Santa’s Workshop is a game I get out during the Christmas season for a couple of playings.
From Elf Creek Games, Santa’s Workshop is a light medium worker placement game about collecting resources to build toys on childrens’ wishlists.
It is, in many ways, a standard worker placement game. You place your elves on spots to pick up letters (toy orders), collect resources, hang ornaments on trees, help with the reindeer, upgrade the elves’ abilities, expand your personal workshop and fulfill orders (build toys) with the appropriate number of wood, metal, cloth and assembly tokens (which look like blueprints).
An interesting twist in Santa’s Workshop relates to the assembly tokens. In this, the first person to visit the assembly hall gets one token (many toys require two or more). The second person gets one assembly token AND a second if they “ask for help” from the first player in the assembly hall. If they do, the first player gets three points. The third and subsequent to visit may take up to three tokens, awarding the second person in that spot two points and the first three points for their “help.”
The first person to that spot gets only one assembly token, but can quickly run up the points.
Points are awarded for toys built, sets of Reindeer collected, upgrades to elves and your personal workshop, and for the amount of Christmas Cheer you you have displayed in building toys and hanging ornaments during three Santa Inspections over the course of the game. Going heavy on reindeer is a winning strategy, as is focusing on toy building and upgrades, or a mix of all three. I like that players have options.
Santa’s Workshop also has a good mix of the tactical and strategic. Jumping on opportunites as they present themselves is important, but so is upgrading so you have more options as the game goes on.
Santa’s Workhop is fun and doesn’t overstay its welcome. There are three rounds of three worker placements each, which makes it tight and relatively short. A group of focused, experienced gamers could easily finish this game in 70 – 90 minutes.
The game also has a built-in “easier” version for families, with a simplified version of the game board on the reverse side, and some lighter rules.
