When it comes to TV specials and films, Christmas fans are given a lot to be entertained by. That isn’t the case for video games. There have not been many games centered on Christmas or even set around the holiday. Most games that do have some Christmas themes only have selective levels.
Kingdom Hearts 2is a great example as Sora and the gang travel to Christmas Town. It’s a great place to play to get into the holiday spirit, but the whole world should only take a couple of hours at max. Other games with fun Christmas levels includeHitman: Blood Money,Bully, andPersona 5. Are there any games or DLCs out there with full Christmas settings? Let’s find out.
Updated on June 03, 2025, by Mark Sammut:The 2024 holiday season has arrived, and Christmas is just a few weeks away. Whilefeaturing heavily in movies, this period does not tend to get as much mileage in video games, especially since the industry tends to slow down its release during the second half of December. Still,games set during Christmashave their place, and some are pretty great. A sequel to a beloved movie has been added as a recommendation, along with galleries for each game.
While a game’s reputation will be taken into account, its Christmas spirit will also impact the ranking.
Dead Rising 4technically takes place after Christmas. However, since the city was abandoned around the holiday, all the decorations are still up; consequently, the game has an unmistakable Christmas feel. The juxtaposition between the cheery holiday spirit and Frank West tearing through bloody corpses is great.
Overall, this entry is generally regarded as the weakestin Capcom’sDead Risingseries, and it might prove to be the last considering the lack of discourse surrounding a fifth entry. Nevertheless, the game still offers mindless fun, and while this version of Frank is a steep departure from his earlier incarnation, he still produces a few funny lines.
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snakeis one of the more forgotten entries in Konami’s series, and it didn’t launch in the West during its original run. Nowadays, the game is available courtesy of a few collections, but it is still utterly overshadowed by its predecessor and the far more popularMetal Gear Solidprojects.
It sees the titular Solid Snaketravel to Zanzibarlandon Christmas Eve to stop a nuclear mech attack once again. Zanzibarland might sound familiar as it is referenced quite often inMetal Gear Solid. Although obviously showing its age,Metal Gear 2was still a notable release for the stealth genre, and it has very similar gameplay to the firstMGS.
Bayonetta 2takes place sometime around Christmas, although no exact dates are given. The game opens up with Bayonetta buying a bunch of presents and making her servant/sidekick Enzo carry them all. It’s a fun way to introduceBayonetta 2but that’s where the Christmas essence of the game stops.
Players could consider the very idea of fighting angels on or around Christmas to be a theme, even if most stories tend to make angels good though.Bayonetta 2, in this way, can be praised for subverting expectations. More importantly, the Nintendo exclusive is a stylishhack-and-slash gamethat takes its predecessor’s fundamentals and adds a touch of accessibility to the action.
Viscera Cleanup Detailis a fun title where players need to clean up the bloody aftermath of battles against aliens and other such lifeforms. The game was a surprise hit and received two DLCs that allowed players to clean up even more gore-filled areas!
One such DLC was called Santa’s Rampage and gives players the task of cleaning up a particularly festive murder carried out by a not-so-jolly man. It’s a ridiculous concept that ends up being a ton of fun to execute, and players who want to get into the spirit of Christmas in a rather eccentric manner should give this game a shot!
Shenmueis one of themost influential games of all time, with its release on the Sega Dreamcast being a high-profile and expensive affair. This impressive attempt at an open-world game where players can genuinely live out their lives as Ryo is a ton of fun once players get into the unique nature of this title.
For what it’s worth,Shenmueisn’t totally set around Christmas, but the festival itself is captured with such brilliance that it’s well worth experiencing in itself. Just try not to waste too much time reaching this holiday, since the game will forcefully give players a bad ending if they end up faffing about till the middle of April.
Daze Before Christmasis one of the few games out there that makes Santa a star. Just before he is about to go around the world to deliver Christmas presents, an evil devil version of himself steals them all. The game is a basic platformer from the 90s, so expectations should be kept fairly low for this one.
It’s almost impossible to buy a legitimate copy nowadays, but there might be ways around that. Even though the game isn’t one of the classics, it’s still worth looking into for the novel idea. It would be interesting to see it appear onthe retro servicefor the Switch.
While not always emphasized, severalYakuzagames are set around Christmas, a time period that oddly fits the franchise’s slightly cheesy but always awesome style of storytelling. The holiday season is little more than a backdrop in games likeYakuza 0andYakuza Kiwami, but that is not the case in every entry.
Yakuza 5has a substory that sees Saejima dress up as Santa to take on a group of thugs who specialize in hunting the jolly character, and this is hardly the only side quest that references Christmas directly. Sega’s franchise is not synonymous with Christmas since the games basically do not bring it up in their central plots, butYakuzais still a great fit for the festive season.
Saints Row 4isone of the best open-world games around in terms of sheer fun factor. Messing around with superpowers is a blast in the base game, and this gameplay loop receives a festive touch with theHow the Saints Save ChristmasDLC.
The idea of saving Santa from a simulation while mustering the Christmas cheer required to make this holiday fun again is a ridiculous concept that onlySaints Row 4could pull off. The DLC is a short and sweet experience with its fair share of memorable moments.
The Nightmare Before Christmasis an all-time classic movieand a staple of both Halloween and Christmas. 2005’sOogie’s Revengeeffectively acts as a sequel to the original release, delivering a new story that sees Jack Skellington having to (once again) stop Oogie Boogie from taking over Halloween Town and a bunch of holidays, with Christmas taking center stage.
Developed by Capcom,Oogie’s Revengedoes not hide its inspiration. The game takes more than a few pages fromDevil May Cry’s playbook, which is a fairly surprising direction to take a project set in this universe. That said, this release is delightful enough as an introductory hack-and-slash title featuring recognizable characters. The combat can seem a bit half-baked at times, but it is generally enjoyable; meanwhile, the setting is the star of the show.
Tom Clancy’s The Divisionhas a similar setting toDead Rising 4. Everyone was gearing up for the holidays after Thanksgiving, aka Black Friday, when a virus broke out in New York City. The government tried to contain it as best as possible, but the city eventually became a lawless zone.
Players are sent in as an elite special ops force, The Division, around the holidays to bring back order. It may not technically be Christmas, but the decorations are still there and the snowy city is as inviting as ever, even if it is infested with a deadly disease. Nowadays,The Divisionis hard to recommend due to the existence of its superior sequel; however, the game holds up well enough as a third-person shooter with a cool setting.
