Roll Camera!: X-mas Movie Story Pack
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It's November, you've decided to shoot a Christmas movie during the holidays, and the crew starts to grumble. Distribute a gift, morale rises, you shoot the snow scene. Then the next take fails, the Christmas spirit collapses, and the ghost of Christmas arrives: a Dickensian problem, of course.
WHAT IT IS
When you shoot a Christmas movie, the crew needs gifts
The X-mas Movie Story Pack is a mini-expansion for Roll Camera!, the cooperative filmmaking game by Malachi Ray Rempen and Velgus, published by Keen Bean Studio and Grand Gamers Guild. Roll Camera! puts you in the shoes of struggling film producers: you roll department dice (camera, lights, actors, VFX), place them on set, complete scenes, solve problems, spend time and money. This Story Pack brings the Christmas theme to the table with 33 new cards, 8 festive-themed prop tokens, and a Cheer Tracker to monitor the crew's mood.
The main novelty is the Crew Cheer: you've decided to shoot a Christmas movie during the holidays, and the crew starts to get unhappy. If morale drops too low, you suffer grumpiness penalties. To keep it high, give gifts to other players (or yourself) using the 12 new Gift cards, which provide immediate effects and ongoing bonuses. Additionally, there are 10 Christmas-themed scenes (snowfalls, Christmas lights, Dickensian ghosts), 3 Idea cards, 1 Equipment card, and 3 new X-mas Ghost cards, a variant of Problems with a Dickensian touch. You can play the pack as an isolated module (replacing base game cards for a strongly thematic game) or mix it with the rest of the game and other expansions.
What they say abroad
The Cheer Tracker idea is interesting, but I would have liked more Christmas scenes for pure replayability.
— FroGames
"A great excuse to pull out Roll Camera for a holiday game night."
A great excuse to pull out Roll Camera for a holiday game night.
— The Rat Hole
Roll Camera!: X-mas Movie Story Pack
Roll Camera! officially supports solo play, and this Story Pack integrates seamlessly: you manage the Cheer Tracker alone, giving gifts to yourself to avoid grumpiness penalties. The experience is complete, but it loses the satisfaction of giving a gift to another player and seeing their face when you save their turn.
FrogScore · FroGames editorial rating · first reading: based on rules and official presentation, updated with initial playthroughsYour Christmas arsenal
What's inside the Story Pack
12 Gift cards
Give gifts to others (or yourself) to boost crew morale. Each card has an immediate effect and a continuous bonus as long as it remains in play.
10 Christmas-themed scenes
Snowfalls, Christmas lights, snowball fights: each scene requires a dice tableau on set that visually reflects the image on the card.
3 X-mas Ghost cards
Dickensian-touched problems: the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future arrive on set and complicate your life, of course.
Cheer Tracker
The morale board: if it drops too low, grumpiness penalties. If it stays high, bonuses. Managing it is the pack's new mechanical challenge.
Recommended sleeves 34 cards in 2 sizes ▼
If you play often, we recommend protecting your cards with transparent sleeves to make them last longer.
| Size | Quantity |
|---|---|
| 57 × 88.9 mm | 30 |
| 41 × 63 mm | 4 |
| Total cards | 34 |
🎲How to playThe rules in four steps▼
How to play
The flow of each round (as Roll Camera! base + Cheer)
Each round follows the classic structure of Roll Camera!, with the addition of the Cheer Tracker to monitor and Gift cards to play at the right time.
Draw and resolve a Problem card from the deck. If it's an X-mas Ghost, apply the Dickensian effect (discard cards, lose time, etc.). Some Problems lower morale.
Roll the Crew dice (Camera, Lighting, Sound, Actors, Art, VFX) and place them on the main board, Set Pieces, or your player board to perform actions. Complete Christmas scenes, build sets, hold Production Meetings to play Idea or Gift cards.
If Cheer drops too low, suffer grumpiness penalties (e.g., you must discard cards, lose time). To raise it, play Gift cards: you can give them to other players or yourself. Each Gift has an immediate effect plus an ongoing bonus.
Every action costs time and money. If you run out, you lose. If you complete all 5 scenes within the limits, calculate the Quality score and find out if your Christmas movie is a hit or a flop.
⏱️Your first gameThe chronicle, moment by moment▼
A game in five moments
What happens at the table
Not the rules. The experience.
Choose your Christmas movie
Place the themed Script cards (half above, half below) and announce the title of your movie. Place the Cheer Tracker next to the board, the morale token starts in the middle. You look at the first Christmas scenes and laugh: one needs two actors with a VFX in the center, and it's a snowball fight scene.
The first life-saving gift
Third turn, morale begins to drop due to an unresolved Problem. Someone plays a Gift card for another player: morale rises, and that player gets an ongoing bonus (e.g., they can recall a die already placed once per turn). The table thanks them, someone makes a joke about the "cinepanettone" (Italian Christmas comedy).
The Dickensian ghost arrives
You draw a Problem card: it's an X-mas Ghost, the ghost of Christmas Past. It forces you to discard an Idea card from your hand or lose time. Someone at the table quotes Scrooge, someone else curses. Morale drops again, and you have to decide whether to give another gift or risk grumpiness penalties.
The perfect scene with lights
You finally manage to complete the scene with the Christmas lights: it needs an Actor surrounded by Lighting dice. The tableau on the set matches the image on the card exactly, and someone notices for the first time that the dice visually tell the story of the scene. It's a moment of pure satisfaction, and morale rises.
End of production, high morale
You complete the last scene with 10 minutes of time remaining and the budget running low. Morale is high thanks to the gifts distributed, the movie is finished, and someone reads the final title aloud (assembled from the two Script halves). You all laugh. The "cinepanettone" is ready, Christmas is saved.
🐸What to know beforehandThree honest things, from friends▼
What to know beforehand
Three things you need to know before buying it
The Story Pack includes only 10 themed scenes, not enough for an entirely festive game without mixing with the base game. You can add the scenes to the standard deck, or play with the Cheer Tracker and Gift cards as an isolated module, but don't expect a 100% Christmas experience without the rest of the game.
Managing crew morale is thematic and fun, but it adds an extra resource to balance. If your group already struggles to keep track of time, money, and problems in Roll Camera!, Cheer might be one timer too many. It doesn't simplify the game, it slightly complicates it.
This is a Story Pack, not a standalone game. You need Roll Camera! base to play. Without the Crew dice, main board, player board, and Shot card mechanics from the base game, you cannot use this pack.
🏆Victory and defeatWhat the ending rewards▼
How it ends
How to win and how to lose
As in Roll Camera! base, you win or lose together. The goal is to complete all 5 scenes within the time and budget limits, keeping morale high enough to avoid critical penalties.
Victory
- Complete all 5 scenes within the available time and budget
- The final film's Quality score determines the level of success (flop, mediocre, hit, masterpiece)
- Keep crew morale high enough to avoid critical grumpiness penalties
Defeat
- Time runs out before completing all 5 scenes
- Budget runs out before completing all 5 scenes
- Crew morale drops so low that it becomes impossible to recover (accumulated penalties too heavy)
Roll Camera! is one of the most successful film production-themed cooperative games out there, and this Story Pack adds the Christmas touch with concrete mechanics, not just aesthetics. If you like the base game and are looking for an excuse to pull it out in December, this is the right pack.
💬Frequently Asked QuestionsQuick answers before checkout▼
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ on Roll Camera!: X-mas Movie Story Pack
Can I play only with the X-mas Movie Story Pack without the base game?
No, this is a Story Pack, not a standalone game. You need Roll Camera! base to play: without the Crew dice, main board, player board, and base placement mechanics, you cannot use this pack. The Story Pack adds thematic content and a new mechanic (Cheer Tracker), but it does not replace the base game.
How many Christmas scenes are there, are they enough for a completely festive game?
The Story Pack includes 10 Christmas-themed scenes, plus 3 Idea cards, 1 Equipment, and 3 X-mas Ghosts (Problems). These are not enough for an entirely Christmas-themed game without mixing with the base game (a game requires 5 scenes, but the full base deck has many more). You can play by mixing the Christmas scenes with the standard deck to increase replayability, or use the Cheer Tracker as a separate module.
What mechanics does Roll Camera! X-mas Movie Story Pack use?
Cooperative dice placement, resource management (time, money, morale), spatial puzzle (you must place dice on the set in specific patterns to complete scenes). The novelty of the pack is the Cheer Tracker: a crew morale system that rises with Gift cards and falls with negative events. If morale drops too low, you suffer grumpiness penalties. It's a soft push-your-luck mechanic: you decide whether to invest resources to raise morale or risk it and focus on production.
Does the Cheer Tracker complicate the base game much?
It adds an extra resource to balance, so yes, it slightly complicates the experience. Roll Camera! base is already a tense management game (time, money, problems), and the Cheer Tracker introduces an emotional timer: if it drops too low, penalties. You'll have to play Gift cards to keep it high, which costs actions. If your group already struggles with the base game, consider whether to add this layer. If, on the other hand, the base game seems manageable to you, Cheer adds thematic tension without overcomplicating things.
Is it available in Italian?
No, this edition of Roll Camera! X-mas Movie Story Pack is in English. The cards have text (Gift cards, X-mas Ghost, Scenes, Idea, Equipment), so knowledge of English is necessary. Roll Camera! base has been published in Italian by some European publishers, but currently the Story Packs (including X-mas Movie) are mainly available in English from Grand Gamers Guild and Keen Bean Studio.
The people behind the game
Who invented it, who designed it, who publishes it - and what else they've done.
Roll Camera! X-mas Movie Story Pack is a cooperative mini-expansion for 1-4 players, lasting 45-90 minutes, recommended for ages 10+. Designed by Malachi Ray Rempen and Velgus and published by Grand Gamers Guild and Keen Bean Studio, it adds a new crew morale management system to the base game via the Cheer Tracker: distribute gifts to keep the Christmas spirit high, or suffer grumpiness penalties. It includes 33 new cards (12 Gift, 10 Christmas Scenes, 3 Idea, 1 Equipment, 3 Dickensian X-mas Ghost, 4 Script), 8 festive prop tokens, and the Cheer board. The cooperative dice placement mechanic remains that of the base game, but now you also have to balance the crew's mood while filming your Christmas movie. Available on FroGames.it.
Roll Camera!: X-mas Movie Story Pack
Frequently Asked Questions
The answers you're looking for, no beating around the bush.
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📦Does the content of the box match what is indicated?
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