Developer: Oh, a Rock! Studios
Publisher: Oh, a Rock! Studios
Platform: PC, Mac, Linux
Tested on: PC
Too Many Santas – Review
Oh no, a game crafted by Oh, a Rock! Studios. If you ever played a game on Steam that’s produced by these people, you know what’s coming. See our past review of Cat President 2: Purrlitical Revolution for a similar game, but for more weirdness and hilarity also The Beard in the Mirror, and Internet Court. Anyway, here’s more absurd unexpectedness and ridiculous story crafting, but this time, with a jolly twist. That’s right, it’s time for Too Many Santas, a game about that time of the year when you feel like you are stuck in a toy store to endlessly find the right present for at least one kid.
Story
Coincidentally, the main character, Sandy (or whatever other name you give the person after a short introduction), is also stuck in a toy store around Christmas. Not because she needs to find a gift, but because she works there. To her dismay, the store doesn’t sell well at all, and she’s afraid she will go bankrupt. Behold though! Outside is a shiny bright star, and Sandy does a wish. She wishes the store will thrive among other things, and that’s how not one, but six different Santas end up in her store. They are not the jolly big guy you know and love though, no, these are all Santas with their own little quirks that remind you too much of Santas you find under a bridge with a glass bottle in a paper bag. One is sad, one is.. a flexing horndog, another is sassy, one is saintly, one is a top-secret agent Santa, and one is very sleepy. Oh no, that sounds like there are Too Many Santas for one store.
The game quite rapidly throws this story at you, dividing itself into six smaller stories. These generally give you a quick setup with an issue, let you get to know the character a bit, and before you know it, it’s over again. This way you steamroll through the story, but at least you don’t get bored with a single situation for too long. We enjoyed the bite-sized story bits.
Graphics
Like all the story games from this developer, the game looks like it’s using something between stock photography and their own specially crafted pictures to make a ridiculous story. There are only photos of locations and people in this game, with some variety for each character you meet. This means that even while standing still, a Santa or customer might be blinking their eyes, or suddenly change posture depending on what’s being said. It’s a rather simple visual novel style with text boxes that look like they were made with RPG maker.
Sound
The sounds also sound like they stem from RPG maker-like games. There are some bleeps and bloops that seem oddly out of place for a game that uses photos as graphics. The music also does not really fit the game, which might as well be random stock music. This makes the sound without a doubt the weakest element of the entire game. This is a shame because visual novels that already don’t have that much to look at generally should put their best effort into what’s there to see or hear.
Gameplay
Like with most visual novels, the gameplay portion of the game is limited. Too Many Santas is set up to give you six rather short stories, each one revolving around one of the Santas that came into your life. For every short Santa story, there is a bad and a good ending, which could give the game some replayability for the most curious players. Even so, for most, it will just be a short game that offers a bit of fun in-between other titles. You will have completed the game in a few hours.
To enjoy this particular game, you must be ready for some absurdness but also some punny humor. While some (situational) jokes were hilarious, others were rather weak, and it really depends on your mood and character if you are going to enjoy this type of humor. That being said, we did like the overall effort that went into the story, and at least it’s something original, which is why we are growing more and more fond of Oh, a Rock! Studios.
What’s probably the biggest issue about Too Many Santas is that by staying breezy it also stays rather shallow. As an example, there’s a subtle bit of a dating simulator weaved into this game, but it’s without any depth due to the lack of choices or proper dating sim mechanics. This way, the game presents little more than a fun story to read through. We had hoped there would be some more actual gameplay elements thrown into the mix.
Conclusion
While Too Many Santas is an original quirky little visual novel, the game lacks a bit of depth to offer more than a very generic visual novel experience. As a whole, the humor is great but at times it completely missed its mark. The latter also depends on how the player likes its ‘punny’ humor. Overall, it’s just something that you need to be in the mood for, but when you are, it can be enough to entertain you for a couple of hours.
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