Bah! Humbug! & the 12 games of Christmas preview — Victorian Christmas animal cards for the whole family!

Released in 2021, Bah! Humbug! was a simple, straight-forward bluffing game for 2-5 players themed around the 12 days of Christmas. Pick up to 2023 and Emily Wilix, from Small Furry Games, is back with some designer friends to deliver twelve new games in a repackaged game: Bah! Humbug! & the 12 games of Christmas.

Kickstarted at the end of 2022 and aiming for a Holiday 2023 delivery to backers and retail, the goal of Bah! Humbug! is to get families together at the gaming table during the holiday season. In this version, players are given everything they need to play 13+ different games ranging from 1-12 players with varying levels of difficulty. What makes this box of games unique, is that every game is designed by a different person or team and games feature a variety of mechanics from trick taking, bluffing, and set collection, to name a few.

The box comes with components such as cards for the various games, a first player marker, and a bag of coal and holly berry tokens. Each game has an unique rule card that features the title of the game, the player count, the average length of the game, and the difficulty level. On the reverse side features the needed cards and components, the set-up, win condition, and how to play the game. The design of the cards included in the box allows them to be used in a variety of different games by adding symbols in various locations or even changing the backs of cards to make them multipurpose. The coal and holly tokens can be used as collection items in one game, may be used to lock cards in another, and used to track scores in another game.

The base game of Bah! Humbug! can play 2-5 players and is essentially a bluffing game. A wreath of cards, from 1-12, is displayed in the middle of the play area. Players are dealt a deck of cards with victorian era anthropomorphic animals representing the gifts from the 12 days of Christmas. As in the song, there are 12 cards with drummers drumming, 11 cards with pipers piping, and only 1 card with a partridge in a pear tree. Players will go around and place a card from their hand on the highest open wreath space, placing either a matching card or a non-matching card. If players think the active player has placed a non-matching card on the wreath, they can call Bah! Humbug!. The card is flipped and if the accuser is correct, they receive a holly berry, however if the accused actually played a matching card, they instead gain a holly berry. Next, each card is checked and anyone who was able to slip past a non-matching card gets a piece of coal. Players reset for a new round and play continues until someone has collected 3 holly berries or 5 coal (5 & 7 respectively in a two player game).

The preview copy came with rules for four other games with a variety of different play styles. 

• Lords A-Leaping is a solo game where players attempt Edouard Lucas’s 1883 puzzle called Toads and Frogs. Players start with 3 frogs on one side and 3 toads on the other and must try to swap all three with one open spot. 
• Dress the Mantel has players drawing and offering up cards to try and make combinations of symbols and scoring the most points by the end of the end of the game.
• The Christmas Parade involves rearranging cards in row to try and score points. Each card has a scoring condition and/or a symbol that works with other cards to score points. Players will rearrange, lock cards, and even steal from the other players to have the best parade.
• The Giving Spirit is a play on a trick-taking game where the high card wins the trick, but you do not want the most of a single card at the end of a round. Players will earn points by having the most cards of a set, but the lowest score after everyone has dealt wins!

Bah! Humbug! & the 12 games of Christmas seem like the perfect set of games to have on hand around the holidays. I know in my family, getting a big-box game to the table with so many different skill levels and personalities is tough. However, getting a card game to the table tends to be less intimidating. The games I was able to play from the set, while not super complex, were still easy to learn and a fun way to pass the time. The multi-use design of the cards and the tokens in the box make this game economical and offers a lot of different options to suit every person in your family. The artwork on the cards was very inviting as well. My wife felt like she was whisked back to a tale of Beatrix Potter and the whole theme of the game felt fitting for a cozy evening in winter. While only getting to play five of the twelve games of Christmas, I will be on the lookout for my own copy of Bah! Humbug! this holiday season!

For more information about Bah! Humbug! & the 12 Games of Christmas visit Small Furry Games here.

See below for our list of partners and affiliates: