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12 Days

12 Days

2011·James Ernest, Mike Selinker

3 - 5 players
15 min
Light weight: Learn it in minutes

From BoardGameGeek

The holiday-themed 12 Days takes the familiar "Twelve Days of Christmas" song and twists it into a quick-playing card game. Over twelve rounds, players try to re-gift unpopular cards while keeping cards that are strong enough to win the day, while also keeping a careful eye for bonus scoring at the end of the game. The gift deck consists of eighty cards: one partridge in a pear tree, two turtle doves, and so on up to twelve drummers drumming, as well as one card each for Mr. and Mrs. Claus. Shuffle this deck, then deal each player twelve cards. Each round a new holiday card is up for grabs, with the cards ranked from 1 to 12 and being worth 1-12 points. In a round, a player: Gifts a present to the player to his left, Opens presents and tries to win the day with the best present, and Buys a new gift to refill his hand. More specifically, all players simultaneously pass one face-down gift card to their left-hand neighbor. Then everyone chooses one gift card in hand and reveals them simultaneously. Whoever plays the lowest gift card wins that round's holiday card; in the event of a tie for lowest, with the Clauses counting as zero, then the next lowest card wins. Each player then draws one card to bring their hand back to twelve cards. After twelve rounds, players score points for each holiday card they've collected. In addition, whoever holds the most gift cards for each rank scores as many points as that rank, with all tied players scoring in the event of a tie. Whoever has the most points wins. Happy holidays!

12 Days

Watch first

Learn to play

How to Play 12 Days | Festive Card Game Rules Explained4:39

How to Play 12 Days | Festive Card Game Rules Explained

Tabletop Gaming Guild

Tabletop Gaming Guild

Review

12 Days Board Game Review | Festive Card Game for Families & Holiday Fun5:45

12 Days Board Game Review | Festive Card Game for Families & Holiday Fun

Tabletop Gaming Guild

Tabletop Gaming Guild

Watch it played

12 Days 3 Player Playthrough14:36

12 Days 3 Player Playthrough

Board Gaymes James

Board Gaymes James

Which 12 Days video should I watch?

12 Days has 4 videos from 2 creators: 1 review, 1 how-to-play guide, 1 playthrough and 1 unboxing. They date from December 2025.

To learn the rules, start with "How to Play 12 Days | Festive Card Game Rules Explained" by Tabletop Gaming Guild, which runs 5 min.

For an opinion before you buy, start with "12 Days Board Game Review | Festive Card Game for Families & Holiday Fun" by Tabletop Gaming Guild. To see it played, watch "12 Days 3 Player Playthrough" by Board Gaymes James.

If you like it, try Tak, Pirates of the Spanish Main, Lords of Vegas and Light Speed: Arena, also by James Ernest.

All videos

How to Play 12 Days | Festive Card Game Rules ExplainedHow to play4:39

How to Play 12 Days | Festive Card Game Rules Explained

Tabletop Gaming Guild

Tabletop Gaming Guild

12 Days Board Game Review | Festive Card Game for Families & Holiday FunReview5:45

12 Days Board Game Review | Festive Card Game for Families & Holiday Fun

Tabletop Gaming Guild

Tabletop Gaming Guild

12 Days Board Game Unboxing | Festive Family Card Game Components & Holiday FunUnboxing1:09

12 Days Board Game Unboxing | Festive Family Card Game Components & Holiday Fun

Tabletop Gaming Guild

Tabletop Gaming Guild

12 Days 3 Player PlaythroughPlaythrough14:36

12 Days 3 Player Playthrough

Board Gaymes James

Board Gaymes James

Creators who cover this

All channels
Tabletop Gaming Guild
Tabletop Gaming Guild
3 videos of this game
Board Gaymes James
Board Gaymes James
1 video of this game

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About 12 Days

From BoardGameGeek:

The holiday-themed 12 Days takes the familiar "Twelve Days of Christmas" song and twists it into a quick-playing card game. Over twelve rounds, players try to re-gift unpopular cards while keeping cards that are strong enough to win the day, while also keeping a careful eye for bonus scoring at the end of the game. The gift deck consists of eighty cards: one partridge in a pear tree, two turtle doves, and so on up to twelve drummers drumming, as well as one card each for Mr. and Mrs. Claus. Shuffle this deck, then deal each player twelve cards. Each round a new holiday card is up for grabs, with the cards ranked from 1 to 12 and being worth 1-12 points. In a round, a player: Gifts a present to the player to his left, Opens presents and tries to win the day with the best present, and Buys a new gift to refill his hand. More specifically, all players simultaneously pass one face-down gift card to their left-hand neighbor. Then everyone chooses one gift card in hand and reveals them simultaneously. Whoever plays the lowest gift card wins that round's holiday card; in the event of a tie for lowest, with the Clauses counting as zero, then the next lowest card wins. Each player then draws one card to bring their hand back to twelve cards. After twelve rounds, players score points for each holiday card they've collected. In addition, whoever holds the most gift cards for each rank scores as many points as that rank, with all tied players scoring in the event of a tie. Whoever has the most points wins. Happy holidays!

Designers

James Ernest, Mike Selinker

Artist

Echo Chernik

Publisher

Calliope Games

Categories

Card Game

Mechanics

Auction / BiddingSet Collection
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