Whamageddon: What is the game based around Wham!’s Last Christmas and what are the rules?

Who could imagine December without hearing Last Christmas? (Picture: Getty Images)

Christmas is on the way, and that means many of us will be digging into those playlists and digging out the festive anthems that we haven’t listened to since this time last year.

One of the most popular festive songs of all time is of course Wham!’s Last Christmas – which, in spite of being a seasonal classic, only finally reached number one in the charts at the start of 2021, 36 years after it was originally released.

Even to this day it’s a brilliant tune, and chances are you’ll be hearing it a lot over the festive period.

Unless, that is, you happen to be taking part in a little festive challenge known as Whamageddon, a game which sees some people doing anything they can to avoid it.

Just what is Whamageddon – and how do you take part?

What is Whamageddon?

Whamageddon is a game which requires its participants to go for as long as possible through the month of December without hearing Wham!’s Last Christmas – the rules stating that the player is ‘whammed out’ once they do hear it’.

The game appeared in its earliest form on the online sim-racing forum GTPlanet in 2010, under the name GTPlanet vs Wham! – Last Christmas.

However it gained popularity after it was renamed Whamageddon in 2016, on a Facebook page which was set up specifically for the challenge.

The song finally reached number one in 2021 (Picture: YouTube)

A couple of years later comedian Romesh Ranganathan posted a tweet explaining the rules to his followers – leading to it going viral, as well as being picked up by the mainstream media.

While there’s no real point to the game – it’s just a bit of Christmas fun for those who take part – it has in the past been used as a fundraising exercise, with comedian Daniel Sloss using it to raise money for a Scottish homeless charity in 2019.

Others have also taken it seriously in the past – including Fullers’ Pubs, who banned it from all of their establishments in December 2018 to help those customers playing the game.

There’s even an alternative version called Whamhunter – in which participants have to try and listen to Last Christmas as often as they can, making a note of their score as they do.

What are the rules of Whamageddon?

Last Christmas, I gave you my heart…(Picture: YouTube)

Obviously we don’t want to be Christmas grinches and deprive anybody of listening to Last Christmas if it happens to be one of their favourite festive songs. However if you do decide to take part the rules are as follows:

The objective of the game is to go as long as possible without hearing Last Christmas. And that doesn’t just mean playing it, that means hearing it – whether it turns up on the radio, while you’re doing your Christmas shopping, or anywhere else you happen to be.The game lasts from December 1 until midnight on Christmas Eve – meaning you can binge-listen to Last Christmas on Christmas Day to your heart’s contentOnly the original version of the song counts – so if you listen to or hear any cover versions, you’re still in the game.You’re out as soon as you recognise the song – and when you do you should post on social media with the #whamageddon hashtag when it happens.

The organisers also suggest that you don’t try and ‘send your friends to Whamhalla’ (as they put it on their website) by deliberately ensuring they hear the song. So, sending them a copy of it or making some other similar move isn’t in the spirit of the game. (Seriously folks, it’s Christmas. Be kind).

Whichever version of the game you play – be it Whamageddon or Whamhunter – good luck and happy listening! Or not, as the case may be.

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