Will you survive Whamageddon 2023? Here are the rules for the Christmas game!

Christmas time always brings about fun times, including games. One game many people around the world participate in is Whamageddon! What is that, you ask? It is a simple game where people try to avoid hearing the Wham! song "Last Christmas" from December 1-24. It is all in good fun, and in 2023, one DJ missed the spirit of the game and ruined the fun for an entire crowd.

Whamageddon was first heard about in 2010 on a sim racing-themed forum with the name "GTPlanet vs. Wham! - Last Christmas." In 2016, the official Whamageddon Facebook page was launched promoting the new version of the game. In 2023, Matt Facer, DJ at Northampton Town, played the song to a crowd of 7,000 people, intentionally making everyone present lose the game, an act he would later apologize for.

""I never knew people took it so seriously""

- DJ Matt Facer

Whamageddon rules according the game's website

• The objective is to go as long as possible without hearing Wham!'s classic Christmas song, "Last Christmas."
• The game begins on the 1st of December and ends at the end of the day on the 24th of December.
• Only the original version of "Last Christmas" is included in this game; the player can listen to remixes and covers and sing the heck out of the song without being considered "out."
• The player is out as soon as they recognize the song.
• Bonus rule: Use the hashtag #Whamageddon on social media to notify the world that you have lost the game.

While no one can stop you from deliberately sending your friends, the intention is that this is a survival game. Not a Battle Royale. So ... don't be a jerk, mkay?

There are several alternate versions of the game. One uses Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" created by the GTPlanet forums termed "ApoCareypse" and another called "Mariahpocalypse." There is a WhamHunter challenge in which players accumulate points for hearing "Last Christmas," but it must be heard organically, not listening on repeat.

Be sure to check out the Whamageddon website from some exciting merch.

In 2023, I lost early in December as the song was played at the grocery store. Hopefully you have had better luck than me this year.