

A Bad Christmas Story
S&J Games · 2026 · Horror, Choices Matter, Interactive Fiction, Story Rich, Casual
PC
8 user reviews100% · 8
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About A Bad Christmas Story
WARNING: This game contains flashing images. If you are sensitive to flashing lights, please proceed with caution.A Bad Christmas Story is a short, horror interactive fiction experience set in the same universe as Bad Summer. Whether you’re already familiar with Bad Summer or stepping into this world for the first time, A Bad Christmas Story is a standalone, tightly focused horror story you can finish in one sitting.
Welcome to New Empress City
Another dead body, another day in New Empress. For the crowd, it’s just another story for the evening news in a city that’s long since gone numb. Death is commonplace on these streets, and the police is stretched thin. Experience a gritty, dark setting where every fresh corpse is just another file stamped, shelved, and quietly forgotten.Play as Detective Oliver Smith
Step into the shoes of New Empress’s youngest detective. Oliver is intelligent, stubborn, and far too used to spending his holidays staring at corpses. Your choices and investigations shape his drive to find the truth, and how high a price he pays for it.Cinematic Storybook
Experience a Christmas horror tale told through dark, storybook-style imagery and film-inspired angles. Slow pans and stylized hand-drawn animations turn each moment into a dark, eerie moving picture that sticks with you long after the credits roll.Choices Matter
Details come back to haunt you. Information picked up early in the night can unlock smarter choices, sharper questions, and safer outcomes later on. Miss those details, and you’ll be left guessing when it matters most. A Bad Christmas Story is built to be finished in a single evening, with meaningful choices worth revisiting to see how else this night could have gone.Fully Voiced Experience
With over 10+ talented voice actors, every character in Bad Christmas has a distinct voice to bring the gritty streets of New Empress to life.What Steam players say
Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.
I had alot of fun playing this game! I don't usually like scary games but I enjoyed this one it wasn't to scary and it was funny at some parts during the story. I loved the fact that you get to play as a detective and are able to look for clues and get out of certain situations which was really intersting for me. I liked the mini games that were given throughtout the escape of the room which really allowed me to have to think my way thorugh. I loved the art work and the voice actors did an amazing job shout out to the team it was really well done!! I can't wait to unlock the different endings and see where the characters go if I were to choose differently.3 found this helpful
Funny, sexy, and scary, A Bad Christmas Story has it all! This game had me laughing over the little jokes and references in this, then a moment later I was swooning over Oliver and how amazing he is. All of that wrapped up in a horror game that puts you in charge of making a notorious murderer confess... or lose your mind trying. Despite being a visual novel, I never felt like I was just sitting back and watching a story play out. I was actively involved in everything that happened from quick time events to making decisions that directly impacted the story. I love how this game weaves all of it together and provides a new sort of experience that I've so rarely seen. Seriously, if you're on the fence, this game is every bit worth it!2 found this helpful
Had a lot of fun playing! Short and sweet companion to Bad Summer that had a good mix of everything. I'm a fan of horror and mystery so I really enjoyed that aspect but this had a nice balance of spookiness along with humor. I appreciated that there are different types of mini games and segments within so the gameplay didn't get stale, and would love to see what other mechanics like these could be integrated throughout the main game. Having multiple endings dependent on your choices is also a great feature, I've only unlocked one ending so far but it definitely incentivizes me to see if I can make some different choices on another playthrough. I loved the dialogue and voice acting as well as all the different characters that made appearances! There were several lines and deliveries I was actually laughing out loud at (especially the scene with the callers) and the scenes were incredibly entertaining. The art style is also very pretty, which made it a great visual experience. A good balance between stylized and graphic. Everything from the art to the music to the dialogue made the game very atmospheric and made me want to explore every detail about each scene. Shoutout to every…2 found this helpful
A short but suspenseful prequel that makes me excited for the main game. I had trouble with the bear trap minigame. I'm on a Macbook with a trackpad and no computer mouse and I couldn't get the clicks to work. I navigated this problem by playing on my Steam Deck and tapping the touch screen. It works with the Steam Deck. Sometimes you have to manually tap the screen even to progress the dialogue, but it works.1 found this helpful
This game is fantastic. So much details in every artwork and VA. Might try to get all the achievements once I'm back home.1 found this helpful
Good game. W caseoh
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