Screenshots
Watch trailer on Steam ↗A Bad Christmas Story
S&J Games · Published by S&J Games · Official site ↗
Content notice: Bad Summer contains mature content and is intended for a mature audience. Specific warnings for this game include, but are not limited to: horror elements, unsettling encounters, violence, references to alcohol and drugs, strong language, and depictions of serious injury.
Positive — 100% positive (14 reviews) · 11 achievements
Last updated 28 Sept 2026
Christmas lights, winter snow, and a serial killer on the loose. Follow a gifted detective through a twisted holiday night in this story-driven, interactive horror game. Your choices determine who lives, and who dies. Can you outsmart the killer?
£4.29
Lowest price we've ever recorded
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Price history
Adventure, Indie, Casual · 2026 · More under £5 games
Explore a chilling Christmas night as you guide a detective through deadly choices and uncover secrets. Every decision impacts survival in A Bad Christmas Story's interactive horror.
About this game
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.
System Requirements
Will my PC run this? →Minimum
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10 and Windows 11
- Processor: x64
- Memory: 512 MB RAM
- Graphics: Integrated Graphics
- Storage: 2 GB available space
- Additional Notes: 1920x1080 resolution recommended
Recommended
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- Storage: 2 GB available space
Supported Languages
*languages with full audio support
Latest news
Patch NotesOfficial
Hotfix 1.16
Another small update! Fixed a bug preventing players from achieving all endings. Sorry for the inconvenience! We're currently working on one final BIG update for A Bad Christmas Story. More info on that soon! Thank you so much for your support.Read full article on Community Announcements (S&J Games)Patch NotesOfficial
Hotfix 1.15
Small update! Readjusted the QTE timing during the saw trap/murder room chapters according to player feedback. The QTE circle is much more visible now, and the window to successfully pass the event is more forgiving. We'll be monitoring player feedback closely in case we need to rework the QTE further. Music in the secret ending was too quiet. This has been fixed.Read full article on Community Announcements (S&J Games)Patch NotesOfficial
Hotfix Update 1.14
Hey, everyone! Hope you guys are enjoying A Bad Christmas Story. It's been an incredible launch. Thank you so much for your support! This is a small update to iron out some bugs. The secret ending wasn't triggering when loading up the Interrogation chapter from the main menu. This has been fixed. Fixed Lexington's outfit changing on her side image during the secret ending. Added a new time card for the Secret Ending so players have a better idea when they achieved it.Read full article on Community Announcements (S&J Games)
