The Tree Trimming Game Instructions
Object of the Game
Decorate the tree together! Create a balanced and beautiful tree by placing your ornament tiles evenly: no two of the same ornaments can touch each other. The player with the fewest ornament tiles in hand once the tree is completed gets to place the star on the tree!
Game Setup
👉 Shuffle the Holiday Spirit tile deck and place the tiles face down on the marked spot game board.
👉 Place all ornament tiles face down in the lid of the Tree Trimming Game box. Shuffle those tiles by sifting them with your hands. Retrieve ornament tiles from the box during game play.
👉 Each player takes three tiles from the ornament box to start.
👉 The youngest player starts first.
How To Play
👉 You decide! Keep the ornament tiles secret in your hand OR keep the tiles face up (good for younger players).
👉 The starting player places an ornament tile from their hand anywhere on the board, face up.
👉 One by one, each player places the next ornament tile on a space that is above, below, or to either side of an ornament tile already on the tree. (Check to see if space is a starred Holiday Spirit spot!)
👉 The same ornament tiles may not touch each other, including diagonally!
👉 After a player has put all the ornaments from their hand on the tree, they can take three (3) more tiles from the box any time before their next turn.
👉 Once you take an ornament, it must stay in your hand until you can place it on the tree.
👉 If a player cannot play any of the tiles in their hand, they take another ornament tile from the box.
👉 The player continues taking ornaments from the box, one at a time, until a tile can be placed. The player keeps all unused tiles in their hand.
Holiday Spirit Cards
👉 Whenever an ornament tile is placed on a starred tile space, game play pauses for the player to draw from the Holiday Spirit deck.
👉 The player who draws the Holiday Spirit card reads it aloud and follows the directions on the card.
👉 After playing the Holiday Spirit card, place it to the side of the game board.
Winning
👉 The game ends when the players fill every spot on the tree with ornaments. The player with the fewest tiles puts the star on the tree!