I can’t believe it’s less than three weeks away. That happy time when families gather and total strangers spread holiday cheer, and also exchange a few choice words over who was in line first. Of course, I’m talking about Boxing Day; quite possibly the happiest day of the year. A time when the deals are abundant and chaos reigns at every location that some level of commerce exists. Malls are packed densely with crowds of swarming bargainers anxiously awaiting entrance to a store that has probably already sold out of the item they are looking for. Websites are crashing at the sheer weight of bots and also humans trawling their pages for 25% products that they would likely never had purchased outside this most hallowed day. And, if you listen carefully, you may hear the sound of screaming as someone knocks down an old lady to pick up a $300 computer system that they plan on scalping to eBay anyway.

I know that folks in the United States may believe Black Friday is the day for insanity mixed with shopping, but really, it’s just a warm-up.

While this may seem scary at first (and also hardly worth the trouble), experiencing Boxing Day is often a fruitful endeavour. For gamers, the deals are abundant and often less sought after than most of the other shiny things that have much better values to the business that is selling them. Online, the playing ground is much more level, so a special amount of dedication is required in order to acquire that which you seek. You do lose out on the fun and anarchy of the whole event by staying indoors, and while the savings may fill you up with holiday cheer, the fact that you miss out on Grandmother Flying Elbow Drops (a.k.a. G-Fed) makes the day a little less magical.

But who am I to be dolling out such guidance on this, the most celebrated day of the year? Let me lay down my Boxing Day pedigree for you. I am a veteran of over 7 years of straight Boxing Day madness. These years have been intertwined with experiencing the fun from in front of the stores and behind the counters, including a stint at a Canadian Best Buy and grocery store electronics centre. I have personally witnessed police intervention over hot items, watched doors literally crashed for door-crashers and survived the holiday launches of the Gameboy Advance, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, Wii and PS3. I have added countless titles to my gaming collection, year on year, and padded my wallet with delicious savings each time. I have also enjoyed the fruits of my labour profusely following the event each time, including a 14-hour marathon session of NHL 05 that may have cost me a little bit of my sanity.

Now that the formalities have been put forward, I would like to present you an in-depth guide to surviving this holiday season with all teeth intact. There is still ample time to prepare yourself for the occasion and I just hope my experience will help others enjoy what has become one of my most favourite traditions.

Rule 1: Ready a Party

For gamers, it is very important to have a good blend of friends or at least followers that are as crazy as you. There are times when you will need back up, so at least having one good friend who will throw themself in front of a zombie horde of Pikachu Parents while you grab Halo Wars for twenty dollars is key. It is also good to represent at least one of each of the current generation of consoles and a good mixture of tastes in game genres. This will come in handy when a Buy 2 Get 1 Free deal comes up and you need a friend to buy a really crappy shovelware title that he/she has some odd fascination with so that you can grab an actual good game to bring home.

Rule 2: Prepare Thyself!

You need to ask yourself a few questions before you start any Boxing Day planning. How much do I really want to spend? What would I ideally like to find? What is my search radius for hot deals?

You need to be ready for an early start, so your first major plan should be timing. Check when the places you want to go to are open and plan to be there before that if possible. Not too long, as you’ll never beat the folks who are there for one particular shining item (if that’s you, you already know your plan), but enough time to get to the location and find the most coveted thing on Boxing Day: a parking spot. Breakfast is key, so try and plan out a spot to go to that is open or have breakfast prepared at home. If you’re taking point on this day, you need to be prepared to buy or prepare breakfast for your crew, as it may be their last meal. Okay, so it is not that dramatic, but they might appreciate it!

Tim Hortons: Breakfast of (Canadian) Champions

Rule 3: A Pox on Your Plan

Preparedness is one of the most important parts of the day for sure. Without a plan, you will likely miss out on the things you hope most to get. That being said, a good plan should always be accompanied by a willingness to give the plan up completely and move on to a new strategy. People are unpredictable sometimes, and places you may have thought were safe bets have become mad houses that must be avoided at all costs. This rule does not apply, however, until you have reached the building as giving up on finding a parking spot is a sure way to spoil the day. You may find, though, that a particular lone-shop that you wanted to visit has crowds of people around and the rest of your crew has other shops they want to hit before the day is out. You will need to simply abandon this location and move onto the next spot.

Rule 4: Know the Road

Should a plan be diverted, it is absolutely imperative that you know your way around the city you are traversing. Traffic may come to a stand still at a common route, stopping your hopes of finding good deals in their tracks. Your driver or navigator must know the best ways to get around said traffic nightmares and bring you to your next location. Having a malleable plan also helps, as you may be able to change your intended location to one along a less perilous route.

For our brothers and sisters suffering public transit, especially in a city that supports it on a less-than-ideal basis during the holidays, this part is extremely treacherous. You need to be able to plan a small number of concentrated areas to tackle. Malls are key, and be ready to be hindered greatly by the inability to get to your ideal locations. Be ready for a day filled with waiting, but do not lose hope as there are always deals to be had!

Rule 5: If There is a Line, You Are Already Too Late

While you may be accustomed to perusing some of the more prominent establishments during your free time at most malls, be ready to not even have the opportunity to see the inside of these places on Boxing Day. In all fairness, though, you may be better off to just avoid these locations altogether, because as soon as you see a line-up the chances are that you are already too late. Anything you may have seen in a flyer is gone, and most of the big box and large gaming retail chains have only minimal deals on the day.

Look at all these people not obeying the rules

Rule 6: Malls and New-to-Gaming Stores Are Your Friends

There may be one or two stores that are very much anticipating visiting, and sometimes these stores can be settled in on their own and require a lot of time to get to. If you’re obeying the rules above, you’ll note that this can often be a disappointing venture. If you are looking for the best deals that require the least amount of standing and doing nothing, you’re going to want to hit the major shopping centres. This is going to provide you the greatest concentration of stores to one parking spot and also a variety of store sizes and deals available. Malls are great, and provide spots for taking a break if needed, and perhaps a variety of shops outside the gaming world that you may want to venture into for other amazing finds. When looking for games in particular, independent stores and shops that have only recently started selling video games will always have a surprising bounty associated with them. Shelf space is at a premium this year, so stores that are built to sell one type of item and have recently acquired the burden of gaming shelving will be more willing to drop non-top ten titles and big box items (i.e. DJ Hero) down to prices where people will gladly take them off their hands.

Most of my best experiences and most valuable finds have been in shops where I did not expect it. Advertised deals are always going to attract the inexperienced and experienced shoppers alike and are therefore the most dangerous to pursue, so always keep digging around for some hidden gem that just might give you a great reason to spend away those gift certificates that you have accrued the day before.

Rule 7: Check Your Stuff

This rule can potential save a lot of grief and disappointment, so pay attention. If you are sure that the item you’ve just purchased is something you are going to use and not return, make sure you check it before you leave the parking spot and move to a new location. This means, unwrap and look through the contents to make sure everything is kosher. Discs can go missing, instructional manuals can be in other languages and other things can go wrong. The week after Boxing Day is generally a no-return zone, so bring it back to the store with your receipt as soon as you can.

There is a general rule for most stores that there are no returns on Boxing Day. This is false when it comes to issues that you have with your products upon opening. If you are given a hard time about it due to a store being so ridiculously busy, just offer to exchange it for the same item on the shelf and give a clerk the offending item. Remember, the people behind the counters and around the store may not actual be pleased about being there while chaos surrounds them, and are often working on little sleep, no breaks and under constant threat of people running off with merchandise during the busiest day of the year. Be civil, folks.

Rule 8: Take breaks, Eat Lunch, Go Home and Have Fun!

Remember, while you are trying to get the best bang for your buck and are ensuring to be the most competitive consumer around, you need to keep in mind that this is supposed to be fun! Didn’t get what you wanted most? So what! It’ll come up on sale sooner or later. You and your friends need to be ready to take breaks to snack, drink, discuss your finds and adjust your plans. If you’re still not ready to call it a day around noon time, just take off away from all the craziness and have a quiet lunch before heading back onto the road. Once the day is done and all deals are exhausted, go home, shower the smell of mob off and get together in the afternoon to enjoy the fruits of your labour and watch some TV.

Yes, I understand that Christmas is the joyous family occasion day and that many of you reading this may not even get to experience Boxing Day by way of your culture’s affinity for closing shops on that day. Christmas, however, is a day for family for many of us and should be enjoyed that way. In these times, gift cards are the defacto present for the friend on the run, and instead of waiting all year to finally purchase something that you need, enjoy the buzz and frantic pace of the day after your day of rest and merriment. Spend what you didn’t of your holiday budget on something for yourself and enjoy it! The holidays only last for so long.