Screenshot of Snow Roll by kevin_eleven_1234 on Scratch
The Scratch community continues to amaze us with the incredible games they're able to create. The following are all winter-themed, with many being released around Christmas. As a result, they star Santa, a reindeer, snow people, an elf, and an adorable penguin. Since winter is generally a time spent indoors, we thought this list of Scratch games would be fun to play and also remix together. Enjoy!
1. Dasher
Guide an adorable reindeer as they gallop through a wintery forest. The goal is to collect as many presents as possible, while also avoiding the trees and oncoming reindeer herd. We love the beautiful design of this simple runner game. We also love that it's not too hard to avoid the obstacles. The score starts as soon as Dasher (the reindeer) starts running.
Screenshot of Dasher by RacingAce on Scratch
Release Date: December 22, 2019
Scratcher: RacingAce
Mobile-Friendly: Yes
Plays: 30,000+ (as of 9/16/23)
Remixes: 90+ (as of 9/16/23)
2. Elf Quest
In this Christmas-themed platformer, an elf learns that the North Pole has been destroyed by a volcano. There is dangerous lava everywhere, and the natural disaster has scattered the presents. Santa is worried that Christmas is ruined. The elf is confident they will save the day by collecting all of the presents. This game has a counter that shows how many presents the player has collected out of the total packages on that level. For example, the first level has 10 randomly placed presents, and the second level has 15. This Scratcher (the person who designed the game) did an excellent job with game design and animation. There are lava waves, falling snow, marching snowpeople, moving platforms, candy cane checkpoints, hopping slimes, and more. It's a straight-forward game, but each level gets increasingly harder.
Screenshot of Minecraft Mario Platformer by atomicmagicnumber on Scratch
Release Date: December 16, 2022
Scratcher: chipm0nk
Mobile-Friendly: Unknown
Plays: 358,000+ (as of 9/16/23)
Remixes: 700+ (as of 9/16/23)
3. Christmas Dress Up
Ipzy invites you to dress their character, Ginger. You can choose between sparkly dresses, pleated skirts, collared shirts, thigh-high socks, and a variety of shoes. Her hair accessories include antler headbands and adorable bows. Everything is beautifully designed with red, green, black, white, and gold. This Scratcher never fails when it comes to the most adorable and detail-oriented character creators.
Screenshot of Christmas Dress Up by ipzy on Scratch
Release Date: December 16, 2018
Scratcher: ipzy
Mobile-Friendly: Yes
Plays: 84,000+ (as of 9/16/23)
Remixes: 300+ (as of 9/16/23)
4. Santa Bomber
In Santa Bomber, the reindeer are too tired, so Santa is forced to deliver Christmas presents on a jet pack. The player's job is to drop the presents as Santa flies over the passing chimneys. The score increases for every successful delivery. And if a chimney is missed -- the game is over. It's a pretty cool game of hovering, timing, and precision.
Screenshot of Santa Bomber by AgentQuirt on Scratch
Release Date: December 22, 2017
Scratcher: AgentQuirt
Mobile-Friendly: Yes
Plays: 60,000+ (as of 9/16/23)
Remixes: 180+ (as of 9/16/23)
5. Santa Vs Robots '16
This game has enemies, weapons, and a little bit of fantasy violence (via snowballs, flashes, and explosions). This Scratcher clearly has some military experience or fascination, as the weapons are pretty creative. They include a bowler that shoots bowling balls, a candy rifle that shoots candy canes, as well as a burster and akimbo pistols. There's even an animated kickback when the weapons are fired. Santa's job is to collect the gifts and dodge (or defeat) the bots. We like that there are two different maps to choose from (a robot factory and an arctic cave). The art is pretty cool too!
Screenshot of Santa vs Robots 2016 by the ChAOTic on Scratch
Release Date: December 11, 2016
Scratcher: theChAOTiC
Mobile-Friendly: Unknown
Plays: 130,400+ (as of 9/16/23)
Remixes: 300+ (as of 9/16/23)
6. It's Raining Presents
This game uses the WASD keys to help Santa collect the gifts he accidentally dropped. After collecting enough presents Santa can shop for powerups. Powerups give Santa (and the gifts) special powers. For example, the first powerup is leather boots. They cost 150 present points and increase Santa's movement speed. The magnet costs 130 and pulls presents towards Santa, making his present points climb higher and faster. Exploding presents explode as the name implies, releasing more presents for Santa to collect. What at first seems like an amateur game, really has some complex gaming elements that are super fun to play.
Screenshot of It's Raining Presents by tacky365 on Scratch
Release Date: December 24, 2014
Scratcher: tacky365 + theChAOTic
Mobile-Friendly: Unknown
Plays: 5,800+ (as of 9/16/23)
Remixes: 60+ (as of 9/16/23)
7. Santa Sprint
In this platformer game, the player can choose between 8 characters -- Santa, a reindeer, an elf, a penguin, a one-eyed bot, a personified present, a snow person, or a grinch. After choosing their character, the player quickly slides through a winter storm in hopes of getting back to the North Pole. On their journey they must avoid pointy gray spikes and jump over endless pits. It's a cool fast-paced game, but timing the jumps can be pretty hard.
Screenshot of Santa Sprint by RacingAce on Scratch
Release Date: December 22, 2021
Scratcher: RacingAce
Mobile-Friendly: Yes
Plays: 24,400+ (as of 9/16/23)
Remixes: 40+ (as of 9/16/23)
8. Elf Run
This little elf decided to run into traffic and has to weave in between the oncoming cars. One commenter suggested it's because he's escaping the "low wages of the North Pole." The goal of the game is to move side to side in order to survive as long as you can. It's definitely a scenic run as the elf passes a giant snowman, squared evergreens, decorated houses, and sidewalks covered in snow.
Screenshot of Elf Run by PullJosh on Scratch
Release Date: November 26, 2016
Scratcher: PullJosh
Mobile-Friendly: Unknown
Plays: 47,100+ (as of 9/16/23)
Remixes: 200+ (as of 9/16/23)
9. Santa Dash
Santa's riding his sleigh on a winter night. He has to dodge snow-capped trees to collect all the presents. Hit a tree and Santa loses a life. He has 5, which are depicted as red hearts at the top right of the screen. It's incredible how much code went into this simple game. The game's visual effects include falling snow from one snowball and the illusion of moving forward from one illustrated backdrop.
Screenshot of Santa Dash by HakkerKat on Scratch
Released Date: December 23, 2022
Scratcher: HakkerKat
Mobile-Friendly: Unknown
Plays: 1,700+ (as of 9/16/23)
Remixes: 3 (as of 9/16/23)
10. Santa Run
Santa Run was created for Christmas and to celebrate a milestone -- the Scratcher reaching 200 followers. It features Santa dressed in his signature red outfit and hat. It's a fast-paced runner where Santa has to jump over missiles and avoid presents that are dropping from the sky. It's set on a pixelated winter scene with houses and decorated Christmas trees in the background. We like that the Scratcher left their color palette in the code. It helps us see how intentional they were about their color choices.
Screenshot of Santa Run by BASICALLY-EVERYTHING on Scratch
Released Date: December 13, 2017
Scratcher: BASICALLY_EVERYTHING
Mobile-Friendly: Unknown
Plays: 174,800+ (as of 9/16/23)
Remixes: 600+ (as of 9/16/23)
11. Santa Dash
This game has an interesting story line. The Scratcher wrote, "Due to budget cuts, Santa has to use an experimental jet pack this year to deliver presents, instead of his trusty sleigh." They add, "Experience what it is like to be in the shoes of Santa as he dodges giant snowballs, asteroids, and elves that are testing out [their] toys!" The game features a pixelated Santa in front of an aqua-blue background and moving trees. The goal is to survive as long as possible. Presents are randomly placed throughout the game and act as powerups. Collecting them allows Santa to slow down the game, become invisible, or get a points boost.
Screenshot of Santa Dash by theChAOTic on Scratch
Release Date: December 22, 2012
Scratcher: theChAOTic
Mobile-Friendly: Yes
Plays: 44,200+ (as of 9/16/23)
Remixes: 100+ (as of 9/16/23)
12. Santa Dash 2
Santa Dash 2 is a sequel to the first version, released three years earlier. In this edition there are laser traps, missile strikes, and occasional tree branches. Santa also got a makeover and gets to collect rewards and shop at the workshop. The Scratcher did an excellent job making the game action-packed -- even the sky looks cold and windy.
Screenshot of Santa Dash 2 by theChAOTic on Scratch
Release Date: December 22, 2015
Scratcher: theChAOTic
Mobile-Friendly: Yes
Plays: 111,000+ (as of 9/16/23)
Remixes: 400+ (as of 9/16/23)
13. Snow Burn
In Snow Burn, a super cool snow person must attack incoming pumpkins with snowballs. Once they're defeated, he can move onto the next level. As the game progresses there are more enemies, including bats, ghosts and falling icicles. There are five cold hearts to symbolize lives. The Scratcher made the game for a contest, so it was created in 1 week and has 1900+ code blocks.
Screenshot of Snow Burn by super-maker-64 on Scratch
Release Date: January 15, 2023
Scratcher: super-maker-64
Mobile-Friendly: Unknown
Plays: 5,600+ (as of 9/16/23)
Remixes: 10+ (as of 9/16/23)
14. Snow Roll
Snow Roll is a vertical runner featuring a blue penguin on top of a large snow ball. The penguin must dodge the trees and snow mounds in order to collect coins. Earn enough and you can shop for a watermelon, football, ying yang sign, or smiley face to roll on. We absolutely love all the graphics and game art. The snow trail behind the ball is pretty impressive too!!
Screenshot of Snow Roll by kevin_eleven_1234 on Scratch
Release Date: December 25, 2017
Scratcher: kevin_eleven_1234
Mobile-Friendly: Yes
Plays: 146,600+ (as of 9/16/23)
Remixes: 500+ (as of 9/16/23)
15. Snowman Dash
Use arrow keys to help the snowman jump over trees and collect gifts. A simple runner game that can be fun to remix.
Screenshot of Snowman Dash by icmy123 on Scratch
Release Date: December 27, 2020
Scratcher: icmy123
Mobile-Friendly: Unknown
Plays: 116,000+ (as of 9/16/23)
Remixes: 300+ (as of 9/16/23)
16. Ice Bridger - A Platformer -
Ice Bridger is a platform game set on a wintery scene. The goal is to help an adorable penguin reach their igloo using the arrow keys or WASD. Avoid the ice peaks and use ice blocks to cross large crevasses. There are 20 levels in all.
Screenshot of Ice Bridger by AnimationsScratch on Scratch
Release Date: June 26, 2020
Scratcher: AnimationsScratch
Mobile-Friendly: Unknown
Plays: 191,700+ (as of 9/16/23)
Remixes: 370 (as of 9/16/23)
That's it for our list! Which game was your favorite? Which one would you remix? If you like this list, you may also love our Flappy Birds remake list here.
Scratch is developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab. See http://scratch.mit.edu. All screen shots are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license.
Until next time...
Love the Journey,
