Review: Santa's Workshop

 
I'd like to thank Rio Grande Games for supporting Women Like Board Games by generously providing a review copy this game.  I played Santa's Workshop 5 times and at all player counts before putting together my thoughts below.

A Christmas Tale

All Ben wanted for Christmas was a board game.  Not just any board game; Ben wanted a Christmas themed game that he could play with his family for the holidays and that his friends who are really into games could also enjoy playing with him.  He knew it was a big ask, so Ben wrote a letter to Santa, asking for the game he's always wanted...



As Christmas drew near, more and more letters were arriving at the Mailroom at Santa's Workshop and Santa was growing worried.  With only 9 days to Christmas and his elves stressed and overworked, Santa decided to hold a contest to raise everyone's spirits.  At the weekly staff meeting on December 15th he split his elves into 5 teams and challenged them to finish as many gifts as possible by the end of the day on Christmas Eve.  Everyone would get cookies for completing gifts, with more cookies for harder to make toys and less if they used cheap plastic.  Santa would conduct an inspection every 3 days and award extra points to the team that made the most gifts those days, and when he got back home on Christmas day the winning team would take a trip with him to a warm beach for a much deserved break!

All the elves were abuzz with the news, it's all they could talk about that night.  Twinkle, on the blue team, really wanted to win that trip to the beach.  She'd been working hard for Santa for years and he's never held a contest quite like this!

On the morning of December 16th all the elves were up early to start their day.  The blue team leader sent Twinkle to the Mail Room to collect more letters so their team would have plenty of options for gifts to make.  The blue team wanted to stay agile so they'd always have something to work on, knowing that the machines in the workshop would be super busy with the contest.  Twinkle found lots of options in the mail room, but she was asked to pick out a range of easy to hard toys so the team could move quickly on some items but earn lots of cookies with others.  She picked the toppling blocks game for Faith, because they would be easy to make.  Then she picked a Pirate Boat for Kelly because it looked fun and would earn lots of cookies.  Finally, she found a fun toy that Ben wanted, a Christmas game!

The next day Twinkle got up bright and early hoping to head to the Woodshop to get started on the toys for Ben and Faith, but all of the workshops were full.  The blue team leader sent her to the Classroom instead, where Twinkle learned the ins and outs of the Woodshop machines.  She earned her woodworking diploma that day, so the next time she visited the Woodshop she'd be way more productive.

On the 18th Twinkle was hoping to get to the Woodshop but again it was full and she ended up being sent to the Metalshop.  The blue team was running low on coal to run the machines, but only the less efficient metal working machine was open so Twinkle had to use all of her team's coal to make 3 metal pieces.  She only needed 1 piece for the pirate ship, but Twinkle didn't want her day and the team's coal to be wasted, so she also crafted the two pieces needed to sharpen the mining tools so her team could get more coal when they visited the mines.

That night Santa conducted his first inspection.  The blue team had only managed to complete 2 toys, while the pink and green teams tied with 4 toys each and got extra cookies for their hard work these past 3 days.  Twinkle was upset her team missed out on extra cookies, but those toys the other teams made didn't earn them as many cookies as the toys the blue team completed and Twinkle was glad her team was still in the running!

The next morning Twinkle woke up bright and early once again, but on her way to the Woodshop the blue team leader stopped her in the hallway.  Their team was out of coal and Twinkle had just sharpened the tools, so the team leader wanted her to head out to the coal mines to refill their cart.  Ugh, the coal mines... why couldn't all of the machines in the North Pole be run on geothermal energy like that new one in the Plastic Lab?  Twinkle sighed and suited up, emerging from the coal mines hours later coughing and covered in soot, but with a cart filled to the brim with coal.  That night as she showered, Twinkle vowed never to head to the mines again, she'd leave that up to Fractle from now on.

On the 20th all of the elves were feeling more and more pressure to complete gifts, and most spent the day in the assembly room rushing to complete their toys.  Twinkle took the opportunity to finally go to the Woodshop!  Thanks to her diploma, Twinkle knew how to use the less efficient machine to make 5 custom wooden pieces.  She really wanted to use to make Ben's game, but the team decided it would be better to make pieces for the pirate boat and tumbling blocks game to keep things moving.  They'd completed one toy already, and wanted to be in the running for extra cookies at the next inspection.

Twinkle headed to the Fabricshop the following morning and made the last piece for the pirate ship.  Blizzer and Zephyr spent the day in the assembly room finishing up the two gifts while Fractle toiled away in the mines, and when Santa came for an inspection that night the blue team won - not only did they get tons of cookies for their handiwork on the pirate ship, but the extra cookies put their team in the lead!  The next three days were critical and the blue team spent a lot of time that night planning the days ahead.

Zephyr came back from the Mailroom the next day with several easy toys to complete, and the rest of the team got to work.  With their strategy being to complete as much as possible, Twinkle headed to the Plastics Lab.  She didn't like cheapening toys for the kids, but the blue team really wanted to win that trip to the beach!  Besides, this meant that no one would have to go back to the mines, and the whole team was thankful for that!  Luckily Blizzer was able to get to the woodshop to get 3 wood for Ben's board game and Fractle was able to assemble more gifts.

Every team was frantically working to complete the last of their toys, and all of the workshops were full on the 23rd, so Twinkle headed down to the stables to visit the reindeer.  She helped the Zelf prepare Dancer for the big day and got some wood to finish up Ben's game and received cookies in return.  Fractle helped in the stables too, and because he helped with Comet (Santa's favorite, though he'd never admit that to the other reindeer), the blue team got the advantage of first choice of locations in the morning!

On the 24th, Twinkle rushed down to the Assembly Hall to complete Ben's game.  She was so proud of what the blue team had done over the last few days that she made him a game about Santa's competition.  It seemed to meet all of Ben's requirements for a Christmas themed game, and he'd never have to know it was based on reality!

When Santa came around for his final inspection, he couldn't have been more proud with what his elves had accomplished in the last 9 days.  The blue team really pulled through, and though they used a lot of plastic in this last push, they did make 4 toys when others only made 2 or 3 and the blue team was awarded bonus cookies again.  The final scores were neck and neck, but the blue team pulled out the win.  Santa couldn't wait to see the smiles on the children's faces in the morning, and the blue team couldn't wait to get to the beach...

Ben woke up on Christmas morning to find a board game called Santa's Workshop sitting under the tree.  He couldn't be more excited, it was the perfect gift!

Thoughts on Santa's Workshop

Luckily more copies of Santa's Workshop were made than just the one for Ben, because it really does hit that sweet spot of being a game you could introduce to almost anyone, but also keeps serious gamers engaged.  What makes it easy for new players is the strong integration of theme and mechanics.  There is a lot of strategy to wrap your head around, keeping experienced gamers occupied, but the theme and mechanics are intuitive enough for new players to jump right in.  It might take a few rounds and completion of a couple of gifts to really understand the game, but it's something everyone should be able to wrap their heads around by the time the game has ended.

The theme really shines through in every aspect (except for maybe the dark art on the board), with a few quirks.  It's funny to think of the elves toiling away in the coal mines, yet I guess I never thought about where Santa gets his coal for the bad boys and girls - it must be those mines! I like the thought of going to Mailroom to get letters to Santa that tell you what toys to make, but it's also funny that one of the actions is to wipe away everything there and pick new letters.  Those poor kids that get nothing because it wasn't worth it to the player who went there!  And the longer a reindeer has been neglected the more cookies you get for feeding and grooming him, making me wonder if it's really cookies you're getting or if you're collecting reindeer patties!  The thing is, even with these minor disconnects the stories you'll be able tell as you play will keep everyone at the table laughing and having fun.

And everyone will have fun, because the game scales quite well from 2 to 5 players.  With 2 - 4 players some locations in the Assembly Hall, Reindeer Stable, and Classroom are blocked off with very specific pieces that match the artwork of the location they block (I've never seen that in a game before, and when punching thought those pieces were just odd extras!).  With 2 players you've got more elves and there's plenty of room in the workshops so you'll have a lot more chances to complete gifts and score big.  As the player count rises it becomes more of a challenge to find a place in the workshops to get what you need, and the first player marker (a cute Christmas Tree you get from Comet in the stables) becomes incredibly important.  At all player counts the Assembly Hall becomes a bit of a bottleneck, especially at the end of the game.  On the last day you can use each location in the assembly hall twice, which helps, but the last round can feel like a bit of a bust once the Assembly Hall is full.

What that creates is the right kind of tension, making the game feel like the race it is.  The first few rounds are a race to get the materials you need and the last few rounds you'll find yourself frantically trying to complete those last minute gifts.  While the game plays out the same for everyone in this regard, there's plenty of room to pursue different strategies.  The Classroom allows you to upgrade individual elves, and on subsequent turns you only get the bonus if that particular elf uses the location they have a diploma for.  Figuring out which elves to upgrade, for what task, and when to do it is an interesting puzzle.  You could also strategically pick gifts from the mail room that all have a certain kind of material, try to get smaller gifts that are easier to complete, focus on the complex gifts that give you lots of points, or go for gifts that need plastic to keep your options open.  In 5 games I haven't seen any particular strategy win out, especially since it's easy for others to see what you need and try to block you.

Even in that the theme shines through, because you can't block someone unless you can partially use the benefit of that space.  Every elf might want that trip to the beach, but they all have a mission of bringing toys to the children of the world and they're not going to let a silly competition get in the way of that.  This makes the game tight and strategic, but keeps it from becoming mean.

If you've played a few times and find the game feels like more of the same, you can play with the optional Holiday Surprise Variant.  One ? card is revealed at the start of each day before the elves get to work.  The surprise could be anything from a cave in a the coal mines or mandatory dental work, losing you an elf for the day, to bonuses at the workshops or the card itself becoming a new location where you could get points in different ways.  While making the theme a bit silly, the surprise cards add enough randomness and variability to keep the game fresh over repeated plays.

All of the above is great for casual players who haven't played a game like this before, but there's one thing about Santa's Workshop that experienced gamers will pick up on quickly.  Namely, the question: "Isn't this just Lords of Waterdeep: the Christmas Game?"   Well, it certainly has its parallels.  Go to a location (workshop/building) to collect colored cubes (materials/adventurers) to fulfill contracts (letters/quests) for points.  Anyone familiar with Lords of Waterdeep will find it easy to jump right in to Santa's Workshop, but the key differences are the need to pay to use the workshops, having to go to a location to get the materials needed to pay for them, and the ability upgrade your coal cart, tools, and workers.  Both games scale well for all player counts, and fans of one will probably enjoy the other.

Santa's Workshop really hits that sweet spot, bridging the gap from casual to hard core gamers, so why haven't more people heard of this game or played it?  I think the issue is three fold.  First, the game didn't come out until a couple of days before Christmas last year, and it didn't have the lead time to create any sort of buzz.  By the time people got the game for Christmas, it was probably played once or twice and then put on the shelf until next year, which is another reason this game flies under the radar.  It's something you'll pull out and enjoy for the holidays, making it a game that will only get played a couple of times a year and only for a few weeks at that.  Novelty games have always had trouble find their legs, and if any were to truly succeed you'd think Santa's Workshop would be the one.

However, the last thing I think is keeping this game from becoming a mainstream hit is its price.  The MSRP of $59.99 puts it out of the price range of most casual gamers, who normally would be the target market for a game like this.  Most casual gamers aren't used to paying more than $40 for games at big box stores, and Santa's Workshop seems especially expensive as a novelty gift for this group.  I'm not saying the game itself isn't worth the price - the different wooden shapes for the elves and all of the painted wooden bits and unique art on the cards is certainly in line with any other game that has an equal production value - but not many people will want to pay that much for a game that's isn't going to be played very often.  The price is even steep for more experienced gamers since there are plenty of other games that you can play year round that are just as beautifully produced and cost the same or less.  Granted, you can now find Santa's Workshop at online stores for $45 and under, and that seems like a much more reasonable price for this kind of a game.

Santa's Workshop has certainly earned a place on my shelf, thanks to the wonderful theme and how well the theme is woven into the mechanics.  I've had a lot of fun introducing the game to my friends and coworkers, and everyone who's played has really enjoyed it.  I'll be taking it home with me this Christmas to play with my family, too, and I'm sure they'll enjoy it as much as I do.   If you can find it for a reasonable price, I absolutely recommend getting a copy for your own collection or as a gift for those in your life that love all things Christmas.  It's a game that's flown under the radar, but Santa's Workshop certainly deserves more love!

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