Spirits of Christmas

Spirits of Christmas Rulebook

Table of Contents

Overview

Players will help Scrooge navigate cards that represent chapters and scenes from the story, taking actions using a rondel while playing combinations of Spirit cards to reveal Shadow Scenes to Scrooge. Each action requires Scrooge to spend precious shillings. He can part with only 15 shillings each chapter, and if these run out, everyone loses the game.

Game Components

Spirit Action Rondel
Counting House Board
3 Spirit Tokens (Past, Present, Future)
3 Chains Tokens
First Player Token
20 Shilling Tokens
Torch Token
Scrooge Token
Bedroom / Marley's Ghost / The End of It Cards
20 Point Cards
Scoring Card
24 Scene Cards (8 each: Past, Present, Future)
30 Spirit Cards
3 Gift Cards
6 Player Aids

Initial Setup

Each player takes a Player Aid.
Give the First Player token to the tiniest player.
Shuffle each Scene deck separately, and set them aside face-down.
Leave room for a horizontal row of Scene cards, which will be placed at the beginning of each Chapter.

Gameplay

Various game modes allow you to adjust the difficulty (see Modes of Play). For your first game, you will be playing using the "Normal" mode.

The game consists of three rounds ("Chapters"):

I. Ghost of Christmas Past II. Ghost of Christmas Present III. Ghost of Christmas Future

Marley's Ghost

At the start of the game, read both sides of the Marley's Ghost card aloud to all players (hereafter known as "the group").

The group will receive one Gift to aid you throughout the game. The group may choose a Gift card, or draw one randomly.

The Gifts

After receiving your Gift, remove the Marley's Ghost card and the remaining Gift cards from the game. The selected Gift card will remain in play throughout the game.

Gift #1: High Principles ("15 shillings a week with a family, and yet talks of a Merry Christmas.") At the start of each Chapter, after drawing your starting hands of Spirit cards, draw 3 additional Spirit cards and divide them amongst the group. Solitaire: At the start of each Chapter, exchange up to 2 cards with the same number of cards from the Counting House.

Gift #2: Generous Spirit ("This is a time when want is keenly felt and abundance rejoices.") Keep this card face-up. At any time during any chapter, + (one shilling icon). Then remove this card from the game.

(Transcription note: the printed rulebook shows this card partly covered by another card; the text above is what is legible, with the "+" followed by a single shilling icon.)

Gift #3: Chance to Change ("The shadows of the things that would have been may be dispelled!") At the start of each Chapter, after drawing Spirit cards, move the Bedroom card with Scrooge to any position. Make sure the Bedroom card touches 2 Scene cards.

Chapter Setup

Follow these setup rules at the beginning of each Chapter:

Set the Torch token aside.
Place the Spirit token for the current Chapter onto the center of the Rondel.
Create a pool of 15 Shillings (Bob Cratchit's weekly salary). Set the 5 remaining Shillings aside as a discard pile. Don't forget to reset this at the start of each chapter.
Shuffle the Spirit deck, and deal cards to each player based on player count:
- 1 Player: 5 cards (Solo variant: see Solitaire Variant)
- 2 - 4 Players: 3 cards each
- 5 - 6 Players: 2 cards each
Place Scrooge onto the Bedroom.
Shuffle the Scene deck for the current Chapter. Randomly place all eight of these cards face-up into a horizontal row below the Bedroom. The Bedroom card must touch the two cards in the middle of the row.

Begin taking turns, starting with the player with the First Player token.

Spirit Cards

A player's hand consists of Spirit cards. Spirit cards are used to take actions and complete objectives. Each Spirit card has a Move Value (1, 2, or 3) and a virtue: 1 = Contentment, 2 = Compassion, 3 = Charity. The uses of Spirit cards are explained in further detail beginning with Actions.

Player Communication

Player communication brings a charming aspect to the game. The game offers challenging and thematic options in the Communication Variants section. The following are the normal communication rules, known as the "Virtuous" variant.

Players keep their exact cards secret from everyone else. Players are not allowed to reveal their hands, and they are not allowed to say how many cards of any type they hold. They may, however, reveal or say how many cards they have in hand, and players may give hints about the cards they hold by using the virtues' terms, "Contentment," "Compassion," and "Charity." They may use terms such as "a lot," "some," or "a little" to give hints as to how much of a virtue they have. If a player has none of a certain card type, they may name the virtue and say, "Humbug!"*

* "Humbug" is an old term that means "despicably silly." It's a famous Scrooge quote, which he often uses.

These terms are all relative, and they are meant to give the other players an idea about what you may have without being too specific. Revealing exactly what you have may make the game much easier, possibly reducing the challenge and the fun. The best part about this method of communication, however, is the fun table talk that ensues.

Examples:

"I have a lot of Compassion."
"I have a little Charity."
"I have some Contentment."
"Compassion? Humbug!"

Player Turns

For each Chapter of gameplay, beginning with the First Player and moving clockwise, take turns as follows:

Choose an action on the Rondel, and move the Spirit token in either direction (clockwise or counter-clockwise), placing it onto the chosen action space. Discard 1 shilling from your pool for each space the Spirit token moved into or through from its previous action space (usually resulting in 1 or 2 shillings). The Spirit token must move, but you can return it to its space of origin and repeat the previous action; if you do so, you must travel all the way around the Rondel at a cost of 4 shillings.

First turn only, of each chapter: The First Player moves the Spirit token from the center of the Rondel to any action space. This always counts as moving 1 space, so only discard 1 shilling for this first action, regardless of which action you choose.
Take the chosen action (see Actions).
The player's turn ends, and the next player clockwise takes a turn. Keep taking turns until either the group completes the Chapter (see Ending a Chapter) or a player must discard a shilling and does not have enough in the pool to do so (see Losing the Game).

Each action space moved into or through costs 1 shilling.

Actions

Action: MOVE

Choose a single Spirit card from your hand and play it onto the discard pile. You must play a card. If you have no cards, nothing happens and your turn ends.
Move Scrooge from his current Scene (or the Bedroom) card to another Scene card that is exactly the same number of cards away as the number shown on the Spirit card (in one straight direction - Scrooge cannot change directions mid-movement). The Scene cards at the ends of the row do not wrap around to each another.
After completing a move, if Scrooge occupies a Coin or Torch of Plenty card (see Scene Cards), you must immediately activate the card. Scrooge can revisit a face-down card, but to no further effect.

Example: You have played a "Charity" Spirit card (3) during a Move action. You must now move Scrooge exactly 3 cards. Scrooge cannot move past the end of the row, so he must move 3 cards to the right.

Scrooge begins each Chapter on the Bedroom card. The Bedroom is touching two different Scene cards (the two in the center of the row, unless the Bedroom card is moved by Gift #3). The two Scene cards touching the Bedroom card are considered adjacent to it, needing one "point" of movement to move to. The Bedroom can never be revisited or moved through.

Scene Cards

There are three types of Scene cards: Coin, Torch of Plenty, and Shadow Scenes.

Torch of Plenty

Card text: Place the Torch token onto its space on the Rondel. Then flip this card face-down. "The Ghost of Christmas Present carried a torch that restored the good humor of those he sprinkled it upon."

After completing a Move action: If Scrooge occupies a face-up Torch of Plenty card, place the Torch token onto its space on the Rondel. If it is already on the Rondel, ignore this effect. Then, flip this card face-down (see The Torch).

Shadow Scene

After completing a Move action: If Scrooge occupies a face-up Shadow Scene card, nothing happens immediately. Players will be able to play cards to complete this Shadow Scene on a later turn.

Coin

After completing a Move action: If Scrooge occupies a face-up Coin card, take the indicated number of Shillings from the Shillings discard pile and place them into your Shillings pool. Also, if a Spirit card is indicated, draw 1 Spirit card into your hand from the deck (only the current player). Then flip this Coin card face-down.

More About Shadow Scene Cards

Shadow Scene cards contain any of the following virtue symbols: Contentment, Compassion, Charity.

Shadow Scenes represent important visions for Scrooge to experience, in order to see the impact of his actions in life. These cards stay face-up until completed. To complete a Shadow Scene, players must take the Play Cards action while Scrooge occupies the Shadow Scene. You are trying to match the virtue symbols on the Shadow Scene card, to eventually complete it (see Action: Play Cards). Shadow Scene cards have a shadowed bow at the top.

Action: DRAW 3 CARDS

Draw 3 cards from the top of the Spirit deck and add them to your hand. You must draw all 3 cards (or as many as possible, if the deck runs out before you can draw all 3).

Each player has a hand limit of 7 cards. At the end of any player's turn, each player with more than 7 cards in hand must discard down to 7.
Do not refill/reshuffle the Spirit deck at any time during a Chapter. If it runs out of cards, you must finish that Chapter with the cards you already have.

Action: GIVE

When a player takes this action, any one player must immediately give one or more Spirit cards from their hand to any one other player. The current player need not be the giver or the receiver of the card(s). All given cards must come from the same player, and only one player can receive cards this turn. In the rare event that no player has any cards to give, nothing happens and the turn ends.

Action: PLAY CARDS

Choose any number of Spirit cards from your hand and play them, face-up, under the Shadow Scene card Scrooge currently occupies. You must play at least one card to the Shadow Scene. You cannot play cards to any Scene card other than a Shadow Scene. Additionally, you can only play Spirit cards to a Shadow Scene card that Scrooge occupies. You can play any Spirit card to a Shadow Scene, even if it is not required to complete it.

To complete a Shadow Scene, it must have enough Spirit cards with the matching virtues on the Shadow Scene card to meet the requirements listed. Each card can only be counted once. Cards played to a Shadow Scene card remain there until the Shadow Scene is completed. When completed, discard the Spirit cards under the Shadow Scene card, and turn the Shadow Scene card face-down (Scrooge remains on this Scene card).

If you take this action and either you have no cards to play or Scrooge does not occupy a Shadow Scene card, nothing happens and the turn ends.

Example: A Shadow Scene "Thank You Very Much!" shows one Compassion and two Charity symbols (illustrated on the card); these three Spirit cards are required to complete it.

Special Spirit Cards

There are three Spirit cards in the deck (one each of Contentment 1, Compassion 2, Charity 3) that have a special icon: a "?" equals 1 shilling.

On your turn, instead of taking an action on the Rondel normally, if you have a special Spirit card, you can choose to play it to the discard pile and take any action on the Rondel for the cost of exactly 1 shilling. Move the Spirit token to the chosen action (if not already there), discard 1 shilling, and take the action.

Note: A special Spirit card can be used either normally OR for its special ability - not both.

Scrooge's Chains

At any time during a Chapter, the group may take a Chains token and add 5 shillings from the Shillings discard pile to the pool. There are only 3 Chains tokens. After all Chains tokens have been taken, if you must discard a shilling and do not have enough to do so, then Scrooge has forged his terrible chain and must carry it for all eternity - all players lose the game.

(Each Chains token = 5 shillings.)

The Torch

If the Torch token is on its space on the Rondel at any time during a player's turn: The current player may use the Torch (by discarding it from the Rondel) to take any of the four actions on the Rondel as a bonus action. This action does not cost shillings to take, and the Spirit token does not move.

Once used, the Torch can only be reclaimed (placed back onto its space on the Rondel) when Scrooge occupies a face-up Torch of Plenty card.

When activating a Torch of Plenty card, place the Torch token here on the Rondel (its space is shown next to the DRAW 3 CARDS space).

Note that there is only one Torch token for the entire group. Once used, no other player may use it until it is reclaimed.

Ending a Chapter

A Chapter ends in one of two ways:

All players lose by not having enough shillings. If a player must discard a shilling and there are not enough in the pool to do so, and if the group has already taken all 3 Chains tokens (and therefore cannot add any more shillings - see Scrooge's Chains), the game ends immediately and all players lose.
All players finish the Chapter by completing all Shadow Scene cards for the Chapter. When this occurs, immediately perform the following:
- Take Point Cards for the points the group earned this Chapter, and keep them in a pile. Make sure the correct side of each card is face-up, to accurately keep track of your points. All players score points as a group:
  - For each face-down Coin card (ignore the number of shillings on the card), +1 Point.
  - For each shilling that remains in the pool, +1 Point.
  - If you ended the Chapter with the Torch on its space on the Rondel, +3 Points.
- Discard all Spirit cards, from the deck and from players' hands.
- Discard all Scene cards for the Chapter and remove them from the game.
- If the Torch is on its space on the Rondel, take it and set it off to the side.
- Take the Spirit token from the Rondel and remove it from the game.
- Pass the First Player token to the next player clockwise. In 4-6 player games, the current First Player assigns the token to any player who hasn't received it yet in this game. This is a chance to recognize players who are actively contributing to the game's theme.

IMPORTANT! Before beginning the next chapter, don't forget to perform the full chapter setup, including resetting your shilling pool to 15 shillings.

Losing the Game

All players immediately lose the game if a player must discard a shilling and there are not enough in the pool to do so (with no Chains tokens remaining).

The End of It: Winning the Game and Final Scoring

If you have finished Chapter Three, you have succeeded in showing Scrooge the error of his ways, and he is a new man! You have won!

Now take The End of It card and read it aloud ("The Spirits did it all in one night!").

Calculate your final score:

Count the total number of Points you have already collected.
Add Points according to the number of Chains tokens you have taken:

Chains taken	Points added
None	+18
1	+12
2	+6
3	+0

Scoring Titles

Points	Title
0 - 9	Miserly
10 - 14	Merry
15 - 19	Content
20 - 24	Compassionate
25 - 29	Charitable
30 - 34	Spirited
35 +	Father Christmas!

Modes of Play

For communication modes' descriptions, see Communication Variants.

Very Easy

Marley's Ghost: you may use any number of Gift cards.
All 3 Chains tokens are available during the game.
Begin each Chapter with the Torch on its space on the Rondel.
Communication: "Open-Hearted."

"Old Jacob Marley, tell me more! Speak comfort to me, Jacob!"

Easy

Marley's Ghost: Choose any 1 Gift card.
All 3 Chains tokens are available during the game.
When you end a Chapter with the Torch on its space on the Rondel, leave it there to begin the next Chapter with it.
Communication: "Open-Hearted."

"You were always a good friend to me, Jacob, thank'ee!" said Scrooge.

Normal

Marley's Ghost: Randomly select (or choose) 1 Gift card.
All 3 Chains tokens are available during the game.
Follow the normal rules.
Communication: "Virtuous."

"You were always a good man of business, Jacob," said Scrooge.

Hard

Ignore Marley's Ghost and do not take a Gift card.
Only 2 Chains tokens are available during the game - score normally.
If you cannot fully complete an action, you cannot move the Spirit token to that space to take that action - you must choose a different action on your turn.
Communication: "The Miser."

"Don't be hard upon me! Don't be flowery, Jacob!" said Scrooge.

Very Hard

Ignore Marley's Ghost and do not take a Gift card.
Only 1 Chains token is available during the game - score normally.
If you cannot fully complete an action, you cannot move the Spirit token to that space to take that action - you must choose a different action on your turn.
Communication: "Three Chances."

"You will be haunted," resumed the Ghost, "by Three Spirits."

Humbug!

Ignore Marley's Ghost and do not take a Gift card.
No Chains tokens are available during the game - score normally.
If you cannot fully complete an action, you cannot move the Spirit token to that space to take that action - you must choose a different action on your turn.
Communication: "Jacob Marley."

"You don't believe in me," observed the Ghost.

Communication Variants

Variety in player communication can make the game experience as warm and inviting as the Cratchits' Christmas feast. Below are some ideas for how players can spice up the game. Warm up your favorite winter beverage, and try these communication variants for a little extra adventure!

Note: How players communicate is a decision left completely up to the group. Ultimately, player communication should maximize the fun for everyone, so feel free to communicate in such a way that brings the most fun and best embodies the theme of the game. After trying these variants, feel free to create your own!

Open-Hearted

This variant simplifies the game and allows for a better chance of winning. It's especially good when playing with younger people or for those who want to simplify the learning experience.

Cards in players' hands are completely revealed throughout the game by laying the cards face-up for all to see. Each player's cards can still only be used by that player, but you can help one another by looking at the cards everyone has and then forming strategies to help Scrooge.

Virtuous (normal mode)

This is the normal set of rules for player communication. The exact cards in a player's hand are kept secret from everyone but that player. Players are not allowed to reveal their hands, and they are not allowed to say how many cards of any type they hold. They can, however, reveal or say how many cards they have in hand. Players can give hints about the cards they hold by using the virtues' terms, "Contentment," "Compassion," and "Charity." They can use terms such as "a lot," "some," or "a little" to give hints as to how much of a virtue they hold. If a player has none of a certain card type, they can name the virtue and say, "Humbug!"

The Miser

Like "Virtuous," except that players can only talk about their own hands on their own turns. You cannot talk about or ask about anyone else's hand. Occasionally say, "Bah, Humbug!"

Three Chances

Like "Virtuous," except that players can only talk about their own hands. Across the entire group, players can communicate only three times during each Chapter. Each time they do so, only one player can speak, and only regarding their own hand. Each player can communicate no more than once during a Chapter, to a total of three players at most. (In a 2-player game, one player can communicate twice.) Therefore, when playing with more than three players, not every player will be able to communicate during each Chapter.

Jacob Marley

Players can speak only like Jacob Marley does - he speaks at the beginning of the story, and not at all after that. At the beginning of each Chapter, after dealing the starting hands of Spirit cards, you can take a moment to communicate however you like with each other. You might talk about the cards you have and share strategies for how to proceed. Then, you must be silent as the grave for the rest of the chapter.

Haunted

Communicate thematically like the Spirits of Christmas! Throughout the game, players can never say the names of the three virtues (Contentment, Compassion, and Charity). Players must figure out the meanings of the virtues, just like Scrooge.

Chapter One: Players can only make statements about the turns players took previously. Use these statements strategically to inform current and future turns. Remember that you cannot say the name of any virtue. Example: [Player draws a card] "Ah! I wish I had this card on my last turn!"
Chapter Two: Only the current player can speak, but they cannot discuss their own hand. They can ask up to one question to each other player about their hands. Players can only talk about the current turn - no question or comment can be made about past or future turns.
Chapter Three: The Ghost of Christmas Future never spoke, it only nodded and pointed. All players must do the same. Any player can attempt to communicate at any time, but the only communication allowed is nodding (yes or no) and pointing.

None

Nothing. No communication at all.

"Counting House" Variant

This optional variant uses the "Counting House" trifold game board.

Set up the game normally. Then, perform the following steps for setup:

Unfold and place the Counting House board next to the play area.
Use the alternate side of the rondel showing the Counting House symbol.
Draw 5 random Spirit cards and place them face-up onto the Counting House board, with one card on each space.

At the beginning of each Chapter, take any cards left in the Counting House from the previous Chapter and shuffle them together with the Spirit deck. Then, in addition to the normal steps for Chapter setup, draw 5 random Spirit cards and place them face-up onto the Counting House board.

Counting House: Gameplay

On this side of the Rondel, the GIVE action space is labeled "GIVE or TRADE."

When selecting this action, the player now has two choices:

Take a normal Give action or
Take the Trade action as follows:
1. Discard 1 card from your hand to the discard pile. Note that you must have at least 1 card in hand to take this action.
2. Draw into your hand any 2 cards from the Counting House.
3. Refill the Counting House back up to 5 cards by drawing additional Spirit cards from the deck and placing them face-up onto the empty card spaces. If there are not enough cards in the Spirit deck to do so, refill the Counting House with as many cards as possible until the Spirit deck runs out.

Solitaire Variant

The following additional rules apply when playing with one player:

Set up the game using the "Counting House" variant. You must use the Counting House board for the solitaire game, as you will not have the Give action available to you (only Trade - see Counting House: Gameplay).
At the beginning of each Chapter, draw 5 Spirit cards into your hand from the deck.
You have a hand limit of 5 cards. At the end of your turn, if you have more than 5 cards in hand, you must discard down to 5.
The Give action is not available in the solitaire game. Only the Trade action is available on the GIVE or TRADE action space.
Chains tokens are not available.
All actions taken on the Rondel cost only 1 shilling, and some also require you to discard a card. When taking an action that is not adjacent to the previous action, or when repeating the same action where the Spirit token currently is, you must discard 1 card of your choice from your hand, in addition to the normal cost of 1 shilling.
You win the game if you manage to complete the Shadow Scenes in all three Chapters, just like the regular game. Calculate your score normally - but do not score for Chains tokens you have taken, since they are not used in the solitaire variant.

Solitaire Scoring Titles

Points	Title
0 - 9	Miserly
10 - 12	Merry
13 - 15	Content
16 - 18	Compassionate
19 - 21	Charitable
22 - 24	Spirited
25 +	Father Christmas!

Story Variant

After you have saved Scrooge countless times and are ready for a new challenge, here is a new way to play the game: Story Variant. Recreate the story of A Christmas Carol by activating/completing the scenes in order! The numbers on the Scene cards are used specifically for this challenging variant.

This variant can be played at any player count. Set up the game and play according to the normal rules, with the following exceptions:

You must activate/complete Scene cards in ascending order (1-8). You can move Scrooge onto any card using the Move action normally, but you can choose to not activate/complete it (including Coin cards). However, you can only activate/complete a Scene card with a number higher (by any amount) than the last one activated/completed (the last one you flipped face-down).

You can take a Play Cards action to play Spirit cards normally, and you can do this regardless of the Shadow Scene card's number. But once a Shadow Scene has all the matching Spirit cards it needs, you must immediately complete it. (So be careful about this, as you need to avoid completing Shadow Scenes out of order.)

The Torch of Plenty card is not numbered and can be visited at any time normally. You can choose to not activate it when Scrooge visits it.

Story Variant Example

It's Chapter One, and Scrooge occupies the Bedroom card. He can activate/complete any card first. You move him onto card #2 first and choose to activate it (a Coin card). Now, Scrooge could move onto card #1, but you cannot activate it at all during this Chapter, as doing so would now be out of order. Next, you move Scrooge to card #6 (Coin card) and choose to not activate it. Then, you move Scrooge to card #3 (Shadow Scene) and take a Play Cards action to complete it. If you later move Scrooge to card #7 (Shadow Scene) and complete it without first completing card #5 (Shadow Scene), you will automatically lose the game because you will not be able to go back and complete card #5.