Games for Grinches

If you hate Christmas but like games, you're in luck! The season of joy doesn't have to be all fun and festivities - there are games for all you Grinches to play too! If you have a burning desire to tell children the truth about Father Christmas and a longing to kick over every snowman you see, then release your inner demons with these board games that kick Christmas right in the butt!

1. Dead of Winter - 2-5 players, 100 minutes, £50

Dead of Winter drops 2-5 players into a frozen zombie wasteland of snow and decay, where a small, weakened colony of survivors try to outlive diseased, flesh-craving monsters. Each player leads a faction of survivors with dozens of different characters in the game. In this meta-cooperative psychological survival game, players are working together toward one common victory condition — but for each individual player to achieve victory, he must also complete his personal secret objective. Certain games could end with all players winning, some winning and some losing, or all players losing. Merry Christmas, ya filthy zombie animals.

2. Winter Tales - 3-7 players, 90 minutes, £40

In Winter Tales, a storytelling board game, players tell the tale of the conflict between the characters of fairy tales, who represent all that is good and hopeful, and the Soldiers of Winter, who incarnate evil and the fierce cold of Winter. Players will ally themselves with one of the warring Factions, controlling characters and fighting for the comeback of Spring or the suffocation of all hope, bringing on an endless Winter. Winter Tales is an ever-changing game as each time the players will tell a completely different story, creating a shared plot. There's no festive cheer to be found in this game... you'll love it!

3. Gloom - 2-4 players, 60 minutes, £20

Okay, so there's no Christmas-ness to be found in Gloom - but isn't that what you want, you grumpy Grinch?! In the Gloom card game, you assume control of the fate of an eccentric family of misfits and misanthropes. The goal of the game is sad, but simple: you want your characters to suffer the greatest tragedies possible before passing on to the well-deserved respite of death. You'll play horrible mishaps like Pursued by Poodles or Mocked by Midgets on your own characters to lower their Self-Worth scores, while trying to cheer your opponents' characters with marriages and other happy occasions that pile on positive points. The player with the lowest total Family Value wins.

Got a game question? Need some advice? Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook or games@rulesofplay.co.uk!