Without telling the occupants, all the Relatives agree to visit a Household on the same day. They arrive in groups of no more than four at intervals of ten to thirty minutes. The Head of the Household must find a chair for each Relative over the age of 21. If he runs out of chairs, the Relatives win; if he seats all the Relatives, he wins. NOTE that the Head of the Household will never have a chair for himself. After Christmas Dinner, all the adults watch the Queens Speech and then attempt to have a doze in an armchair. All the children in the house then retrieve their noisiest Christmas Presents and use them. The Children win if the adults put a video tape on, the adults win if the children fail to keep the adults awake. All the Relatives give the Head of the Household a different coloured pair of socks as his Christmas Present. On opening them, he must make a completely DIFFERENT complimentary remark for each pair of socks. He loses if he runs out of remarks, repeats himself or offends a Relative. To get you started here are some complimentary remarks:-
1. Musical Chairs.
Variation: Friends arrive one evening and the Head of Household has to provide them all with a drink. He loses if (a) he runs out of drink; or (b) he runs out of glasses. He wins if he runs out of Friends.2. Dead Lions.
3. Pass The Parcel
"Just what I wanted"
Variation: On boxing day, the Head of the Household wears a favourite pair of old socks. He visits each relative and gives a different excuse for not wearing the pair they gave him.
"These will be useful"
"Oh look, dear, I have a tie that exactly matches these socks"
"These will go well with my blue/grey/brown suit"
(Can only be used once)
On Christmas Day, The Head of the Household goes down the pub at 12.00, agreeing with the Lady of the Household a return time and telling her the name of the pub. He then goes to a completely different pub. Half an hour after the return time, the Lady of the Household has to guess which pub he is in and phone him to get him home. The Head of the Household wins if the Lady cannot find him before closing time. The Lady of the Household wins if she finds him before the dinner is ruined.
Variation: The Head of the Household returns Half an Hour after the agreed time, in a disorderly state. He must then attempt to give a series of totally implausible excuses for his late arrival. He loses if he runs out of excuses, repeats himself, uses a plausible excuse (ie "the car broke down") or the Atmosphere becomes too Frosty.
Before Christmas Eve, the Head of the Household searches for, and finds, the corkscrew and the nutcrackers. Before Christmas Day, somebody hides both. After carving the Turkey, the Head of the Household must search for the corkscrew. He loses if anybody finishes their Turkey before he finds it. After the pudding (& optional cheese course), the Lady of the Household produces the nuts. The Head of the Household must then find the Nutcrackers before the Queen's Speech.
Variation: If there are no Children in the Household, this variation may be played instead of the popular "Dead Lions" game outlined earlier. The nuts are produced after the Queen's speech. The Head of the Household must then noisily search for the Nutcrackers. He wins if somebody finds them for him and loses if anybody dozes off in an armchair.
From Boxing Day onwards, the Lady of the Household must produce a different Dish each day (as a Main Meal) whose principal ingredient is Turkey. She loses if she repeats a Dish and wins if she runs out of Turkey. (NOTE: Freezers must NOT be used in this game.)
On Boxing Day all the Children of the neighbourhood meet and compare their Christmas Presents. The Head of the Household loses if any of his Children come home crying.
At least two weeks before Christmas Day, the Head and Lady of the Household buy one or more large presents for their child(ren) - such as a bicycle. They then have to secrete the article somewhere on the property without the Children finding it. Disqualifications are awarded for the use of the Loft Space or Neighbours Garages.
The Head of the Household and his Lady invite some Friends or Relatives, who have an Obnoxious Child, to Tea on Boxing Day. The Parents of the Obnoxious Child must then distract the attention of the Head and Lady of the Household while the Obnoxious Child pulls the tail of the Dog/Cat. The Head and Lady lose if the Obnoxious Child gets bitten/scratched.
In the Lounge of the House, the Head of the Household places one Comfortable Armchair and any number of Hard Seats. After Christmas Dinner, the Adults present must give a good reason for being the One To Use The Comfy Chair. The winner is the Adult to gain a majority agreement to use it.
Variation (for Children): All of the Children between the ages of 8 and 14 must give a different reason why they should not wash up the utensils from the Christmas Dinner. The one with the poorest excuse loses.