This One’s From Santa is a free, quirky holiday-themed action game that mixes lighthearted mob drama with retro low-poly visuals inspired by the PlayStation 1 era. Created by indie developer MicrotonalMatt, the game originally debuted on December 29, 2023 for Windows.
The premise is as unusual as it is fun: Santa Claus (here called Mr. Nicholas) has been “temporarily removed” from duty by a North Pole mob boss named Denari, who now assigns one of Santa’s own elves, Mr. Ellie, to “send a message” to rival families. You control Ellie from a first-person sleigh view in a mix of driving, shooting, and quick reactions — as you deliver presents to the correct houses while fending off gangsters by tossing rocks at them. Levels take place on looping tracks across different regions of the North Pole, filled with destructible objects, reactive environments, and small comedic touches such as friendly polar bears happily accepting gifts.
Gameplay blends arcade-style sleigh steering with independent aiming, camera adjustments, and timed objectives. Each stage challenges you to hit delivery targets, take down enemies, or meet score requirements, sometimes adding mechanics like a dash move after your first lap. The result is a compact but lively holiday experience with a humorous Mafia twist, all wrapped in a nostalgic low-poly aesthetic.
Originally created as Day 2 – Game 2 for the community-made Madvent Calendar 4: End of the Line project from the The Haunted PS1 Community, This One’s From Santa later received its own standalone release on December 8, 2025. It was developed using Godot, with Blender, Aseprite, and Audacity rounding out the toolset — and the full game remains entirely free to download.
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About the game
The Gelido Goons have taken over the North Pole and only the intrepid Elfy can save Christmas! Pair up with Blitzen to take down the mob but don’t miss your deliveries! Chuck presents at homes and coal at the naughty neighbors and if you cause a little mayhem, forgiveness is in the Christmas spirit!!
Features:
- A complete tour of the North Pole through 5 bustling locations!!
- Fully reactive levels – hit anything and everything!!
- Dollar store graphics!!
- Voice acting so crisp, you’ll barely need subtitles!!
- A cinematic and emotional story about family!!
- The Wilhelm Scream!!
Controls (Keyboard/Controller):
- Move Sleigh – WASD/Left Stick
- Move Pointer Left/Right – Q/E or Right Stick
- Change View Angle – Shift/Space or LB/RB
- Throw Presents – Left Click or LT
- Throw Coal – Right Click or RT
- Dash (Lap 2+) – F or Right Face Button (Circle)
- Save Files can be reset from the options menu.
Originally released as part of the Madvent Calendar 4: End of the Line collection in 2023.
A controller is highly recommended for playing this game.
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More info and Christmas
Details
- Download @ microtonalmatt.itch.io - Download link(s) or store's listing.
- Size: 66 MB
- License: Free
- Operational systems: Windows
- Developer(s) and/or publisher(s): MicrotonalMatt
- Categories: Action, Shooters
- Added by: Valewson