This One's From Santa

This One’s From Santa is a small, independent, cartoony action-shooter that blends Mafia themes with a Christmas setting rendered in a retro low-poly 3D style reminiscent of early PlayStation titles. It was developed by MicrotonalMatt and first released on December 29, 2023.

In the story, Santa Claus has been “temporarily sidelined” by a mob boss named Denari. The player takes on the role of Mr. Ellie — an elf who pilots a sleigh in a first-person perspective (though the game is not an FPS) — delivering presents to houses and attacking gangsters by throwing coal at them. The mission comes directly from Denari, who asks Ellie to “send a message” to his rivals.

Published by MicrotonalMatt himself and released for free for Windows, This One’s From Santa was featured as Day 2 – Game 2 of the creator’s contributions to Madvent Calendar 4, a Christmas compilation associated with the “Haunted PS1 Community” scene. In 2025, it was re-released as a standalone title.

Videos

This non-narrated gameplay is from the standalone version of This One’s From Santa.

This is a let’s play of the title from it’s Madvent Calendar 4 version.

Gameplay

This One’s From Santa combines arcade-style action and shooting with light narrative elements tied to the corporate universe of Santa’s Industries, which includes disputes among various North Pole Mafia families. The player controls Mr. Ellie, an elf working under Denari — leader of one of these criminal groups — after Santa (referred to as Mr. Nicholas) is temporarily removed from his position at the head of the holiday business. The campaign unfolds as Ellie carries out assignments that involve delivering presents, retaliating against rival gangsters, and “sending messages” according to the Mafia hierarchy that governs the setting.

The game features circuit-based stages, each set in distinct regions of the North Pole. In every level, the player must steer a sleigh while hitting the correct houses with presents and neutralizing enemies by throwing coal rocks. Every action — delivering gifts, breaking windows, hitting obstacles, or taking out gangsters — creates immediate feedback in the environment, as stages are fully reactive and full of destructible objects.

Gameplay combines continuous sleigh driving with independent aiming, allowing the player to adjust the camera angle, target enemies to the sides, and manage speed while looping around the circuit. Progress typically requires meeting objectives such as delivering a set number of presents or eliminating rival gang members, often within time limits. Starting from the second lap of each track, the player also gains access to a dash move, enabling quick dodges or repositioning along the route.

Levels introduce environmental variations — such as frozen lakes, illuminated villages, or narrow routes — along with obstacles that can hide enemies or block projectiles. Certain characters, like friendly polar bears, react comically when given presents, adding small interactive touches to exploration.

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!!
• Originally released as part of the Madvent Calendar 4: End of the Line collection in 2023.
• Save Files can be reset from the options menu.

Controls

A controller is highly recommended for playing this game, but it also has keyboard support:

• 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)

Trivia

• This One’s From Santa was developed using the Godot engine.
• Additional tools used during development include Blender, Aseprite, and Audacity.
• As mentioned above, This One’s From Santa was later released independently, outside the Madvent Calendar 4: End of the Line collection, on December 8, 2025.

Screenshots

More info and Christmas shooting

• Madvent Calendar 4: End of the Line @ Itch.io – The compilation where this game was initially released.
• microtonalmatt.bsky.social @ Bluesky – Official developer’s profile.
• This One’s From Santa @ Gaming Room – Source, with more info and media. In Portuguese.
• Santa Gets A Shotgun
• Slay with Santa
• Christmas Chaos
• Snowball Fight
• Santa's Battlefield
• Angry Santa Claus
• Xmas Rooftop Battles