What makes a good seasonal event?
Which games do Christmas well?
Phil: It’s the season! Which season? I’m not sure. Magazine production lead times still confuse me. But, when you’re reading this, it should be slightly after Halloween and slightly before Christmas. As such, games will both just have and be about to update with themed seasonal events. Have any of you spent a festive season in Overwatch, World of Warcraft, Dota 2 et al? And what’s the key thing that prevents a good seasonal event from being a Christmas turkey?
Andy: I like it when MMOs do their own version of Christmas, which is usually called something like ‘Frostmas’ or ‘Winterfest.’ When you play these games for hundreds of hours, a sudden change of scenery— and the ability to throw snowballs at other players—adds some welcome variety. It’s all a bit frivolous and daft, but hey, so are most games.
Pip: Yeah, I think when festive modes of any kind are done well they feel like the last day of term. You get to kick back and do daft things in amongst snowy or spooky or fireworky spaces. I’ll talk about Dota 2 as that had a festive mode which sticks with me—The Greeviling. Dota 2 has a tendency to topple over into SRS BSNS. Matches take an hour or more, they can feel like actual work, and you can end up having almighty rows with friends. The Greeviling put all of that to one side by turning the river to slippery ice and introducing the ability to turn into a comical monster with a wobbly bum at the blow of a whistle!
Phil: What I liked about The Greeviling—and I say this as someone who has never played it—is that it was a mischievous infestation of Dota 2’ s actual Christmas event, Frostivus. That’s a rubbish name. And as Andy points out, most of them are pretty lacking when it comes to imaginative alternatives to the season. Guild Wars 2’ s is just called Wintersday. If you printed that on a coffee cup, you’d get angry letters and an incensed newspaper campaign. Generally, though, we seem to be in agreement that they’re a fun distraction from high-strung competition. Are there any that don’t work?
Pip: The Greeviling had layers, man. Nowadays Valve farm Christmas— sorry, Frostivus—out to the community. It’s like realizing you’re a grown-up and you have to make Christmas happen for other people and get no presents of your own. Frostivus is thus one example of something I don’t think works. I’d also point to the morass of limitedtime events where it feels like the actual game mode or whatever is just a vector for loot boxes. I want to see some originality or a sense that the devs were enjoying mucking about too. You can’t just jam a pumpkin on a gun and call it Halloweenmastide! CS:GO had chickens with pumpkins on their heads one year, and that was no good either. The year of the chickens in little ghost costumes, however? Amazing.
Andy: Sometimes, ‘Christmas event’ just means a bit of snow and some Santa hats. If you played Operation Flashpoint on the 24th or 25th of December, the pine trees would have decorations on them. Play Darwinia at Christmas, and the little stick men have Santa hats on. It’s cute, but a token effort compared to some games. I feel like the Grinch complaining about this, though, and I struggle to think of a time when I thought a seasonal event ruined a game. I do like how Calendar Man will tell you about some of the horrible seasonal murders he did when you approach him on a holiday day in Batman: Arkham City.
Phil: I always liked the idea of GTA V’s snowy Los Santos, but it only appears on Christmas day, I’m told, and I’m always away. I’ll never see it—I’m not even convinced it’s real. In conclusion: Festive minigame playgrounds and seasonal murders are good, limited edition skin dispensaries and certain varieties of chicken cosplay are bad. It’s rare these pages end so definitively.