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Coziest Christmas Themed Games for 2023

The Yuletide joy is almost upon us! Hot cocoa, snuggly blankets, the fluffiest jumpers are the only things we want to think about. That and, of course, what Xmas-themed cozy games we can curl up with under the layers of warmth.

Woman holding a PS controller with a blanket thrown over her and Christmas lights above

Christmas is here everyone! ✨🎄

Most years it feels like December starts, you blink, and boom – you’re stuffing your face with pie at the end of Christmas lunch wondering how 25 days just flew by.

The whole reason I enjoy playing Christmas-themed cozy games is because it’s a way to escape some of the holiday craziness while still celebrating the Xmas cheer.

There’s a whole host of cozy games you can play to get into the festive spirit – most of them you’ll know because they’re likely some of your favorites the rest of the year anyway.

But –

they get some cool new events added to them for the season worth checking out.

Let’s explore the toy shop, cozy gamers!

1. Stardew Valley - Feast of the Winter Star

The Feast of the Winter Star takes place on Christmas day itself, the 25th of every Winter day.

It’s a simple and straightforward occasion with some nice perks for your gameplay.

All you need to do is walk into Pelican Town anytime between 9am and 2pm, and you’ll trigger the sequence of events. It centres around the tradition of gift giving, and operates like Secret Santa.

As a player, you’ll give a gift to one of the villagers and one of the villagers will give a gift to you. You’ll be notified about a week in advance of who you’ll be buying a gift for.

Any gift you receive during this event is worth 5x the normal friendship points. Only fitting with the spirit of Christmas!

While the event might not last long, Pelican Town itself is still a festive sight to behold, adorned in candy-canes and snowy shrubs, with a giant Christmas tree in the middle of the square.

Read the complete Stardew Valley review here >

2. Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Toy Day

Toy Day takes place between 5am on the 24th of December, to 5am of the 25th of December. The event itself is time-locked, so you can’t try to fast forward your way to it.

To kick things off, you’ll just need to track down Jingle, a worried looking reindeer in a Santa outfit, and talk to him.

That said, you can actually start preparing for Toy Day way before the 24th! In fact, if you have all the villagers on your island, you will need a minimum of 10 days to complete the full task.

There’s loads of activities you can do to celebrate the season, here’s some of them:

Buy cute toys from Nook’s Cranny Collect all the pieces for your Santa outfit from Able Sisters Shake out Ornaments from Spruce Trees Experiment with some festive DIY recipes!

The availability of these activities might depend on how long you’ve been playing the game, but you can still participate in the Animal Crossing magic even if you’ve just started it.

Read the complete Animal Crossing: New Horizons review here >

3. Cozy Grove - Winter Festival

I personally have a soft spot for Cozy Grove’s Xmas event just because it’s a little more integrated into the world overall, and gives you more activities and options.

The Winter Festival lasts from the 20th of December to the 23rd of January. Ms. Carouse, a sweet looking merchant bear, visits the island and you can buy a bunch of different Christmas themed items from her.

You can also buy snowfolk from her, meet them around the island, and actually talk to them so they can share their memories with you!

Plus, you can also get into snowball fights with the imps.

There’s other stuff to do, but those are the ones I look forward to most.

Read the complete Cozy Grove review here >

4. Lake - Season’s Greetings DLC

The base Lake game was released in 2021 and follows the story of Meredith, a woman who leaves her career in the big city to return to her hometown to deliver mail.

The Season’s Greetings DLC was just recently launched in November 2023, and serves as a prequel to the original game. You now play as Thomas Weiss, Meredith’s dad, as he also delivers mail during Christmas time.

You get to meet new characters, uncover new storylines, and just really revel in the wholesome goodness synonymous with this title.

Highly highly recommended Christmas cozy game.

5. Disney Dreamlight Valley - Festive Duties

Disclaimer with this one – if you completed the duties last year, you won’t be able to complete them this year. It sucks, but that’s the way it is.

The event kicked off on the 6th of December, and will end on the 31st of December.

During the event, you’ll have access to 5 unique duties tied to Christmas. These are:

Do You Wanna Build a Snowman A Home for the Holidays Even Fish are Festive Ho! Ho! Ho! Cookie Taste Test

By completing these activities, you’ll be able to collect unique Christmas items that you can equip.

Read the complete Disney Dreamlight Valely review here >

6. Santacraft

Probably the most festive selection from the list! It’s just 3 bucks on Steam right now if you want to go grab it, and you can enjoy hours of gameplay without worrying about deadlines or time-limits.

Santacraft – this one , not the third person shooter – is a sandbox game where you play as Santa, trying to find his reindeer and his sleigh and getting everything in order before Christmas.

It’s very much a mining and crafting centric game, making it a perfect selection for cozy gamers.

7. Ooblets - Wintertime Event

Ooblets takes on a new look for Christmas, celebrating the festive spirit in style! The ooblets themselves don Xmas garb, with a few of the unique

But, aside from that, the main activity is that you can pick up Festive Bobbles from around Badgetown and use the gotsapon machines to exchange them for Christmas items.

There’s even a few Christmas-themed oobmobile that you can collect!

All in all, a fun cozy time spent with the adorable ooblets.

Read the complete Ooblets review here >

And there you have it – 7 cozy games that you can play this winter, all cuddled up on the sofa or in bed with your cocoa or cup of tea.

Do you have any other games you think we missed? Let us know!