Welcome to the Festival of Lights!

I’m excited to introduce you to Festival of Lights, a fun game that can be played with 3 or 4 players. All you need is the Christmas Lights card game box. Let’s dive in!

Get Set with the Contents

To play Festival of Lights, we’ll need a few things from the Christmas Lights card game box. First, we have 18 pattern cards. These are the objectives that we’ll try to complete. Completing sets of these cards will earn us points at the end of the game.

Next, we have a deck of 42 colored bulb cards. This deck contains 7 each of red, green, yellow, blue, purple, and pink cards. These colorful cards will help us in our quest to complete patterns.

So, let’s talk about this interesting game called “{VAR-1}”. It’s a game that can be played with a group of people. When you play this game, you’ll need a few special cards. These cards include plugs, broken bulbs, and bubble bulbs. The number of cards you’ll need depends on how many people are playing. You’ll want to have one more card than the number of players. For example, if there are three people playing, you’ll need four plugs, four broken bulbs, and four bubble bulbs.

Game Setup

First, let’s mix together all the bulbs and special cards. Each player will receive 9 cards, and remember to keep them hidden from the other players.

Next, we’ll create a row of three face-up bulbs in the center of the table. If a special card is dealt, we’ll replace it with another bulb card. The row should consist of only normal bulbs. Keep the remaining bulb cards aside, as we won’t need them for the rest of the game.

Lastly, let’s shuffle the pattern deck and give each player one card. Place the card face up in front of the player it was given to. The rest of the pattern cards can be set aside, as they won’t be used throughout the game.

Let’s Play!

Alright, folks, it’s time to dive into the exciting world of this awesome game! To get started, we all pick a card from our hand and keep it facing down in front of us. Once we’re ready, we reveal our cards at the same time. Now, keep an eye out for something unique!

If you happen to play a bulb card that stands out from the rest, congratulations! That special card goes right into your tableau for scoring later on.

When it comes to organizing your tableau, make sure you separate your bulbs by their colors. Oh, and don’t forget about the special cards – they have their own set of rules to follow.

Now, if someone reveals a card that matches another card, we call those “drops.” These cards go into piles in the center of the table, sorted by their colors.

The round keeps going until each player has only one card left in their hand. And when that moment comes, say goodbye to that last card as you discard it, marking the end of the round.

Special Cards, Special Rules

When you play special cards, they do something special. But if you play more than one of the same special card, it still gets removed from the game.

Broken Bulbs help protect you from future removal. When you play a broken bulb, you add it to your cards. In the future, you can use the broken bulb instead of one of your cards when you need to remove something. Then, the broken bulb is gone for good. If you have to remove a broken bulb, you put it in the center of the table.

Bubble Bulbs are like wild cards. You can use them as any color bulb you want. When you add a bubble bulb to your cards, you put it under one of your pattern cards. At the end of the game, you choose which color pile to put the bubble bulb in. If you have to remove a bubble bulb, you put it in the middle of the table.

Plugs are a neat trick. It’s like reaching into the middle and snatching a card for yourself. If you grab a bubble bulb, you tuck it safely under your pattern card. But if you grab a colored bulb, you add it to your matching pile and get a plug card as a bonus. Keep it handy for later!

Character cards, on the other hand, are more strategic. When you play one, it goes right onto one of your color piles. And get this: it counts as two cards of that color at the end of the game. Just make sure you have the most bulbs of that color, or else the whole pile goes bye-bye. So, think twice before playing this card. It’s powerful, but it could also backfire.

THE END OF THE ROUND

When the round is over, we’ve got some cleanup to do. First, if you’ve got any bubble cards hiding under your pattern card, you need to bring them out and add them to your bulb pile. And guess what? You can stick them in any pile you want. It’s your choice!

Now, let’s compare the piles of bulbs that have the same color and character cards. If I don’t have the highest number of bulbs in that color (or tie for highest), I have to get rid of the whole pile. It doesn’t count towards my score. Just keep in mind, character cards count as two bulbs for me.

If I have the most bulbs of a certain color, I get to take all the bulbs of that color from the center. For example, if I have the most green bulbs, I get to collect all the green bulbs from the center. But if there’s a tie for the most, none of us get to collect the bulbs.

SCORING

Every bulb in my collection is worth 1 point. And if I have any special cards in my collection, each one of them earns me 2 points.

If I have 3 or more different colored bulbs in my collection, I add 2 extra points to my score. And if I have at least one bulb from each color, I earn 5 additional points. So the more diverse my collection is, the more points I can earn!

EMERGING VICTORIOUS

When it comes to winning, it’s pretty straightforward—the player with the most points emerges victorious. However, things can get a little tricky if there happens to be a tie. In that case, fear not, because I’ve got you covered. The player with the fewest number of cards in their possession is the one who will claim the ultimate victory.