In the rich tradition of Christmas at The Pixels, I’m pleased to bring you our annual list of twelve Christmas video games! This year’s list of naughty and nice games may include titles you’ve heard of, perhaps others you didn’t expect. I’m keeping the notion of “Christmas-themed” pretty loose here: is it set during Christmas? Does it reference the holiday? Is there a strong analogy for it in a fictional universe? If you think Gremlins, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Scrooged, and Die Hard are all Christmas movies, then you likely won’t have many nitpicks here.
But why do this at all? What’s one more list? The internet is full of them.
I have personally taken great inspiration and comfort from the heritage of music and art surrounding this holiday and this time of year. No, I’m not talking about the radio playing yet another rendition of “Jingle Bells” and no, I’m not suggesting any affection for She Who Shall Not Be Named and what she wants for Christmas. Spoilers: it me. Instead, themes of good vs evil, light vs darkness, gift-giving, salvation, redemption, forgiveness, kindess, and joy seem to cut through the cynicism of modern life, if only for a month, giving my brain a peace-on-Earth massage.
This is my favorite time of year and I don’t always find a chance to express that online. I hope there are still enough games in the world to put one of these out next year! For now, we have only to say happy holidays and merry Christmas. Enjoy the list or I’ll fetch Krampus.
12. Kingdom Hearts II
In the rich tradition of cheating on these lists, we’re starting things off by cheating. If you remember the premise of Kingdom Hearts–boys with incredible hair go traipsing about a multiverse of licensed characters–you’ll recall that there is a certain Tim Burton movie called Nightmare Before Christmas. It follows that if the tale of Jack Skellington is itself a Christmas movie (and a Halloween movie) then referencing it accounts for a Christmas reference (and a Halloween one). In Kingdom Hearts II, Xoras, Goofy, and Quaxly head to Christmas Town itself, rendered in all its PS2 claymation glory.
11. Death Stranding
They called Death Stranding a walking simulator, with no small sneer, but really the Ebenezers of the gaming world should’ve called it a Christmas simulator. Santa hats spawn on the heads of a few characters and dispatchers, demonstrating that even in some weird future where delivery persons haven’t all been replaced by Amazon drones already, Christmas still lives on in the hearts of millions, right next to the spot where the baby would be.
10. Harvest Moon
Harvest Moon features several holidays and seasonal events which echo real world traditions: Thanksgiving, Easter, Halloween, even Christmas. On the 24th of Winter, a date to be side-eyed with no small degree of sus, the Starry Night Festival occurs, a tradition since the original Harvest Moon on Super NES! Instead of being cooped up in church or wilting under the political ramblings of your family gathering, Starry Night Festival goers have an opportunity to spend a romantic evening alone with their sweetheart, often on the top of a mountain. Baby, it’s cold outside? Doesn’t matter. HM’s Christmas analog is all about love, and in it, finding a kind of personal peace on Earth, at least for one night.
9. Rune Factory Frontier
The Rune Factory series is a spinoff of Harvest Moon slash Story of Seasons, adding dungeon crawling, ARPG combat, and even more waifus to woo. It’s grown its own holidays and traditional events, including the Night of Holies which takes place on the 24th of Winter. As with Harvest Moon, the focus is on spending a romantic evening with your girl of choice, but unlike Harvest Moon, the title of the holiday sounds much more religious and reverential. After all, our word “holiday” comes from the Old English haligdæg, meaning Holy Day.
8. Tattletail
The first game on our list this year to actually be a Christmas game, and not merely one that references Christmas somehow. If you can get past the cheap scares of the horror genre, you’ll find a Furby-led, first-person sneak around in which the player is tasked with peeking at presents in the dark without getting caught. Tattletail itself is a late-90s talking pet toy that may bring back whiffs of nostalgia, or nightmares about the time you got that cursed creepypasta tamagotchi.
7. The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Always Winter. Never Christmas. I’ve personally always struggled to think of this C.S. Lewis book as a Christmas story, but it does have Father Christmas in it as a fully-fleged character who hands out weapons to mere children. The game is a sixth-gen console adaptation of the Disney movie adaptation of the novel and as such, it features the voices of the cast of the film. Unless you’ve been living in a wardrobe yourself, you probably know about the iffy reputation that licensed games possess. It’s more than likely that this high fantasy Christmas story isn’t such a Turkish Delight.
6. The Grinch: Christmas Adventures
Not the Jim Carrey version. Not even the traumatized Grinch of Illumination. Nay, this one appears to be based on the original story and its Chuck Jones adaptation. All’s well and good if they can avoid giving the Grinch a tragic backstory. Sometimes you want a Palpatine, not an Anakin for whom sand is a source of whining complaints. The Grinch can be evil for evil’s sake, mean simply because that’s who he is–particularly when Dr. Seuss specifically wrote “please don’t ask, no one quite knows the reason”. He steals Christmas from the younglings because he hates the holiday, not because Tusken raiders killed his mum.
5. Santa Clause in Trouble HD
Resembling something out of floaty, 3D yesteryear, Santa Claus in Trouble (now in HD) may put one in mind of the N64’s attempts at platforming, weird camera behaviors and all. It even has the collectathon thing down pat! Old Saint Nick has to retrieve several packaged presents across narrow, dimly-lite mazes floating in the air. Yule be surprised to know, perhaps, that doubts of its authenticity may be dispelled easily: this is a remaster of an original game from 2002.
4. Hybrid Heaven
Speaking of the Nintendo 64, though now in a more charitable light, this game takes place during Christmas. The plot and premise sound like conspiracy theories. There’s government buildings, genetic tampering, space aliens, and clones. Nothing says holly jolly quite like synthetic humans created by extraterrestrials. If you’re into splicing and dicing genes, this will be your Hybrid Heaven.
3. Final Fantasy XIV
Have you heard of Christmas in the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV? It’s called the Starlight Celebration, though all the trappings are here from decorated foliage to presents wrapped in shiny paper. You can bedeck your female Miqo’te main in a slim-fitting Santa suit; I know you have one of those. I’ve yet to see this event myself because I’ve tried three times to make it through ARR and I just couldn’t do it. Maybe this year there’ll be a Christmas miracle…
2. Jetpack Christmas Special
Forget the free trials of lengthy MMOs, you can play Jetpack Christmas Special right now for free. They didn’t even pay me to say that (*shoves freeware coupons deeper into pocket*). This relic harkens all the way back to 1993 and it depicts a Santa who must traverse a variety of ladders and platforms to pick up presents while evading death machines. Just like in the stories! Good for short bursts if you need an extra DOS of holiday spirit.
1. The Polar Express
Finally, there’s the ugliest Christmas movie. My kids keep asking me to watch it but I love them too much. It’s difficult to say which has the worse graphics: film or video game adaptation. The PS2 and GCN have a kind of charm to them that the potato faced mannequins of the movie lack. I find myself wishing for a PlayStation 2 adaptation of It’s A Wonderful Life. Tap O to remember every life is meaningful!
See you next year!
Red formerly ran The Well-Red Mage and now serves The Pixels as founder, writer, editor, and podcaster. He has undertaken a seemingly endless crusade to talk about the games themselves in the midst of a culture obsessed with the latest controversy, scandal, and news cycle about harassment, toxicity, and negativity. Pick out his feathered cap on Twitter @thewellredmage or Mage Cast.
