Traditional carols, no licensing problem
The card list uses carols in the public domain: Silent Night, Away in a Manger, O Come All Ye Faithful, Good King Wenceslas, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, The First Noel, Deck the Halls, Joy to the World and sixteen more. You can play these from any source without worrying about what you are allowed to use at a public event.
Modern pop songs are not on the list. If you add your own for a private party that is your call, but for anything public or ticketed, traditional carols keep you clear.
How to run it
Four by four with no free square means sixteen carols per card and a line of four to win, which takes about eight to twelve plays. That is a fifteen minute game, which is the right length before people want a different activity.
Live piano, a phone through a speaker or a choir all work. If you are playing recordings, ten to fifteen seconds is enough for a familiar carol and keeps the pace up.
Variations worth trying
Hum or whistle instead of playing, which is harder and funnier. Or call the second line of a carol rather than playing it, which rewards the people who actually know the words rather than the people who recognise an intro.
Questions
- Which carols are on the cards?
- Twenty-four traditional carols in the public domain, including Silent Night, Away in a Manger, O Come All Ye Faithful, Good King Wenceslas, Deck the Halls and The First Noel.
- Can I play this at a public event?
- The card list uses public domain carols, so the printed material is fine. Whether you can play a particular recording in public depends on your own music licence, which is why live or sung versions are the simpler option.
- How long does a game last?
- Eight to twelve carols for a line of four, which is roughly fifteen minutes including the time people take to find each title on their card.
- How many cards can I print?
- Up to twenty-four unique cards per run, each a different arrangement of sixteen carols from the list.