Secret Santa
Secret Santa Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
First player
The first player is the player with the birthday closest to Christmas.
Round set up
At the beginning of each round, the first player shuffles the deck and deals 7, 6, or 5 cards to each player respectively in 2, 3, or 4 player count games. The remaining cards are placed alternatively face-up and face-down (half/half) at the center of the table for the "Unexpected guest". There are 5 face-up / 5 face-down cards in a 2-player game, 3/3 in a 3-player game, and 2/2 in a 4-player game.
Note: If a player is dealt the third card of the same color, deal this card to the next player instead. Each player must take his cards in hands showing their back to the other players.
The first player starts playing, and the game proceeds clockwise until all the players have no cards left in their hands.
Gameplay
The active player must choose and take a card from another player or from the "Unexpected guest"'s face-down cards (the "Unexpected guest" face-up cards cannot be taken). At the end of the round, if the active player is the only one with cards left in hand, he must "take" one of his own cards from his hand. The active player then looks at the card taken, without revealing it, and places it face-down in front of him.
A player with no cards left in hand still plays normally. Present cards taken will remain face-down until the end of the round. Players may look at the face-down cards they have taken any time, but the back of these cards must remain visible to the other players.
If a player takes a card from the "Unexpected guest", the next player in clockwise order with cards still in hand must replace it with a card of his choice from his hand placed face-up as a gift to the "Unexpected guest", then the game resumes normally.
All the Present cards given to the "Unexpected guest" remain face-up for the rest of the round. This way there will always be the same number of "Unexpected guest" cards at the center of the table.
End of the round
When all players have no cards left in their hands, the round ends immediately.
They reveal their face-down cards (7, 6, or 5 respectively in 2, 3, or 4 player count games) and tally their scores for this round (see End of the round scoring). If no player reaches 25 pts, the player to the left of this round's first player starts a new round.
End game
When at least one player reaches 25 pts or more, the player with the most points wins the game! In case of a tie, a new round is played until one player has the best total score.
End of the round scoring
Reference sheet printed on the rulebook's first page.
7 Generic presents: Each Generic present gives 2 pts.
7 Cups: The number of points earned by all the Cups cards owned depends on their quantity.
1 Matamug: gives 2 pts and removes all Cups cards owned.
1 Choc & Cawa: gives 3 pts if you own the Matamug. If not the value of this card is 0.
7 Tea bags: Each Tea bag gives 1 pt.
1 Tea pot: The Teapot is worth 1 pt and it doubles the value of the tea bags in your possession.
Components
- 7 Generic Presents and 1 Matamug
- 7 Tea bags and 1 Tea cup (the printed component is referred to as the Teapot in the scoring section)
- 7 Cups and 1 Choc & Cawa