SantaCraft

This is a [b]really[/b] tough review to write, and another example where I wish I could give a "mixed" rating. Let me be clear: [b]SantaCraft is NOT a bad game.[/b] It's charming, it plays very well, and it's cheap. There aren't many games like this, and I definitely recommend this for kids. The couple of Animal Crossing jokes made me laugh. It's all there, but... it's a lot less magical than I was expecting. Unlike what the screenshots may suggest, this is not really a building-focused game; rather, it's more of an RPG-lite where you complete a bunch of fetch quests by crafting things, and sometimes it'll involve building a structure. It took me less than 1.5 hours to complete all of the quests. At that point, you enter a more sandbox-like experience, but it's not a true sandbox (insert joke about it being snow instead of sand); you still need to clear map tiles, craft tools that eventually break, and collect resources to actually build anything. There is no omnitool, and there isn't even any omnigear that has all the benefits of your older gear. You'll find yourself switching your equipped items and re-crafting multiple tools quite often. There is no camera control at all in this game. In fact, there's no keyboard support, either. You have to click to where you want to go/interact. The only minimap system is the "GPS pants," which you only find about halfway through. [b]You have to switch your pants if you want to see the minimap.[/b] It's a funny sentence to write, but it's annoying to play. I say "switch" because you don't want the GPS pants on permanently; switching to Santa's classic pants gives you a chance of receiving more item drops, which you'd want most of the time because of the grind to build things. Elements like this really put me off. There's a few puns, but the "characters" only serve to give you fetch quests. Building up a village doesn't really do anything, and since you have to grind out the resources, it's even more of a time-waster than a true sandbox would be. As someone who loves Christmas train aesthetics, even the train doesn't really excite me. There is no day-night cycle, so you don't get to see the North Pole at night with lights here. It's especially unfortunate because you can build street lamps but they subsequently serve no purpose, like all other buildings. tl;dr SantaCraft is a game I would have loved when I was a child. If you have children, I highly recommend picking this up for them. As for kids-at-heart, if you were tempted by this game, and everything I said doesn't deter you, then go for it. I just can't recommend it to most people. I don't think I wasted my time, but there are better ways for me to spend this money. If you're going to pick it up, at least get it on sale; $10 is too much for what little is available. $5 is definitely the sweet spot.

An adorable and simple game to play on Christmas/Christmas Eve.

[h1] A wonderful dream of love and peace for everyone [/h1]

really nice Xmas game. you've got a huuuuuge map, crafting, tools, Mother Goose quests, collectathon of reindeers, town building &&&. no pressure, no haste, everything at your own pace. if you need some peace during the holliday time, this is a fine way to unwind.

Adorable game, I enjoyed it very much! It's cute, funny and cosy! You'll also want to eat cookies and drink hot cocoa when you play it. :)

12 / 20 / 2023 I saw Santa Claus at a grocery store in the North Pole yesterday. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn’t want to be a douche and bother him and ask him for photos or anything. He said, “Oh, like you’re doing now?” I was taken aback, and all I could say was “Huh?” but he kept cutting me off and going “Huh? Huh? Huh?” and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw him trying to walk out the doors with like fifteen Gingerbread Cookies & Candy Cane in his hands without paying. The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like “Sir, you need to pay for those first.” At first, he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter. When she took one of the bars and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually “to prevent any electrical interference,” and then turned around and winked at me. I don’t even think that’s a word. After she scanned each bar put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning loudly.

This is a tiny bite of a game and you can pretty much get through most of the content in a couple hours. But if you are looking for a very relaxed, easy to pick up and put down distraction from your holidays, this is a funny little game.

Super enjoyable little game! Great if you like chill resource gathering, crafting and decorating...with some cute Christmas humor on the side. Only downside is I don't think it'll control very well on Steam Deck, but it's great with keyboard and mouse.

Sure I can recommend this game although to me the game progresses too slow it feels like I wish there was a faster way to shovel I know about the faster way to mine or something you level up or get to the quest that gives you the pickaxe but that seems very late game. although I didn't enjoy the game that much maybe someone else, I think the low end graphics kind of throw me off too but it was fun

super cute game, could be longer but one of the best i've played this year!