When the weather turns cold, and you start hearing that one Bing Crosby tune for the hundredth time, your mind probably jumps straight to those classic holiday films. You know the drill—the ones you watch every single year. But what if I told you there’s a completely different way to engage with the season? I’m talking about Christmas themed video games.
Now, most games don’t center entirely on saving Santa or decking a mall with boughs of holly. However, some truly brilliant titles either use the winter holiday as a gorgeous, snowy backdrop for massive action, or they lean into the sheer absurdity of Christmas lore. Forget the same old movies for one night. Grab a mug of hot cocoa and let’s explore a list of games that truly capture that unique December feeling.
Disclaimer: I used Gemini to make all the images in this post.
Big Budget Action Wrapped in a Bow
It’s strange, isn’t it? We associate Christmas with warmth and quiet reflection, yet a surprising number of huge action games decide that Christmas Eve is the absolute perfect night for villains to strike. I suppose it makes sense in a dramatic, movie-like way—people are distracted, and the city is beautiful but treacherous under a layer of fresh snow.
These next few titles capture that big-budget Hollywood Christmas feeling where the chaos contrasts so beautifully with the festive lights.
1. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Visually speaking, this is perhaps the most overtly festive game on the list. You spend your time swinging through a glittering, snow-dusted Manhattan. The city isn’t just decorated; it’s vibrantly celebrating. There are Christmas trees everywhere, dazzling lights strung up over every street, and the entire storyline emphasizes community and family during the holidays. The game gives you this lovely, warm feeling, even as you’re punching bad guys through a store window covered in fake frost. It’s a relatively short, sweet experience, tailor-made for a cozy Christmas play session.
2. Batman: Arkham Origins
If you’re looking for something grittier, something that feels a little more like Die Hard, then you need to look at Batman: Arkham Origins. The entire game is set on Christmas Eve. The stakes are impossibly high, and Gotham is blanketed in a heavy snowstorm. The atmosphere is phenomenal. You’ve got a younger, more reckless Batman running across icy rooftops while festive carols—often twisted into unsettling, minor-key variations—play subtly in the background. It truly drives home the contrast between the holiday spirit and the city’s perpetual darkness.
3. Tom Clancy’s The Division
This one is all about the mood. It might not strictly be about Christmas, but the setting is everything. You’re maneuvering through a post-apocalyptic New York City, and the devastation occurred right after a pandemic hit during the holiday season. Think about that: a ghostly, abandoned city, yet the Christmas decorations are still up. You’ll see huge, dark parks, forgotten parade floats, and snow falling silently on all the holiday cheer that nobody got to enjoy. It’s haunting, beautiful, and utterly absorbing. If you’re looking for a snowy, tense atmosphere, this is definitely one to check out.
Platformers and Pure Holiday Nonsense
Not every Christmas themed video game has to be grim, thankfully. Sometimes, you just want to play something that feels like the video game equivalent of unwrapping a toy on Christmas morning—bright, exciting, and maybe a little bit silly.
4. Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams…
If you owned a Sega Saturn back in the late 90s, you might remember this gem. It wasn’t a full game, exactly, but a festive, limited-edition re-skin of the original NiGHTS into Dreams. This game just oozes cheerfulness. It takes the game’s trippy dream world and coats it in snow, transforms the soundtrack into Christmas carols, and has you collecting presents. It’s pure, nostalgic joy, and it’s generally available as a bonus in modern re-releases of the original game, so you won’t have to hunt down a rare demo disc just to experience it.
5. Daze Before Christmas
Talk about getting into character! This is an old-school platformer where you are Santa Claus. Released for the Sega Genesis and SNES, the premise is simple: an evil version of Santa called “Anti-Claus” has stolen all the presents, and you, the real deal, have to get them back. You go around the North Pole transforming enemies into presents and collecting power-ups that even turn you into a fearsome, tea-drinking “Anti-Santa.” It’s incredibly straightforward and delightfully goofy, exactly the kind of uncomplicated fun that makes for a great holiday distraction.
6. James Pond 2: Codename RoboCod
While the name doesn’t immediately scream Christmas, the premise certainly does. James Pond, the heroic super-spy fish, has to save the North Pole. Why? Because the evil Dr. Maybe has taken over Santa’s workshop and held the entire workforce hostage. The platforming action takes place across sprawling, whimsical levels filled with huge cakes, toy blocks, and other items you’d find in a hyper-stylized Christmas setting. It’s wonderfully British and feels like an immediate dose of 16-bit nostalgia, making it a perfect fit for this list.
The Darker, Stranger Holiday Traditions
Some games use Christmas not for celebration, but for shocking juxtaposition. You’re dealing with monsters, murderers, or just the messy aftermath of a bad day, all while “Deck the Halls” plays softly on loop.
7. Dead Rising 4
Let’s be honest, nothing says Christmas quite like fighting hordes of the undead inside a decorated shopping mall. Dead Rising 4 takes the Willamette Mall—where the whole zombie epidemic began—and absolutely douses it in Christmas lights, snow, and novelty weapons. You can strap tinsel to a sledgehammer or electrocute zombies with a string of lights. It fully embraces the absurdity of excessive violence set against the backdrop of forced holiday cheer. It’s a loud, messy, and totally over-the-top way to spend your holiday hours.
8. Parasite Eve
This PS1 classic is one of the darkest entries here. It kicks off right on Christmas Eve at a performance at Carnegie Hall in New York City, where a mysterious event causes mass combustion. You play as NYPD officer Aya Brea, and the story unfolds over the next few days, leading you through snowy, Christmassy parts of the city, including a pivotal battle in Central Park on Christmas Day. It’s a masterful blend of survival horror, RPG elements, and a truly unsettling, wintery vibe. It’s certainly not a cheerful Christmas game, but maybe you prefer your holidays served with a side of existential terror.
9. Bully (Canis Canem Edit)
Rockstar Games’ schoolyard mischief simulator operates on an annual calendar that advances as you play. When you hit Chapter 3, the school and the surrounding town of Bullworth transform for the winter break. Suddenly, snow covers everything, the school gym is dressed up for the holiday dance, and the local shops have their Christmas displays running. You’re still causing trouble, naturally, but doing it while dodging snowball fights feels so much more festive. It’s a wonderful reminder of those chaotic high school days just before the winter break hit.
10. Viscera Cleanup Detail: Santa’s Rampage
Okay, this one is for those with a seriously dark sense of humor. Ever wonder what happens after the mayhem? In this expansion for the main game, Santa’s Rampage, you’re tasked with cleaning up Santa’s workshop following some kind of catastrophic, bloody incident. You aren’t fighting monsters; you’re just mopping up blood, stacking body parts, and trying to dispose of the evidence. It’s an exercise in tedious, hilarious futility. It doesn’t actually celebrate Christmas, but it’s a brilliant, darkly funny counterpoint to all the saccharine cheer.
Honorable Mention: A Side Quest in the Streets
It was genuinely hard to pick just ten. The sheer volume of games that feature unexpected Christmas missions is actually pretty huge.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a nod to the entire Yakuza series, specifically games like Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami. The games take place over the course of a year, and you frequently see the transition into the festive season. You’re walking through the dazzling, neon-soaked streets of Kamurocho, and the presence of decorations and sometimes snow just adds this incredible, bittersweet layer of melancholy and beauty to the heavy dramatic plotlines. It proves you don’t need to save Christmas for it to feel like Christmas—sometimes the simple backdrop is enough.
So, there you have it. Whether you want to save the world on a snowy rooftop, blast zombies in a mall, or just tidy up the mess after a violent elf uprising, there’s a Christmas themed video game here ready to become part of your holiday tradition.
Which one are you going to dive into first? Maybe you have a totally different game you pull out every December. Let us know in the comments below, because we’re always looking for new holiday classics!
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