Christmas Vacation Twinkling Lights Game

 

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation twinkling lights game

If you've ever watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, then you know it's all about the lights. So it's going to be no surprise to most when I tell you that this National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation game is a twinkling lights game.

From the box: Clark Griswold is determined to hang 25,000 twinkle lights for Christmas, but tangled wires and a pesky squirrel are out to spoil the holiday spirit! Lay tiles to create Christmas bulb combos and score, but spotting the pattern you need among the twisted light-strings is no easy trick.

Admittedly, there's not a lot in the box (14 pattern cards and 25 light tiles). But then again, the game was not that expensive. This is what's included:

Object:

Be the first player to match all 3 of your pattern cards.

Set up:

Shuffle the light tiles and place them in a face-down pile on the table. Turn over the top two tiles and place them side-by-side in the middle of the table. Shuffle the 10 red pattern cards and deal two to each player, face down. Red pattern cards show three lights at the top, green pattern cards show four lights. Shuffle the four green pattern cards and deal one to each player. Put the rest of the pattern cards back in the box.

Play:

Players take turns. On your turn, draw the top light tile from the stack and place it adjacent to any other tile that is already face-up on the table. Look at the pattern cards in your hands and try to place your tile in a position that will help you get the colored light pattern that is at the top of one of your cards (see the cards in the image above). Some of the tile cards have a plus sign in a corner and some of them picture broken wires. If there is a plus sign, you may place that tile on top of a tile that is already in play or adjacent to any tile already in play. If there is a broken wire, then placing that tile will break the sequence of that string of lights. If you draw a broken wire tile, you may either play it or pass it to another player and draw/play another tile. Being forced to play a broken wire on your turn may reduce your chances of winning, as you are not allowed to draw a tile and possibly make a sequence you need. If you pass it, that player must play it on their next turn. After playing your tile for your turn, you are then allowed to play any/all of your pattern cards that you can. Look at the color sequence at the top of a card and find that same sequence on the tiles that have already been played. First player to play all of their pattern cards wins the game.

This game does not require much logic/strategy/planning. I think the most it has going for it is that it's a Christmas game.

For a list of Christmas games that I have blogged about, click here.

Try this:

• Buy a string of battery operated Christmas lights at the dollar store for each person who will be playing. Before the game starts, pass out the lights, batteries (sold at dollar store), and bring some tape or string to the table. Let each person decorate their chair, body, or spot at the table with the lights. Get your twinkle on!
  
• Bake a "Christmas lights" treat before starting the game and enjoy eating after the game or while playing. Go to Pinterest and search for "Christmas lights" treat and you will come up with lots of simple ideas, most involving M&Ms for the lights. 

In the box: 14 pattern cards, 35 tile cards

Christmas Rush

 

Christmas Rush - Bring on the holiday cheer!

 

My regular readers know that I can get very excited about new Christmas games. The past few years it has been a real hunt, but not this year. I have quite a few new games to blog about and have just been waiting for it to get close enough to Christmas to get started. Well, today is the day! As I finish writing about each game, I add it to my Christmas Games post. Find them all in one place by clicking HERE.

Christmas Rush is a card game and not the best for a 1:1 therapy setting as it requires 3-8 people to play. It is played like musical chairs and spoons. Play moves fast and people are eliminated one at a time. The person who grabs the last Christmas token on the final round wins the game. The makers promise heart-pounding fun as you shout and cheer. That's quite a promise! Let's see if they can deliver.

The game consists of a deck of 62 cards and 7 cardboard tokens. There are 14 sets of 4 identical cards plus one action card each of Bah, Humbug!, Merry Christmas!, Ho! Ho! Ho!, Cheers!, Happy New Year!, and a woman singing. The card with the woman singing has musical notes in the top left hand corner. The other action cards each have a megaphone in the top left hand corner. The numbered side of the cards show Christmas images and the other side shows a wrapped gift. The cards are coated and should hold up quite a while.

Object:

Be the only player with a Christmas token at the end of the game. To grab a token you must be the first to get a set of four identical cards or be fast at grabbing a token once someone else gets a set of four.

Set up:

Put the game tokens in the middle of table, within easy reach of all players. During each round, the number of tokens in the middle will always be 1 LESS than the number of players. For instance, if four people are playing, there should be three tokens. This is how one person will get eliminated. Shuffle the cards and deal four to each player. Place the remaining deck, face down, near the dealer.

Play:

As mentioned, play moves fast and players will all be playing at the same time. To start, the dealer picks up one card from the top of the deck and then passes one card to the player on their left. They may pass any of the cards in their hand, including the one they just drew if desired. The player who got the card picks it up and passes one of their cards to the player on their left. Cards continue to be passed. The last player who gets a card discards one of their cards, they do not pass one back to the dealer. The dealer is quickly and continuously picking up and passing one card at a time and the game continues to flow this way until someone has collected a set of the same four cards. Once this happens, that player yells "Christmas Rush" and grabs a token from the middle of the table. The rest of the players scramble to grab a token. One person will not get one, since there is always one less than the number of players. That person is eliminated and another round starts. The next person becomes the dealer and passes out four cards to each player, etc. Eventually it will be down to two players and the first one to get a set of four matching cards and grab the last token is the winner.

With that said, there are six cards in the deck that will require special action as you pass each one. This is where you bring on the holiday cheer. Those cards are:

• Megaphone Cards
• Snowman - Player loudly says "Merry Christmas" when it is passed.
  
• Grumpy Scrooge card - Player loudly says "Bah, Humbug!" when it is passed.
  
• Santa Claus card - Player loudly says "Ho! Ho! Ho!" when it is passed. 
• Champaign Glasses - Player loudly says "Cheers!" when it is passed.
• Woman in party hat - Player loudly says "Happy New Year" when it is passed.
  
• Singing Card
• Player sings any part of any Christmas song they want. It can be just a few words.
  

This game is manufactured in my home state of AZ. For a video of how it is played, go to ArizonaGameCo.com.

Have fun and Merry Christmas!

Try this:

• Work on hand skills by practicing shuffling, dealing, holding, fanning, and removing cards.
• Deal the cards by holding the deck in your non-dominant hand and pushing them off the top, one at a time, with your thumb. Pick the card up with the dominant hand to pass it to the individual.
• How about some background Christmas music and some Christmas candy or cookies on the table. That way it will not be too "painful" to be eliminated. In fact, people might WANT to be eliminated early. LOL
  
• Smoosh. If you cannot hold and shuffle the cards efficiently, place them on the table, face down, and push them around in a big pile, smooshing, for about a minute to mix them. Then gather them up and deal.
• Work on visual discrimination, manual dexterity, coordinated use of both hands, holding/shuffling/dealing/fanning cards, process skills, executive functioning skills, socialization skills, play and leisure exploration and participation.  

In the box: 62 cards and 7 tokens