Wicked Gift Bundle

What’s Wicked Christmas actually like to play?

Wicked Christmas is easy to learn, but there’s a fun mix of strategy, luck, and messing with the other players. A round usually takes around 15 minutes, and you can play as many or as few rounds as you’d like. Play for individual round wins, or keep score across multiple rounds to make things even more competitive.

Play Your Presents

Each player starts with 11 cards in their hand and three piles of three cards in front of them. The bottom two cards in each pile are face down and the top card is face up. Those piles act as an extension of your hand, so you can play from your hand, your face-up cards, or combine matching cards from both.

On your turn, play a numbered Present Card that matches or is lower than the card previously played. You can also play multiple cards of the same number at once.

Create a Blast

Here’s where some of the strategy kicks in. Let’s say the previous player puts down three 4s. You have a 4 in your hand and a 4 showing on two of your face-up piles. Play all three together and you’ve created a sequence of six 4s!

Any sequence of four or more matching cards creates a 4-Card Blast, clearing the entire pile and giving you a fresh turn.

Have a Blast Card? You can use that to clear the pile too — even if the pile is empty — and continue your turn.

Cause Some Mischief

Mischief Cards let you mess with the other players in different ways, but they can also get you out of a tough spot.

If you can’t match or play lower, a Mischief Card can keep you from having to take the pile. Otherwise, if you have nothing you can play, the entire pile becomes yours and gets added to your hand.

Sometimes you may actually want that pile to keep growing. The bigger it gets, the worse it is for whoever eventually gets stuck taking it... as long as that person isn’t you.

Take Your Chances

As you clear the face-up cards in front of you, you’ll eventually expose the face-down cards underneath. Those have to be played blindly.

You might flip exactly what you need. You might uncover a Blast. Or you might turn over the wrong card and end up taking a massive pile of presents.

That uncertainty is part of the fun — and it means a strategy that worked perfectly last round might not save you in the next one.

Get Rid of Your Presents

The goal is to destroy all your presents while keeping your score as low as possible.

If you’re playing multiple rounds for points, going out first isn’t everything. The cards you're left holding count toward your score, and Blast and Mischief Cards can add points quickly. Managing your cards well can win you the overall game even if you don't win every individual round.

Easy to learn. Different every round.

There’s enough luck to keep everyone guessing and enough strategy that your decisions matter. Once everyone knows what they’re doing, things can get VERY competitive — and kids can definitely hold their own against the adults!