‘Twas, the Krampus Night Before Christmas

YOU become nobody in particular, woken up at midnight on Christmas Eve, not to the sound of mice who aren’t even stirring, but to a crash and a thump. You rush downstairs to confront the burglars and find something far stranger. Krampus has abducted Santa and his famous sleigh, and taken off towards the mountains to the north. It seems that Krampus is tired of being left out of the jolly season, and this Christmas he’s decided to do something drastic.

Pull on your slippers and pajamas, and head out into the snow. It’s a long walk to the mountains.

Review and Opinion

I’ve had this game book for three years, and in the Christmas/Solstice season I love to play it with friends. One of us reads, the other chooses, and we both drink cocoa the whole time.

My only gripe with the ACE gamebooks in general, is that you’re given too many points to build a character. When I describe the three attributes (Agility, Combat, Endurance) they immediately put 5 points into A and C, and then steamroll their way through the book with their 11/11. So, I work around it by inking in a nice reasonable 9 for both stats.

Now that’s out of the way, let me say the ACE gamebooks are awesome – I’ve not been disappointed yet. The writing is descriptive and detailed, yet not overly florid nor boring. The illustrations are just phenomenal, and that’s not something I often pay attention to. The game system is simple enough that non-gamers can still pick it up in a few minutes. And there’s so much packed into these books, that we’ve played it for three seasons now and still not found everything.

Tips and Hints

Errors

Maps

Publication

Written by Jonathan Green

Illustrated by Tony Hough

2019

Other Players and Links

• ACE Gamebooks website