On the 12th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: 12 ruby red dice … and maybe a bunch of other stuff, but this is what matters most! Can you use these dice to mark off all the gifts on your holiday shopping list? We’d better find out!

What Is It?

A dice rolling game where players take turns drafting a die from the 12 rolled dice. Each time they take one they can choose to score it – marking off the gift matching that number – or save it – letting them bank dice until they can combine them to mark off a higher numbered gift on their sheet. A player wins when they check off the last gift on their list.

Who Is It For?

  • 2 – 5 Players – Works well at any count, but I think it’s best with 2 – 4 so you get to use all the dice
  • Ages 12+ – Pretty simple ruleset, but the idea of banking dice for later might be tricky for younger players
  • Fans of push your luck / dice rolling
  • Players looking for a quick, light game

PROS

  • Small / Portable – Doesn’t take up a lot of table space either
  • Rules – Well-written
  • Components – The dice are a really nice, marbled red; the bag is cute too
  • Rounds / turns play quickly

CONS

  • Theme – This didn’t really feel like a Christmas game to me. The theme could have been anything, really
  • Could go a bit long sometimes if rolls are repetitive and players earlier in turn order grab certain dice just to block them from others

Final Thoughts

I thought this was a cute little game. It was simple, played smoothly, and was a light game that could didn’t need a lot of deep strategy or anything in order to play.

I wish it felt more thematic I guess, because I didn’t really know why it even had a Christmas theme, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying it.

Something I do like is the variant where, instead of playing until someone checks off all their gifts, you can just play a certain number of rounds and then players score all their unmarked gifts, low score wins. I thought that was a nice option if you want it to play a bit quicker, since it all comes down to the luck of the rolls.

Overall, I’d definitely recommend it if you’re just looking for a nice, light, small box game!

Additional Information:
My Final Rating – 6/10

Designer – Steve Jackson (I)
Publisher – Steve Jackson Games
MSRP – $14.95
Website

*I was provided a copy of this game to do this review*

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