Candle QuestCandle Quest, designed by Purple Pawn’s founder, Yehuda Berlinger, and published by Victory Point Games, is a Hanukkah-themed light strategy game that’s also meant to appeal to families, Jewish or not. The goal in Candle Quest is simply to collect eight colors of candles to fill the Hanukkah Menorah (a traditional candelabrum).

On each of their turns, players draw a candle card and then choose to buy it at face value for their Menorah, sell it right back to the bank for a guaranteed income, or auction it to the highest bidder. The twist in Candle Quest’s auction is that each player is only able to bid once. If the player who drew the card wins the auction, he may end up with the candle at a reduced price. If someone else wins the candle, he at least gets the money.

Other features of the game include wildcard dancing candles, unlit candle cards (which threaten to remove previously collected candles from a player’s Menorah), and the ability to loot needed candles from another player’s discards (at a much higher price).

Though originally designed as a Hanukkah game, Candle Quest was previously published as It’s Alive, with a Frankenstein’s monster theme. Returning to its roots, the game now features refined rules and kid-friendly art with smiling candle characters.