Ugly Christmas Sweaters Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Goal of the Game
• Set Up
• Game Play
  • Trade Phase
  • Draft Order
  • Drafting
• The Knit Phase
  • Subsequent Trade Phases (Tricks)
  • End of Round
• Scoring
  • Secret Santa
  • Subsequent Rounds
  • Scalability
• Game End
• Game Variants
  • Casual vs Avid Knitters
  • 3-Player Variant
  • 2-Player Variant
  • Express Variant
• Game Play Cards
  • Trendy Yarn
  • Perfect Fit
  • Fads
  • Sweater Cards
  • Patches
  • Secret Santa
  • Score Reference Card
  • Express Variant Round Tracker
• Kickstarter Edition Bonus Cards
• FAQ

Components

The Knitters' Kit:

• 1 Rulebook
• 1 Scorepad
• 52 Sweater Cards
• 16 Secret Santa Cards
• 10 Fad Cards
• 6 Perfect Fit Cards
• 4 Special Ability Cards
• 4 Trendy Yarn Cards
• 4 Score Reference Cards
• 4 Draft Order Cards
• 1 Round Tracker (Express Variant)

Goal of the Game

In Ugly Christmas Sweaters, players compete against each other through trick-taking and card drafting in order to collect and assemble sweater pieces. Various Gameplay Cards, which are drawn at the start of each round, will determine game parameters and bonus scoring.

At the end of each round, Victory Points (hereafter referred to as VP) will be awarded based on number of sweaters built and bonus scoring (points for sweaters that follow round-specific goals and hidden objectives).

At the end of the third round, scores from each previous round are tallied together and the player with the highest total score (best sweaters) will win!

Set Up

Gameplay Cards. These cards will help determine how the round(s) of Ugly Christmas Sweaters will be played. They can be easily identified as the cards with numbers in the top left corner. Set them up in separate, shuffled, facedown piles in a line as follows: 1. Perfect Fit, 2. Trendy Yarn, 3. Fads.

Draft Order Cards. Place these in a pile off to the side to be used at the end of a trick.

Sweater Cards. Shuffle the deck and deal out four cards faceup into the Draft Pool Area. Deal out the remaining 48 cards (12 to each player) facedown. These will be players' cards for the round.

Score Reference Cards. Deal one Score Reference Card to each player. These cards will help keep track of how many VP your built sweaters will score.

Secret Santa. These are hidden objective cards. Each will have a character requesting a specific sweater build. Hand one out facedown to each player at the start of every round.

Game Play

For the purposes of this explanation, a 4-player "Casual" game is described. See Game Variants for the 3-player and 2-player variants, as well as the "Avid Knitter" variant.

The Knitting Begins...

If you're feeling festive, whoever is wearing the most red and green will receive the "1" Draft Order Card and act first in the opening round.

OR

If you're feeling competitive, begin the game by shuffling the four Draft Order Cards and hand them out facedown. Whoever received the "1" will act first in the opening round.

Shuffle the Sweater Cards deck and deal out four cards faceup into the Draft Pool Area. These will act as the initial Draft Pool. Deal the remaining cards out facedown so that each player receives 12 cards in a pile. Players then draw nine cards. This will be their starting hand.

Next, flip the top card over on each of the three shuffled Gameplay Card piles: Perfect Fit (1), Trendy Yarn (2), Fads (3). This will determine the playing parameters for the round.

OR

If you're playing for the first time, you can use these settings for the rest of the game! Simplified rules for beginners can be found in Scalability.

Once the Gameplay Cards have been established, hand out a Secret Santa card face down to each player. The players may look at their own Secret Santa cards as often as they please but should keep them concealed from others until this round's scoring phase.

You are ready to play!

In Ugly Christmas Sweaters, cards are numbered from 1 to 12 and are ranked high to low. Simply put, a "12" is the strongest card and a "1" the weakest. The only thing that changes these basic rankings are "Perfect Fit" and "Trendy Yarn" cards.

Trade Phase

Whoever received the "1" Draft Order Card will now choose any single card from their hand and place it face up in the centre of the table ("Trade Area"). This is called "leading".

Play will continue clockwise. Each player, other than the starting player, must obey the card that was "led" by either playing a card in their hand that has the same Colour (Purple, Green, Red or Yellow) or same Icon (Snowmen, Candy Canes, Bells or Trees). If they are not able to do that, then they may play any card from their hand. Once all players have played a single card from their hand, the cards' strength will be compared to determine Draft Order.

Draft Order

Determining Draft Order is always influenced by the Sweater Cards' numeric value as well as Gameplay Cards: Perfect Fit (1) and Trendy Yarn (2).

The simplest way to determine draft order is by going down this checklist of influential cards and placing the numbered Draft Order Cards one by one:

Was a Perfect Fit card played?

Perfect Fit (Super Trump). If there is a Sweater Card in play matching the Perfect Fit number, it will immediately take the top spot in a draft. If there is more than one Perfect Fit value Sweater Card on the table at the same time, the player who played it later in the turn order will take priority. Exception to this rule: A Sweater Card that matches both the Perfect Fit number and the Trendy Yarn colour is considered the "Ultimate Trump" and will take the trick even if a Perfect Fit card not matching the Trendy Yarn colour is played after it.

If no Perfect Fit...

Trendy Yarn (Trump). If there is a Sweater Card in the trick matching the colour of the Trendy Yarn card, it will beat cards of any other colour regardless of their comparative values. If there are more than one Trendy Yarn coloured Sweater Cards in play, then whosoever's Trendy Yarn coloured card has a higher value takes the top spot in the draft.

If no Trendy Yarn...

Card Value. In this case, determine draft order by simply comparing card values. Rank these cards from numbers high to low.

Always keep in mind that in the event of a tie, the person who played their card later in the turn order will take priority.

Drafting

Drafting Sweater Cards is simple. Using the now established Draft Order, each player will take their turn picking and placing a Sweater Card from the Draft Pool into their respective Knitting Area.

Note: Players are not allowed to draft from the cards they just played into the Trade Area as those will be the Draft Pool next round!

Example: Kym is leading. She chooses to play the Red 7 which has Snowmen icons. This means all remaining players must either play a card that is Red or a card that has Snowmen icons.

Play continues clockwise. Mads decides he will play the Green 4, he may play this because it follows the icon that was led (Snowmen). Rain then plays the Purple 10, also following Kym's leading card's icon (Snowmen). Lastly, Luna plays the Red 1, following the led colour.

Now that each player has placed their Sweater Card in the Trade Area, Draft Order will be determined. Referring to the Perfect Fit and Trendy Yarn cards in play, we can see that Mads has played a "4", the Perfect Fit number in this example. Therefore, he will draft first. Rain has played the Purple 10, which is the Trendy Yarn colour in this example, and will draft second. Since the remaining players, Kym and Luna, both played cards that are neither Perfect Fit nor Trendy Yarn, their Draft Order will be determined by card strength alone. Thus, Kym will draft third (Red 7) and Luna will draft fourth (Red 1).

The Knit Phase

Your Knitting Area is where you will build sweaters. You may build as many sweaters as you would like but once any player completes their third sweater, the end of the round will be triggered. Sweaters are considered complete when a Left, Right, and Bottom piece are combined together. By doing so, you will score various points based on the round parameters. Place your Sweater Cards wisely. Once you have placed your drafted Sweater Card into the Knitting Area, you have started knitting your sweater. Thus, Sweater Cards may not move to another sweater build later in the round. However, you may choose to place a Sweater Card you draft over a previously played card.

Subsequent Trade Phases (Tricks)

Once all players have drafted and placed their Sweater Card, the next "Trade" phase will begin. Clean up all the Draft Order cards, leaving whomever received the "1" in front of that player. All Sweater Cards from the previous trick now shift over to the Draft Pool. Players draw a card from their respective decks, replenishing hands up to 9 cards. Once all players are ready, the player with the "1" card will now lead.

Note: Drawing up to 9 cards will not be possible at the start of the fifth round in a 4-player game - that's okay! Your hand will start to deplete now.

End of Round

As noted previously, once any player completes their third sweater, the round's end will be triggered. Anyone drafting after the player who triggered the round's end will still be allowed to draft and place their Sweater Card. In a two-player game, both players will continue to draft until the Draft Pool is empty. Note: A round will also end if all players have exhausted their hands.

Scoring

Now that the round has ended, players will begin the Scoring Phase. All should refer to their "End of Round Scoring" reference cards.

Sweater Build: Players will receive 2VP for each completed sweater in their Knitting Area (a sweater with a Left, Right, and Bottom card).

Three Consecutive Numbers: If a completed sweater can produce a run of three consecutive numbers it scores a 2VP bonus.

Fads: These cards will determine what sweaters are "hot" right now. Scoring is determined on what Fad card is showing on a given round. For cards with two objectives (e.g. All Green / All Trees) you can score the noted Victory Points if you complete a sweater that's Left, Right and Bottom pieces all match in either colour or icon. Example: If you have completed a sweater with All Green Sweater Cards you'd score 3VP regardless of icons. Conversely, if you completed a sweater with All Tree icons you would score 3VP regardless of colour.

Example: Three sweater builds and a "Fad" card are shown above. In this example each sweater would score a base 2VP for simply being completed.

Sweater "A" would score a base 2 VP and would also score 2 VP for consecutive numbers, and 3 VP for having All Green Sweater Pieces as well as 3 VP for having All Tree icons. (Totalling 10 VP)

Sweater "B" would score its base 2 VP and would also score 3 VP for having All Green Sweater Cards. (Totalling 5 VP)

Sweater "C" would score its base 2 VP and would also score 3 VP for having All Tree icons. (Totalling 5 VP)

All Matching "Non-Fad" Colours and Icons: If you are able to build a sweater that has all the same icons or all the same colours, but they aren't the determined Fad, they will still score you 1 bonus VP. Working with the example above (Fad All Green/All Trees), both shown sweaters would score their base 2VP for being complete and an additional bonus 1 VP (total 3 VP). (Example: All Red "non-fad" colour match, additional 1 VP. All Snowman "non-fad" colour match, additional 1 VP.)

Secret Santa

These hidden objective cards may now be flipped over for other players to confirm. If one of your completed sweaters is comprised of the three indicated pieces then you will score 3 bonus VP. Once it is determined that players did or did not complete their "Secret Santa" cards, they are gathered up and discarded into the game box. Each player will receive a new "Secret Santa" card at the beginning of the next round.

In the example above, Auntie Jaimie requested a sweater with two Candy Cane Icons and one Purple Sweater Card. The sweater shown would fulfill this "Secret Santa" card. Sweater Card placement does not have to match exactly, but each piece may only count toward either an icon or colour.

Subsequent Rounds

Once all sweaters have been scored, the 4 Sweater Cards that determined the last Draft Order (in the Trick/Trade Area) will shift into the Draft Pool to be used at the start of the next round. The player with the "1" Draft Card keeps their card so that it is clear who will lead at the start of the new round. Gather and shuffle all Sweater Cards. This includes cards that remain in players' hands/piles, finished sweaters, unfinished sweaters, and any cards that may have been removed from the round (keeping in mind to leave the 4 Sweater Cards that were just placed in the Draft Pool!). Once shuffled, deal 12 cards out, facedown, to each player.

Scalability

Ugly Christmas Sweaters was designed to scale up in difficulty as players become accustomed to gameplay. The simplest way to do this is by changing only 1 of the Gameplay Cards per round. Then, when comfortable, change 2 per round. Slowly working your way back numerically with the Gameplay Cards will add levels of complexity and variance every round without overwhelming new players.

Flip these cards at the beginning of round:

• Beginner: Fads
• Novice: Fads, Trendy Yarn
• Expert: Fads, Trendy Yarn, Perfect Fit

Game End

The game will end after the third round of play.

Scores from each round are tallied and the player who scored the highest total wins!

In the event of a tie, the player who recorded the fewest unbuilt sweaters between tied players will win.

If still tied, the player who recorded the most total Fad points between tied players will win.

If players are still tied, then they need to grab some yarn and knitting needles. The player who knits a sweater the fastest wins!

Game Variants

Casual vs Avid Knitters

Casual: At the beginning of each round, players will be given a Secret Santa card that they can choose to complete by the end of the round for the specified bonus VP.

Avid: At the beginning of the game, players are given three Secret Santa cards. They must complete these three sweater builds by the end of the game. Any player who does not complete their three Secret Santa cards does not qualify for scoring and thus, in essence, loses the game.

Note: At the end of each round in the Avid variant, all players will only reveal Secret Santa cards that they have completed. Any incomplete requests remain facedown.

3-Player Variant

This plays similar to the 4-player version with these minor changes:

• As with 4-player, place 4 Sweater Cards in the initial Draft Pool to begin the game.
• While there will be 4 options to choose from, only 3 Sweater Cards will be drafted after each trick. 1 will remain in the Draft Pool.
• At the start of each round, deal out 16 cards to each player.

2-Player Variant

This plays similar to the 4-player version with these minor changes:

• As with 4-player, place 4 sweater cards in the initial Draft Pool to begin the game.
• At the start of each round, deal all remaining Sweater Cards evenly to both players.
• Players will go back-and-forth, playing a total of 2 cards from their hands in the Trade Phase. Players will then draft and place 2 Sweater Cards into their Knitting Area in the Draft/Knit phase.

Express Variant

You've been so busy putting up those Christmas lights, inflating that giant lawn Santa, and whipping up your famous 'special' eggnog, that you haven't even started on this year's Ugly Christmas Sweaters. Time is tight, and the yarn is flying off the shelf! You need to buckle down and put the needle to the... other needle?

This Express Version distills the gaming experience of three rounds into one. With multiple 'Fads', shifting 'Trendy Yarn' and 'Perfect Fit' cards, you can experience the same varied game play in a shorter time frame!

For a quicker game of Ugly Christmas Sweaters, follow setup and gameplay at selected player count for a Casual game with the following exceptions:

• Deal two Secret Santa cards to each player.
• Draw the number of Fad cards equal to the number of players +1, and display them faceup.

Trendy Yarn

After a set number of Trade Phases (tricks), based on player count, discard the current Trendy Yarn card, drawing a replacement.

• 2 players: After every 3rd Trade Phase (trick).
• 3 or 4 players: After every 4th Trade Phase (trick).

If you exhaust Trendy Yarn cards and are unable to draw a replacement, reshuffle the discard pile and set facedown, turning the top card up.

Perfect Fit

At the end of a Trade Phase (trick), if a Sweater Card was played that matches the active Perfect Fit Gameplay Card, the current Perfect Fit Gameplay Card will be discarded and a new one drawn.

If you exhaust Perfect Fit Gameplay Cards and are unable to draw a replacement, reshuffle the discard pile and set facedown, turning the top card up.

Fads

Instead of drawing a single Fad card, draw Fad cards equal to the number of players +1. Display these cards faceup. For example, in a 2-player game turn 3 Fad cards face up.

Fad cards will be claimed by a player as soon as their requirements are fulfilled (either partially or entirely). For example, the "All Green / All Trees" Fad could be completed and claimed if a player were to complete an All Green sweater, All Trees sweater, or All Green & All Trees sweater.

Fads cannot be completed simultaneously. In the example above, if two or more players were to complete an All Green or All Trees Fad in the same trick, Drafting Order would determine which player completed their sweater first, thus, that player would claim the Fad.

Claiming the Fad

When claiming a Fad, the Fad card is placed on top of the completed sweater. The Fad card may not be moved, and this sweater can no longer be altered. When scoring, the Fad card bonus only applies to this specific sweater.

This sweater may still qualify for any additional scoring not pertaining to this specific Fad card.

Round End

Round End triggers when a player has completed their fourth sweater (or all players have exhausted their hand).

Game Play Cards

Trendy Yarn

Commonly referred to as "trump cards" in trick-taking games, the Trendy Yarn card in play will have a sweater of a certain colour on it. This will determine what colour is strongest in a given round. That is, any card of the colour shown on the Trendy Yarn card will rank higher than a card of any other colour, regardless of its value.

Perfect Fit

This card will show a numerical value. Sweater Cards of that value will be the strongest in a round. For the sake of ease, these can be referred to as a "super trump", in that a card of this value will beat out any Trendy Yarn card.

Fads

These cards determine what bonus scoring will occur during a given round. Some Fad cards will show a sweater colour and icon - both of which will give bonus Victory Points if any built sweater is comprised entirely of either. In the case of the "Clash Is In" Fad cards, the built sweater must be comprised of entirely different colours and icons to receive those bonus Victory Points.

Fads Example: All Red / All Candy Canes are the Fads of the round. This means if you build a sweater that is comprised of All Red Sweater Cards, regardless of icons, you will receive 3 VP for that sweater. Alternatively, if you build a sweater with All Candy Cane icon Sweater Cards, regardless of colour, you will get 3 VP. If you manage to do both Red and Candy Canes, you will collect both Victory Point bonuses (and by default you will collect the 2 VP bonus for Sweater Build).

When a Fad is established, keep in mind that building sweaters comprised of matching "Non-Fad" colours or icons still earns you 1 bonus Victory Point! So going with this example, if you built a sweater that was made up of All Green, Purple or Yellow Sweater Cards, you would gain 1 bonus VP. If you built a sweater that was made up of All Bells, Trees, or Snowmen icons, you would also gain 1 bonus VP.

Sweater Cards

These cards will make up your hand for each round. At the start of each round you will be dealt (4-P: 12, 3-P: 16, 2-P: 24) Sweater Cards facedown at random.

Sweater Cards will all have a numerical value in the top left corner. Directly underneath this number will be a Christmas light with a letter on it. This informs both the card's colour and the orientation of the sweater on the card (L=Left, R=Right, B=Bottom) for quick reference. Directly underneath the Christmas light, and transparent on the rest of the card, will be the icons on the sweater piece (Trees, Bells, Snowmen, Candy Cane) again for quick reference.

Colour: The colour (Purple, Red, Green or Yellow) is indicated by the background, the sweater colour, and the Christmas light. Note: Players with colour blindness will find each sweater colour has a specific pattern.

Number or Value: Sweater Cards are numbered from 1 to 12, "1" being the weakest card and "12" being the strongest.

Orientation: Each sweater piece on a card has an orientation. The Christmas lights under the numbers provide a quick reference and will contain either an L, R or B. (L=Left, R=Right and B=Bottom)

Icon: The four various icons displayed on the sweater pieces are also indicated here. These four icons are: Bells, Snowmen, Candy Canes and Trees.

Patches

Patches are special Sweater Cards, acting as "wild cards" in the game.

For the "Trade Phase" (trick-taking): patches will copy the value and icon of the card played previous to it. If a player chooses to lead a trick with a patch, then, since there are no cards played previous to theirs, they may choose to copy any card's value and icon in the current draft pool. A patch will always keep its colour.

For the "Knit Phase" (set-collecting): patches can be made any value and icon the player who drafts them wishes. They also may be placed in any orientation that player wishes (Left, Right, Bottom), but once placed, they must adhere to regular placement rules (may not be moved). As with the Trade Phase, patches will always keep their colour.

In some cases, a player may wish to start a new sweater with their patch card. When this occurs, the patch card is considered "floating" as it isn't attached to any set Sweater Card. Of course, this new sweater build follows the same rules of placement in that once the player places the patch down- starting a new sweater with it - they may not shift it over to any other existing sweater later on; they may only add to it. It is when finally deciding to attach another Sweater Card to the "floating" patch that players must decide its orientation (R, L, B). Number and icon of patches stay "wild" until the round's scoring phase.

Secret Santa

These cards will be handed out facedown, and at random, every round. The card will be a member of your family who has requested a specific sweater build. These builds will be considered accomplished as long as you meet the requirements of both the colour and icons. Sweater piece placement (orientation) does not have to match exactly, but each Sweater Card may only count toward either icon or colour.

Score Reference Card

These cards will be a reminder to players of how end of round sweater scoring is tallied.

Express Variant Round Tracker

This card will help players keep track of when they need to draw a new Trendy Yarn card in the Express Variant version of Ugly Christmas Sweaters. Use any marker, such as a penny or a die to track your rounds.

Kickstarter Edition Bonus Cards

The smallest expansion ever.

These cards are an optional element to add to your game of Ugly Christmas Sweaters. We only recommend you use these cards once you have a good feel for the base game. If you choose to play with this tiny expansion, then simply shuffle the 4 cards facedown at random and deal one out to each player (discarding the other Bonus Cards if there are less than 4 players).

All players then reveal their Bonus Card so that each other player can see it.

"The Little Brothers Colour Coordinate": acts as another objective card that, if fulfilled by game's end, will net the player 3VP. Similar to the Secret Santa cards, the orientation of the sweater build doesn't matter as long as it fulfills the colour request.

"Tina Can Tink": is a one-time use card that can be activated at a round's end, before scoring.

"Mixed-up Maria": is a one-time use card that can be activated after you have drafted a Sweater Card and are about to place it in the Knitting Phase.

"Billy's a Brute": when (and only when) another player wins a trick, you may activate this card.

Note: All one-time use cards are discarded after activation. Therefore, they may only be used once per game.

FAQ

Do unfinished sweaters remain for the next round? No, all unfinished sweaters are wiped and do not score.

What does all matching "Non-Fad" colours and icons mean? When you've completed a sweater that is not the Fad colour or icon but is still comprised of all one colour, or icon, you will score bonus VP. See Scoring for a detailed explanation and example. Note: "Clash Is In" does not obtain bonus scoring when built outside of its Fad.

When the fad is "Clash Is In", what constitutes matching "Non-Fad" colours and icons for scoring bonus VP? All four colours and icons would be considered matching "Non-Fad" and would score bonus VP.

What happens if we run out of cards before anyone has completed three sweaters? This will trigger the end of the round, and scoring will continue as if someone had completed three sweaters.

If I begin a sweater build with a patch card do I have to decide if it is a left, right or bottom? No, a patch card's orientation remains wild until it is attached to another sweater piece.

If I build my "Secret Santa" card twice can I also score it twice? No, "Secret Santa" cards can only be completed once.

When scoring for consecutive numbers, can the numbers wrap? Example: (11, 12, 1) No, numbers must be in sequential order.

If I have none of the icons or colours of the led card, but do have a patch of a different colour, must I play the patch? No, the patch is only required to follow its colour, the icon remains undetermined until played.

In a 2-player game, if a player finishing their third sweater can also finish a fourth that draft (since players are each drafting two cards per trick) is that fourth sweater scored? Yes! That's the neat thing about the 2P variant, if you can time it out right, you can build and score 4 sweaters.

If you can't follow the colour or the icon that was led, and you "throw off" another card (that is NOT Perfect Fit or Trendy Yarn), does the number still win if it's higher? Or does the led card beat it because that player couldn't follow colour/suit? Whenever you are determining the winner of the Trade Phase (trick), aside from accounting for Perfect Fit and Trendy Yarn, you'll always look to the card with highest numerical value, regardless of colour or icon of the led card.