Planet of Bloodthirsty Santa

Developer: Puppet Combo
Platform: PC

Planet of Bloodthirty Santa is a weird Christmas horror game from the indie developer Puppet Combo.

The game was released in episodic format. The first episode was released in 2018, and the second in 2019.

The first part of the game was distributed for free. And the second episode could only be downloaded by those who subscribed to the developer’s Patreon.

Story

The main character is a young woman named Beth, who is a member of a space expedition. She arrives to an uncharted planet in search of rare and valuable minerals.

But suddenly she notices that the planet looks somehow strange. Everything is covered with snow, and huge Christmas tree decorations lie on the ground. There are many old wooden houses everywhere. And somewhere far away you can see a mysterious castle.

And soon our heroine discovers that this planet is home to a murderous Santa Claus, who just absolutely loves to kill people with an axe!

Gameplay

The game is made in the format of an open-world 3D platformer with a third-person view. We wander through the bizarre landscapes of the planet, jump over chasms, enter houses, and look for useful objects.

Each episode of "Planet of Bloodthirsty Santa” has its own gameplay features.

In the first part of the game, the main character is completely unarmed. And sometimes she will be pursued by a crazy Santa Claus. You can't kill him, so you have to run away.

In the second part, we will be able to find a blaster gun - and some elements of a third-person shooter will appear in the game. There won't be any Santa following us anymore. Instead, we will have to fight with crazy elves and mutant deer.

Both episodes are quite short. If you play for the first time and carefully explore everything around, then each episode will take about 1.5 hours. With repeated playthroughs, you can complete each episode in 20-30 minutes.

What I liked about the game

1) Cool concept. The game interestingly combines sci-fi and Christmas themes. That's why "Planet of Bloodthirsty Santa" was included in our list of the best Christmas horror games.

2) The design of the planet is quite surreal and creates a certain feeling of craziness. Somehow, this reminds me of the old PS1 game "Planet Laika" (by the way, this game also combined the themes of space expeditions and Christmas).

3) It’s also nice that the planet can be freely explored. And there are many houses that we can enter.

4) The game slowly and gradually builds up the atmosphere. It has this kind of suspense when you just feel that something scary is about to happen soon.

5) Interesting diaries and notes. When examining the houses, you can find about a dozen different documents with story-related information. I can't say that this game has a particularly good story, but the diaries are written quite intriguingly.

6) Through the options, many different graphic filters with noise effects are available. By default, the graphics are stylized to look like recordings from old VHS videotapes. Using filters, you can pixelate it to make it look like PS1 games. Or you can make the graphics black and white. You can also enable first-person view.

7) I also really liked the scene with Rudolph the deer at the end of the second episode. If you have ever heard the Christmas song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", this scene will certainly impress you with its level of insanity.

What I didn't like

1) The appearances of Santa Claus are implemented rather sloppily. He can suddenly appear from behind, and you won’t even understand what killed you. Or he may not appear at all. It happens that during the entire playthrough Santa never appears.

2) There are no comments on objects when exploring the surroundings. It would be more interesting to examine the houses if the main character gave at least some comments on beds, closets, and other items.

3) The second episode is much weaker than the first. It turned out to be boring, and the new locations are not particularly interesting. It makes sense to go through the second part only for the scene with Rudolph the Reindeer at the end.

4) The game is not finished yet. The second episode was released in 2019, but there is still no third episode. So most likely, we will never see the ending of the story.

The Verdict

Planet of BloodThirsty Santa is fun entertainment for a couple of evenings for those who love weird and unusual horror games. The Christmas theme is implemented in an interesting way, so the game will go well on Christmas Eve. But at the same time, the project is not completed to the end, and the game doesn't have good gameplay or a well-thought-out story. Therefore, it will not be suitable for anything more than just a "short meme game”.