Morpho Designs

Christmas Traditions

For those of us who celebrate Christmas and enjoy the festive holidays, there are special memories that stand out like mileposts.

Seeing distant relatives, gathering around the dinner table, going bowling.

Huh?

Well, my cousin and a couple of her friends did that one year so, yeah. Bowling.

That’s not such a foreign idea to me.

My wife, kids and I used to make up holiday games for the annual gathering at my aunt’s house.

Three years in a row, we subjected our relatives and friends to a test of their patience and goodwill.

Actually, they did enjoy the games and were disappointed when we didn’t come through on what would have been the fourth anniversary of the Holiday Game Fest.

Would You Like to Play a Game?

What types of games work best for a gathering of young and old, secular and spiritual, brainy and bovine?

First, decide whether you want team play or individual play. We never did individual play, simply because the size of the gathering would have made it more work than fun.

For team play, randomly splitting the room in half is the easiest solution.

In the spirit of the holidays, avoid the battle of the sexes.

There is one variation on the team idea that’s better than splitting people up: one massive, cooperative team vs. “the game”.

A Matter of Style

Next, pick a game style.

We’ve done a quiz show, a Myst-like mind-bending marathon and a singing game.

By far, the singing game was the most popular.

Leitmotiv

Now you can pick a theme.

As a game designer, I’ve learned that it is easier to base a game on something familiar than it is to create a world. Additionally, I’ve found it better to pick a theme after deciding the other factors.

Christmas is rich with themes.

Our first game, the quiz show, was based on The Twelve Days of Christmas.

Each quiz used one stanza as the subject. To tie each stanza together, we created characters like egg-nog guzzling elves and rambunctious reindeer.

No Dice

Finally, it’s time to think of the game mechanics.

How does one round go?

What is a turn?

What props will you use?

Keep in mind, this is not a game for sale, it’s probably a one-time event.

For this reason, don’t worry about making perfect figurines, glossy game boards or any of that.

Our singing game used sixteen playing cards that I whipped up using cut and paste graphics and perforated card stock from the office supply store.

One round consisted of singing verses from a popular Christmas song, while passing cards around the table.

Using a couple of simple rules, we managed to create a howling good time for all.

What to Avoid

Don’t get too cerebral

Our worse game was the puzzle marathon.

While it appealed to the college kids and puzzle lovers, we found that too many people just sat around and watched.

Ironically, this game took the most time to develop.

While our first game had quizzes and logic, the bulk of the challenges were simple trivia and word scrambles.

Don’t have too many rules

If you spend more time explaining the game than playing, you probably have a game that’s better suited to your hard-core gamers.

Generally, all you need is a simple goal.

Don’t have losers

Give people some way to continue participating, even if they get knocked out of contention for top honors.

Better yet, just use team or cooperative play.

Don’t dictate

If you see that people aren’t playing the game the way you planned, so what!

As long as everyone is having fun, you’ve done your job.