Dr. Seuss: Merry Grinchmas! Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Set Up
• Object
• On Your Turn
• Gift Exchange (5 or 6 Players)
• Scoring a Wish
• End of the Game
• Components

Set Up

1. Unfold the game board and place it in the center of the play area. Each player chooses a house on the board to be their house for the game and sits near it.
2. Shuffle the Wish cards, place them in a draw pile face down in the center of the board, and flip four Wishes face up.
3. Place the Town Center tile nearby.
4. Place all the Present tokens in the draw bag and shake it to mix them up.
5. Draw three Presents and place them face up on the A, B, and C spots on the wreaths in the center of the board.
6. Draw and place one Present face up on each house on the board not chosen by a player. For example, if you have 4 players, place two Presents. If you have 6 players, don't place any.
7. Place the Grinch mover on the Max the dog space.
8. Give the spinner to the youngest player. They'll take the first turn.

Object

The Grinch has come down from Mt. Crumpit to steal Christmas! Work together as the Whos, collecting Presents and scoring Christmas Wishes, to show the Grinch the true magic of the holiday. All the players win if they have scored at least as many stars as the Grinch when the game ends!

On Your Turn

First you move and play as the Grinch, then you take your turn as a Who!

1. Spin the Spinner

2. Move the Grinch

The Grinch moves the number of spaces you spun clockwise on the path around Who-ville.

If you spun the feet symbol, the Grinch moves to the next feet space on the path.

3. The Grinch Steals Presents

• If the Grinch lands on an A, B, or C space, he steals the Present from the matching spot on the board.
• If the Grinch lands on the Max space, he steals all three Presents from the A, B, and C spots on the board.
• If the Grinch lands on a Present space, he steals a random Present from the bag.
• If the Grinch lands on a house-colored space, he steals a Present from the matching house! If the house belongs to a player, that player chooses one of the Presents on their house for the Grinch to steal. If the player does not have a Present, the Grinch doesn't steal anything.
• If the Grinch lands on a feet space, he doesn't steal anything.

Place any stolen Presents at the top of the board near Mt. Crumpit.

4. The Grinch Scores a Wish

Check the Presents near Mt. Crumpit. The Grinch scores one Wish, if he can. (See Scoring a Wish below.)

5. You Take a Present

Choose one of the Presents on the A, B, or C spots, or draw a Present from the bag. Place the Present face up on your house on the board.

Note: If the Grinch landed on the Max space this turn, you must draw a Present from the bag.

6. You Score a Wish

Check the Presents on your house. You may score one Wish, if you can. (See Scoring a Wish below.)

7. Refill Presents and Wishes

Draw Presents from the bag to refill any empty spots. (The A, B, and C spots and the houses that do not belong to a player should each have one Present.) Then draw Wishes from the draw pile until there are four face up.

Tip: Assign one player to always refill the Presents and another player to always refill the Wishes.

Now it's the next player's turn.

Gift Exchange (5 or 6 Players)

Instead of taking a Present, you can ask another player to exchange a gift. If they agree, swap one Present with them.

Scoring a Wish

Each Wish card shows the Presents needed to score it.

• One pink Present, one green Present, and one purple Present. (4 stars)
• Two of the same Present. (3 stars)
• Three Presents of the same color. It doesn't matter which color. (5 stars)

When a Wish is scored, place the Presents for that Wish back into the bag and place the Wish card into a scoring area. The Grinch has a face-down scoring pile on Mt. Crumpit and the players have the slots around the Town Center.

The Grinch may only score one Wish each turn. If the Grinch has Presents that could score more than one Wish, he scores the Wish with more stars. If there is a tie, you choose which Wish he scores.

You may only score one Wish each turn, but you do not have to score a Wish if you don't want to.

Tip: You may choose not to score a Wish so you can keep the Presents you need to score a Wish with more stars later!

Player Scoring Example: The player with the yellow house takes the yellow, green, and purple Presents on their house and puts them back in the bag. Then they place the Wish card into an empty slot around the Town Center.

End of the Game

When all the slots around the Town Center are full (the players have scored eight Wishes), the game is over. Add up the stars on the Wishes in the Grinch's scoring pile, and add up the stars on the player's Wishes around Town Center.

All the players win if they have as many stars, or more stars, than the Grinch!

Components

Game Board, Town Center Tile, Grinch Mover, Draw Bag, 50 Present Tokens, 36 Wish Cards, Spinner, Instructions.