In games, Christmas is a festive tradition that’s normally confined to online games and special giveaways where we stick some mistletoe to a soldier’s hat. But Belfast based Whitepot Studios is here with their own small scale spin on the tradition in Ho-Ho-Home Invasion.
The story is simple. 2020 is a hell year, and even Santa Claus isn’t above it. He can’t prepare for Christmas Eve. So the elves have devised an ingenious automated test to ensure he can socially distance and still do the job he needs to on December 24th.
As taken from Whitepot’s press release:
“Why oh why, are there not more oddly niche one-off titles that can only be played at a specific time of year?” absolutely no-one asked. Well, wonder no more – the time has come for the return of the one-off Holiday Special.
So we get a Micro game set in an abandoned warehouse full of fake houses to practice sneaking into, delivering presents, avoiding being caught and then getting out of there. Just need to avoid all the robot guards that the elves have set up.
Easily readable noise markers and visibility cones means Ho-Ho-Home Invasion ends up feeling like it’s a perfect method to introduce some younger family members to games, especially in the stealth genre. That plus the toybox aesthetic give a lovely cosy family friendly feel to the game. It suits the season perfectly, with soft colours and a lo-fi esque soundtrack that never raises the stress too high.
Ho-Ho-Home Invasion is available right now on Steam and Itch.io Play through the game for the grand price of “Free”. Then support the developers by using their pay what you want model. Spend as much as you are comfortable with for non-content based DLC to tip them based on your enjoyment.
(Disclosure, Whitepot Studios are local to my area and I’m friendly with some of the folks there.)