Christmas Trivia Card Game: A Jolly Stocking Stuffer

When I need a small (under $20) present for grownup stockings, the office gift exchange or as a thank-you for my twenty-something dog walkers, I flounder around and usually end up with a gift card to a big box store. Boring.

This year I’m getting a few sets of “Why Does Santa Wear Red?”, a Christmas trivia card game published by Adams Media, a division of renowned publisher Simon & Schuster. Priced at $15.99 on Amazon, it’s the right price point for an adult stocking stuffer.

It’s a simple card game. Players choose a question from one of four categories: traditions, entertainment, history, music. Answer incorrectly and play passes to the left. Get the right answer and you keep the card. The goal is to collect 12 cards for the win! The game is easy but the questions aren’t. But it’s fun when you answer incorrectly because you learn a new fun fact about the holiday.

An alternative way to play is a pub-style trivia format with teams. An emcee chooses 4 questions from one of the categories. Teams write down their answers and rate them 2,4,6 or 8 based on confidence in their answers. The emcee asks one final question worth 10 points, collects the answers, tallies the points and announces the winner.

We’ll play this year after the dishes are put away and the eggnog’s flowing.