Fun, with Some Flaws
In a world of drab card games, this one manages to be something of a highlight. While definitely not perfect, Last Christmas provides a humorous holiday experience, which I suspect most households will reliably turn to each December.<br /><br />CONS:<br />Though most prompts aren't adult-themed, there are a few which reference alcohol, or are too open to suggestion for all family settings. The box claims there are 580 cards here, but there are actually 290 double-sided cards (IE: 580 "prompts"). Not all prompts are holiday themed (though most are). The list price of $30 is a bit higher than some games which have more cards than this one does. The ruleset isn't the most interesting (IE: lacks common gaming elements, such as strategy), and often fails to give an equal opportunity for winning (EX: you can run out of winnable cards before all players have had a turn). Handwriting is routinely easy to guess, even when players are writing carefully. And, although you could easily think up some extra ways to play, only one game mode is provided.<br /><br />PROS:<br />There aren't grammatical errors, or prompt duplicates. The artwork is very festive. The dry erase markers and cards function/erase quite well. The rules, though weak in some ways, go the extra mile in others, which makes this a more fun experience (EX: cards should be easy to guess since they're double-sided, but all answers are tossed into a bowl, then blindly drawn). The fill-in-the-blank nature of the cards gives this deck endless replayability. Because of the double-sided cards, there's quite a lot of content here (IE: many companies give you far less bang for your buck). The double-sided cards give you a choice between 2 options every time you write something. Things are sensibly packaged. This experience can be genuinely hilarious. Christmas is the overwhelming theme. The game is easily grasped. And there's nothing to unwrap, except for the box.<br /><br />I didn't expect much from this product, but it hit it out of the park in a lot of ways. So I'd gladly recommend it to most anyone who doesn't mind a game with some flaws which delivers laughs in line with the holiday spirit; as Last Christmas mostly goes the distance.
Rating: 4 stars