12 Games For Christmas
December 2, 2015 3:37 AM   Subscribe

12 games to play on Christmas day (or thereabouts), from Dr David King, a lecturer in games design and specialist in physical computing at the University of the Arts London.

I already play #8, although no-one else is aware of it.
For the Americans, Christmas crackers are decorated cardboard cylinders that makes a small bang when you pull them open, and generally contain a paper party hat, a terrible joke, and a crappy little plastic toy/gift.
posted by EndsOfInvention (48 comments total) 30 users marked this as a favorite
 
Do the Americans not have Christmas crackers?
posted by robcorr at 3:59 AM on December 2, 2015 [2 favorites]


I don't think so? Wikipedia said it's generally a UK/Ireland/Commonwealth thing.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:05 AM on December 2, 2015


Do the Americans not have Christmas crackers?

No, they are not a tradition at all here. They are very rarely available, pretty much only in places that specialize in UK imports and novelties.
posted by musicinmybrain at 4:09 AM on December 2, 2015 [8 favorites]


Sadly, Americans do not have Christmas Crackers.

Also, while Christmas is big here, it doesn't have the same impact as in the UK. When I was in the UK I was amazed that the grouchiest, most cynical people turned into big old marshmallows at Christmas time.
posted by maggiemaggie at 4:13 AM on December 2, 2015 [2 favorites]


These are delightful. Except for #4. For a while, my spoiled, jr high friends and I had a sort of running game of Table Sprout Splat played at McDonalds with ketchup packets.
posted by klarck at 4:14 AM on December 2, 2015 [3 favorites]


I get the impression (as a Brit) that Thanksgiving has a similar function in the US as Christmas in the UK? i.e. a big family & friends get together, huge meal, everything (shops, businesses) shuts down.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:16 AM on December 2, 2015 [1 favorite]


Christmas Crackers are stating to be popular here.....we have had them at our family's Christmas for the last 4 or 5 years....they even sell them at Target now....that said the only reason we had them at all was because of all the BBC shows we watch...Doctor Who specifically.
posted by Captain_Science at 4:29 AM on December 2, 2015 [2 favorites]


Really, Thanksgiving and Christmas serve the same family-reuniting service in America. The main benefit is with two different holidays it allows one to reunite with geographically diverse branches of family.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 4:31 AM on December 2, 2015 [2 favorites]


I get the impression (as a Brit) that Thanksgiving has a similar function in the US as Christmas in the UK? i.e. a big family & friends get together, huge meal, everything (shops, businesses) shuts down.

Both holidays feature that, actually. That's why a big Christmas dinner isn't as common a thing in the US, it's because we already did all that only a month previous. Some families do go all-out with a big Christmas dinner, but others throw up their hands and either do something smaller and more "buffet style", or just have things to graze on through the day.

Also, the menu on Christmas is influenced by us being mutts from various other countries' traditions, so you may see people opting for ham or seafood rather than turkey or goose or whatever.

And if you're a kid you've already gorged yourself on candy anyway so you don't necessarily pay attention to the dinner part of things.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:44 AM on December 2, 2015 [5 favorites]


These games are great, and I actually wish I'd known about them for Thanksgiving!

Next year.
posted by maggiemaggie at 4:52 AM on December 2, 2015


Yeah, Christmas crackers are starting to become more popular here, but I'd say as recently as 5 years ago, maybe 10 they were virtually unknown.
posted by Rock Steady at 5:27 AM on December 2, 2015 [2 favorites]


It's my job to make the christmas crackers for a christmas weekend my friends do every year.
I'm currently trying to think of complicated christmassy games to include.

So far there is a weird treasure hunt.
A game of RPG werewolf
Some sort of number swap game for the white elephant gift exchange later on.
I like bad present ninja. I might try and do a version of that.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 5:40 AM on December 2, 2015 [3 favorites]


Hmm, ok, how about this:
Someone's treasure hunt prize has a sheet of stickers in it and an instruction card.

You have to put on a sticker and then sneak the sheet of stickers / instructions onto someone's person.
You can only sneak the sticker envelope into someone who hasn't yet had it snuck on them. If you fail they take a sticker but you remain it and you have to find a new victim.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 5:42 AM on December 2, 2015


How about: everyone has a different Christmas Ninja objective (put a brussel sprout in a specific person's pocket, make the person wear a silly hat, etc). If you succeed, your target is out and you take over their current objective (like Assassin). You should keep your target secret so no-one knows who's trying to do what to whom. It will come down to 2 people trying to something to each other, but you won't necessarily know when you're one of the last two.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 5:46 AM on December 2, 2015 [9 favorites]


Over the past few years crackers have become more available and popular here. It seems like more people have been wanting to make their own this year than relying on store bought versions.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 5:47 AM on December 2, 2015


Crackers are one of those traditions where they are objectively shit and we only keep doing it because it's traditional (you may as well just pass out paper hats, and only 1/3-1/2 the people wear them anyway - the jokes are terrible, and only the kids are excited about the gift). Making your own is definitely way better!
posted by EndsOfInvention at 5:51 AM on December 2, 2015


That is a great idea, EOI! That's what I'm going to do.
I will start thinking about the Ninja objectives. It's probably helpful that I know all the people that will be there and what they are likely to do / not do.

Also I heartily approve of making your own crackers because it's a christmas area where you can be massively inventive, The basic thing is so fun to have, (a hat, a silly joke, a small game) but so underutilised (i.e. the stuff in them is terrible)that as long as you cover the basics you're already ahead.
This year I'll be modifying a set of crackers that come with different toned flutes and a conductors sheet so you can (try) to play tunes as a group.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 5:53 AM on December 2, 2015 [1 favorite]


On #2 - I prefer the version where anyone that uses the word 'crimbo' has to go outside and sit on their own for the rest of the day.
posted by bifter at 6:00 AM on December 2, 2015 [4 favorites]


Do the Americans not have Christmas crackers?

No. I mean, my family started doing them about 15 years ago, but god knows where my mother finds them.

Harry Potter should have raised their profile over here, though, so it's really just a case of some entrepreneurs not seeing the opportunity.
posted by Navelgazer at 6:17 AM on December 2, 2015


Re: Christmas crackers
Canadian here... my family has had them as part of it's tradition since further back than I can remember. Although I'm not sure how widespread it is.

Some of these games sound fun. I like the Ninja one.
posted by Laura in Canada at 6:25 AM on December 2, 2015


I read this entire thread without click on EndsOfInventions cracker explanation link and was picturing British folks busting out saltines packed in red and green foil with little messages. The "popper" type thing makes a lot more sense.
posted by ignignokt at 6:32 AM on December 2, 2015 [4 favorites]


these are great. i look forward to trying them out this year!
posted by rebent at 6:35 AM on December 2, 2015


I had no idea Christmas crackers were becoming a thing in the US.

I mean, to us a cracker is a saltine or a Ritz, or a white person (particularly a racist ignorant one), or (antiquated) any person from Florida (especially if white). I used to imagine "Christmas crackers" first as the thin crispy bread-like object, and then as actual firecrackers that exploded into cheap toy stuff somehow.

My family's tradition was Thanksgiving in our own home, and a fancy lunch and more gift exchanging at my aunt's place on Christmas. Though with us kids spread out geographically, now Mom does a Christmas dinner of some kind, or New Year dinner depending on when we happen to be there to visit.

My spouse's family's tradition is a Thanksgiving turkey dinner and "hors d'oeuvres" on Christmas and New Year, which mostly consist of crackers (the American kind) with EZ Cheez and olives, maybe with some deli lunch meat or something.

I've never had goose, and none of us are particularly big on ham.
posted by Foosnark at 6:39 AM on December 2, 2015


Aha! So that's what they were popping in The Snowman!
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 6:39 AM on December 2, 2015


Honestly, I don't even remember most of the food elements of our Christmas dinners from when I was a kid. We did have them - we gathered all with my mothers' side of the family, which is sizeable - but honestly, the food parts of Christmases past I remember most are the big tubs of popcorn that my aunt ordered (the kind where you get three flavors in one tub), and these chocolate coffee bean things and some mint patty things that another aunt picked up at this outlet store every year and brought with her becuase we all loved them.

We gather a little less frequently, and the big Christmas food events are my father doing breakfast, and then making fish cakes for lunch.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:48 AM on December 2, 2015


Yes crackers are also biscuits here. (A ritz cracker, for example) to be served with cheese.
But a christmas cracker is a hat / joke / delivery device with a far too small amount of explosive in it.
I think you should up the explosives myself.

People do not make enough effort with them and are content to have yet another truth telling fish / useless mirror / shoe horn (I have no idea why there are so many shoe horns in crackers). They have become accostmed to them being uninventive and boring.
But I love crackers. They're an excuse for booze and things to go bang and an avenue to bring something interesting and different to a christmas party.
(These are this years plans)
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 6:51 AM on December 2, 2015 [1 favorite]


These games sound honestly fun. If I had a rollicking bunch of friends or cousins or teen/20somethung nieces and nephews I would trot them out. My family is more into reading and eating on Christmas Day.

We are also a family of American Christmas cracker early adopters. We've been getting them since the early 80s. I believe it started when my brother read a book series set in England and there was a whole scene in which Christmas crackers set off a fire. We were so puzzled by this scene, which seemed to indicate that they were like firecrackers. But how could you use those inside? It was pee- Internet, so sources were few. We final kit interrogated one of my British friends from summer camp and hit the skinny on it. Shortly after that we saw a box advertised in the "Signals" catalog and my mom ordered than as a surprise. We were fascinated with the miserable jokes, the puzzles ("date this antique") and the hats. By the early 90s crackers were being sold in Barnes and Noble, Marshalls, and places like that. So we totally take credit for having appropriated this tradition. A few years my brother has made his own, which is an awesome present, because he includes Kitts favors you would actually want.

My family is also .v
posted by Miko at 7:04 AM on December 2, 2015 [3 favorites]


But a christmas cracker is a hat / joke / delivery device with a far too small amount of explosive in it.

And indeed a far too small amount of joke in it.
posted by Wolfdog at 7:04 AM on December 2, 2015 [7 favorites]


I would have to be seriously drunk to play any of these games.

So, fine.
posted by Segundus at 7:11 AM on December 2, 2015 [1 favorite]


Bad Present Ninja actually sounds like loads of fun.
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:40 AM on December 2, 2015


pee- Internet

hahaha. PRE. "Final kit" is also "Finally." I blame phone posting.
posted by Miko at 8:01 AM on December 2, 2015


The big Italian-American Christmas food tradition is the Christmas Eve Feast of the Seven Fishes.
posted by Rock Steady at 8:09 AM on December 2, 2015


Wait, you can MAKE Christmas crackers?
posted by maryr at 8:13 AM on December 2, 2015


Boom. Although really the only part you need to buy is the snaps - the rest is toilet roll tubes, wrapping paper, ribbon, and the gifts etc.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 8:22 AM on December 2, 2015


3. Average Christmas Card

I must be misunderstanding the game. What's to stop everyone from writing 50 and holding?
posted by WCWedin at 8:41 AM on December 2, 2015


-10 if you get shouted at to un-mute the tv.

Seems like a terrible flaw in this game's design, as long as there's an asshole a serious competitor like me in the group who will call out to unmute every time just to take 10 points away from the player.
posted by mama casserole at 8:44 AM on December 2, 2015


Why play 12 Christmas games when you could just play one game of Arkham Horror?
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 8:45 AM on December 2, 2015 [1 favorite]


Re: Christmas crackers
Canadian here... my family has had them as part of it's tradition since further back than I can remember. Although I'm not sure how widespread it is.


In my experience Christmas crackers are very widespread in Canada, at least in Ontario. They are sold in all the supermarkets/Costco at holiday time, and have been a part of every Canadian Christmas dinner I've attended.
posted by barnoley at 8:45 AM on December 2, 2015


Seems like a terrible flaw in this game's design...

What's to stop...


Rules lawyers get coal in their stockings and extra portions of sprouts :P
posted by EndsOfInvention at 8:54 AM on December 2, 2015 [4 favorites]


Why play 12 Christmas games when you could just play one game of Arkham Horror?

Our christmas party is actually our normal board game party with the addition of 1 wife and 1 fiancee.
My wife hates boardgames!
The fiancee got trapped in a shop when we played Arkham and has not come to any board game days since.

There was a serious discussion about how we could fit in the next part of our Descent campaign into the christmas party.

So we are fall back on christmassy cracker games.
The memory of when my family tried to play munchkin one christmas still haunts me, and that's just munchkin.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 8:59 AM on December 2, 2015 [1 favorite]


Why play 12 Christmas games when you could just play one game of Arkham Horror?

Arkham Horror's a weird game. So much arguing over the internet and in game shops about the meaning of this cryptic rules pamphlet. Also apparently there's a board and some pieces and dice, but I've never known any of those to be relevant to the game.
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:40 AM on December 2, 2015 [2 favorites]


In my family it was actually Thanksgiving that lead to games - we played poker after Thanksgiving for YEARS. One of my favorite stories about my grandmother was the year that she was wearing a sling becuase she'd had a hairline fracture in her wrist, and my father caught her trying to cheat by hiding ace cards inside it before the game.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:18 AM on December 2, 2015 [1 favorite]


man, i could definitely think of a few entertaining ways to describe a game called "you're a cracker" that would play pretty hilariously in many parts of the US.
posted by OHenryPacey at 11:16 AM on December 2, 2015 [1 favorite]


Wait, you can MAKE Christmas crackers?

In the spirit of Quonsmas, I'm happy to post a bunch of these to anyone who wants 'em, assuming I can find them in their stores. Crappy joke/trivia and hats included!
posted by PeteTheHair at 12:49 PM on December 2, 2015


Great ideas, I love it. Thanks
posted by Bellarainbow at 4:25 PM on December 2, 2015


We've been bringing Christmas crackers for many years to the family get-together because my husband's family is a bit dull and rarely have anything better to talk about than their bowels and who is dying of cancer. Christmas crackers help a lot because you have the hats and the jokes and the dumb toys. This year we bought a set with tuned whistles that come with sheet music and we bought it at T J Maxx. In the past we've gotten sets from Target, World Market and Amazon so if you just want to buy them there are plenty of places that sell them.

We have been shouting out punch lines to the cracker jokes for some years now-- usually the ones we make up are better than the written ones.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 4:26 PM on December 2, 2015 [2 favorites]


You can find crackers at Cost Plus stores. You're welcome.

That said, I've never seen anything terribly interesting in one. It's usually stuff like a cheap paper hat.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:01 PM on December 2, 2015


We don't know enough Floridians to play You're a Cracker. We may have to improvise.
posted by otherchaz at 9:33 PM on December 2, 2015


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