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Guest
Guest
This is a Christmas game I first heard about on a paddling board. One that we group-play every year, and one that I have perhaps cruelly corrupted. But it is remains an all-ages game guaranteed to result in uproarious laughter and merriment, and has become a Christmas tradition that everyone looks forward to.
A box of mixed chocolates, Whitman’s Sampler or the like, is wrapped as a present. Family and friends gathering, sitting in a circle on the floor. The first attemptee at unwrapping the box is given thick leather gloves to wear. The person to their left is given dice, trying to roll doubles.
Once doubles have been achieved the still unwrapped gift, gloves and dice are all passed along to the left, to a new unwrapper and new dice roller. Sometimes the unwrapee doesn’t even have time to get the gloves on. Sometimes the dice caster can’t roll doubles to save their soul, while the next people in line around the circle are unhelpfully shouting and laughing. It is always a rather loud game.
Once around the circle we move to rolling doubles twice, giving the glovee more time.
The cruel corruption is that I have become far trickier in wrapping the gift, using at least 3 layers of wrapping paper*, with 2” packing tape. Some of the tape ends present folded over tabs for easy gloved grabbing, but some of those easy pull tape tabs do nothing, they just peel off a layer of tape laid atop another layer of tape below, leaving the wrapping fully intact. Strategically wrapping the box is half the fun.
*3 layers. Christmas wrapping paper for a festive look, over plain brown paper for increased gloved difficulty, over the Sunday Comics; wrapping presents in the Sunday comics is another longstanding family tradition.
Seriously, if you have a group gathering of friends and kids give that game a try; it is crazy loud laughing fun, and everyone’s a winner (the eventual unwrapper shares the chocolate).
No bending the box (bad for the chocolate covered cherries), or biting at the tape in desperation.
A box of mixed chocolates, Whitman’s Sampler or the like, is wrapped as a present. Family and friends gathering, sitting in a circle on the floor. The first attemptee at unwrapping the box is given thick leather gloves to wear. The person to their left is given dice, trying to roll doubles.
Once doubles have been achieved the still unwrapped gift, gloves and dice are all passed along to the left, to a new unwrapper and new dice roller. Sometimes the unwrapee doesn’t even have time to get the gloves on. Sometimes the dice caster can’t roll doubles to save their soul, while the next people in line around the circle are unhelpfully shouting and laughing. It is always a rather loud game.
Once around the circle we move to rolling doubles twice, giving the glovee more time.
The cruel corruption is that I have become far trickier in wrapping the gift, using at least 3 layers of wrapping paper*, with 2” packing tape. Some of the tape ends present folded over tabs for easy gloved grabbing, but some of those easy pull tape tabs do nothing, they just peel off a layer of tape laid atop another layer of tape below, leaving the wrapping fully intact. Strategically wrapping the box is half the fun.
*3 layers. Christmas wrapping paper for a festive look, over plain brown paper for increased gloved difficulty, over the Sunday Comics; wrapping presents in the Sunday comics is another longstanding family tradition.
Seriously, if you have a group gathering of friends and kids give that game a try; it is crazy loud laughing fun, and everyone’s a winner (the eventual unwrapper shares the chocolate).
No bending the box (bad for the chocolate covered cherries), or biting at the tape in desperation.
