Spirits of Christmas: Review
Information:
Mechanics: Cooperative, Rondel, Multi-use Cards
Player Age: 12+
Player Count: 1 - 6 Players
Time to Play: 30 - 45 Minutes
Game Designer: John S. Bailey
Game Artist: Emmie Bailey
Publisher: Humble Bard Games
Year Published: 2025
BGG Weight: 2.00
Disclaimer: A review copy for the game was provided by the publisher.
Introduction:
Spirit of Christmas is a cooperative puzzle with limited communication that uses a rondel and a limited action allowance of shillings, after all, what does Scrooge value more than his shillings?
The players are trying to create three chapters linked to the classic tale of the ghosts of past, present and future. Once each chapter has been completed the players have won, run out of shilling along the way and players have lost.
Game Anatomy:
Shilling Tokens:
Shilling tokens are your life-force and the action allowance system. To move across the rondel it costs one shilling to perform an action one space away, two shillings for the action across the rondel and four shillings to do the previously used action.
During the game chain tokens can be used to regain five shillings. There will be a set amount of chain tokens based on the game difficulty chosen.
Rondel:
This game uses a shared rondel for how players will select actions throughout the game.
Spirit Cards:
The spirit cards come in three types; Contentment, Compassion and Charity. Each of these cards have a value on the top of the card. This is linked to the card type, they will allow the player to move either 1, 2 or 3, respectively, across the scene cards when discarded on a move action.
Some of these spirit cards have a symbol at the top of the card that will allow the player to discard the card and do any movement on the rondel for the cost of one shilling. There is a hand limit of seven spirit cards at the end of a players turn.
Scene Cards:
Each chapter has eight scene cards matching the ghosts of past, present and future.
These scene cards will come in three types; coin cards, shadow scenes and the torch of plenty.
Coin cards return at least one coin to the players and will sometimes draw spirit cards that activate when a player lands Scrooge there then flips over once complete.
Shadow scenes are required to be completed by the players to then finalise the chapter. A player using the play action to discard the matching spirit cards can complete these cards, flipping them face down.
The ‘Torch of Plenty’ scene card will award the players a torch to be placed on the rondel. This torch can be spent to create an additional action of any rondel location without costing any shillings. This scene card is a one-time use, it will be flipped over after gained.
Bedroom and Scrooge Tokens:
Scrooge will move across the scene cards through each chapter in the pursuit of completing shadow scenes. Scrooge's starting point is directly above the two centre scene cards
Point Cards:
At the end of each chapter players will gain points represented by a 1-2 point card. These are:
- One point for each unused shilling.
- Three points if the torch is unused on the rondel.
Gift Cards:
There are three gift cards in the game. One will be used each time the game is played to slightly modify the game-state and benefiting the players in different ways.
Setup:
- Shuffle and reveal one gift card to be active during the game.
- Each player gains a player aid card.
- Place the rondel board in the centre of the table.
- Place the tokens to the side and place Scrooge on the bedroom card displayed below the rondel.
- Give the tiniest player the first player token.
Setup at the Start of Each Chapter:
- Set the torch token aside.
- Shuffle the spirit deck based on the player count to deal spirit cards to each player. One/ two - four/ five - six players five, three or two cards respectively.
- Place the chapter spirit on the centre of the rondel.
- Shuffle the right scene cards for this chapter and reveal them underneath the bedroom card, with the bedroom card connected to the middle two. Reset Scrooge back to the bedroom.
How to Play:
Players are going through the classic spirit of Christmas tale. The game is broken up into three chapters, where each chapter is completed when all the shadow scenes are resolved. When this occurs the players will tally their points to see how well they have performed. The game will end for all players if there are no shillings left and no chains that can be used. Within each chapter, however, players will use shillings to activate their actions as they move across the rondel. On said rondel, performing the action to the left or right will cost one shilling, the opposite action will cost two shillings and to repeat the action that last occurred will cost four shillings. This game is cooperative so it is crucial for players to get the timing of actions right to reduce wasted shillings. For the base game the communication limitation restricts players from saying numbers but they can say if they have a high or low amount of spirit cards they have. They can even say ‘Humbug’ if they have none of the spirit card type. There is an advanced mode of communication that matches the chapters. During the past chapter players can only talk about previous turns, in the present chapter players can only talk about the turn currently happening, and for the future chapter players can only point and use head gestures.
The actions the players can do on a turn are; Move, Play Cards, Give, and Draw Three Cards.
Drawing three cards allows the player to draw three spirit cards from the deck, remembering to discard down to seven at the end of the turn. Playing cards is used at the shadow scenes to play the matching spirit cards required, resolving the scenario and turning the card face-down. Giving allows any one player to gift another player some of their cards. Lastly, movement is triggered by a player selecting one spirit card to play for movement (the number at the top of the card), each spirit type has a specific movement number. This movement has to be exact to the number and will be moving over previously flipped cards as counted movements. The scene row of cards will not loop around so reaching an edge means the players have to turn and make the trek back.
Final Thoughts:
- Christmas themed game that is great for the season.
- Creating timing for your fellow player is a very important part of the game so it may feel like not much is happening on a player's turn.
- The chapters feel very similar unless playing with the advanced communication rules.
Spirits of Christmas is a cooperative rondel puzzle with a limited communication system. Players are trying to optimise using the shillings they have to last the entire chapter. Completing specific scenes of each chapter will lead the players to victory. At the start of a chapter the players have 15 shillings and each movement will cost a different amount based on its location on the rondel track. It’s not often you see rondels used in a cooperative method like this. This is the kind of game that fits a family, as the difficulty of the game can easily be lowered or raised to create the right atmosphere. I believe it is great to bring out specific games each Christmas and this could be your family's classic.
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