A New Christmas Tradition: Santa’s Workshop

Christmas is an important holiday here in Acadiana. Since most of us Cajuns live in small towns, many in rural areas, we do not have access to the big spectacles or shows that larger cities may have. So many of my Christmas memories involve visiting with family and friends over a big steaming pot of gumbo, and playing party games with the cousins ’til late in the night.

And yes, that’s where Board Game Gumbo got its name. I started a tradition many years ago with some scout dad friends, where I cooked up a big pot of gumbo while we played board games for New Year’s Eve. Growing up with my family, Christmas Eve was all about playing party games with the cousins.

So, yes, we’ve been playing games around the holidays for many years. 

This year, my youngest grandchild turned four years old, and Bubby absolutely loves board games, even more than his sister, Evie. He plays Haba games with no problem, but isn’t quite old enough for a lot of the other games that his big sisters’ play. 

But since he has learned simple card games like Uno, I thought he might be ready for a first step up from games like First Orchard. And because it’s Christmas week and the kids have off, my wife invited them to stay with us for a few days, meaning I have plenty of gaming partners.

So, I pulled out Santa’s Workshop (Second Edition), which I picked up a couple of Christmases ago. I’ve played the advanced version a few times, and really enjoyed the combination of theme and mechanics that the designer was able to inject into the game. But I’ve never played the basic or ‘family’ version. Would it be simple enough for Bubby? 

Yes and no! 

A quick overview first. Santa’s Workshop is all about building toys of the guy in the big red suit. We score points by collecting materials and putting the toys together in the workshop, using our three elf meeples. Yep, it’s a pure and simple worker placement game. 

But there are a couple little tweaks to the standard “get stuff, make stuff” genre. There is a Christmas tree with lots of ornaments, each one with a different bonus on the backside. Sending your elf there could get your some materials or points or other stuff, and collecting different ornaments also gets you points at the end of the game. The board has one or two areas like that, that supplement the main flow of collecting points. 

Bubby picked up on the gathering of materials right away. He stared hard at each of his cards (which I seeded for him with simple recipes at first), and understood that he had to move his elves to the matching spots to get the materials he needed. And when he had the recipe complete, he let out a squeal as he moved his point tracker around the board. 

But, the other elements were just a bit outside for him. Players get points if they go to a spot before anyone else, and other players then send their elves to that spot. There are reindeer cards that can score some points, too, plus give you a material. Those spots were a little bit too complicated for him. 

He did like it when he ran out of cards and was able to go to the mail room to grab some more Christmas letters. He liked studying the different toys requested, but I think he picked them out based on what toys he liked, rather than any grand strategy. 

So, we started a nice little Christmas week tradition. Each year, I will pull out Santa’s Workshop and play with the grandbugs. Hopefully, next year, he can understand a little bit more strategy — the designer intended the game for kids six and up, and Bubby is only four — and eventually work our way up to playing the full game. 

Are there any board gaming Christmas traditions in your family? I’d love to hear! 

Until next time, laissez les bon temps rouler!
–BJ from Board Game Gumbo