Test Your House Flipping Skills!

It's great to see family on Christmas, but don't deny it: After about 24 hours straight of family time, you'll be ready for a break. Well, we've got a Christmas day get-away strategy for you. You know -- the excuse you come up with every year to get out of yet another after-dinner conversation about how your grandfather had to trudge through eight (or was it nine?) inches of snow to get to school eight (or was it nine?) miles away.

This year, make it easy on yourself and slip away to brush up on your renovation knowledge. Chalk it up to a New Year's resolution, or just admit that you can't take another story and simply must partake in a bit of virtual ceramic-tile-crushing. Either way, ShockWave's House Flipping Game, which you can play for free, is sure to take your mind off treacherous family stories and on to more important things -- like turning an imaginary profit.

Like in real-life, players can browse listings, then purchase and inspect a house to see what must be fixed. Players then choose a section of the house to clean, repair or upgrade, and play mini-games to complete the renovations. Once all the fix-ups are complete, it's time to make a deal and flip that house!

Bonus? You'll become a bona fide house flipper without investing a dime! Talk about a cost vs. risk win for all...

Happy Christmas gaming!

Read on for more fun holiday time-wasters:
-A Paper Snowflake Runner
-A Holiday Place Setting That Doubles As a Gift