) and throwing them is quicker but more difficult. Throw snowballs at your opponent to force them to drop any presents they are carrying and send them back to base to warm up!

Download

Download the game here for free. 

And if you want to give back a little ($5 suggested):