Zeboyd Games is a two-person indie studio, consisting of Robert Boyd and William Stiernberg, that’s mainly been dedicated to making RPGs. One of their earliest games was 2010’s Cthulhu Saves the World, a parody RPG where you play as Cthulhu, who’s forced to be heroic for the sake of unlocking his powers. Now, years later, Cthulhu has reawakened from his dark slumber to star in Cthulhu Saves Christmas. Announced in the summer, Cthulhu is coming back for a big Christmas adventure that’s appropriately aimed to release this month.

Santa Claus has been kidnapped by the League of Christmas Evil and for whatever reason, Cthulhu’s the one to save him. Belsnickel (a Germanic analog to Santa) joins the party, as does the Snow Maiden (the Russian girl made of snow,) and Baba Yaga-chan (anime girl version of the Baba Yaga). Together, they’re facing off against other holiday folklore characters such as Krampus and Mari Lwyd in their quest to save Santa Claus!

Here's a gif of the game in motion! pic.twitter.com/oFeoQCIAIC

— Robert Boyd (@werezompire) December 9, 2019

From screenshots, one can see that Cthulhu’s glorious visage has been upgraded to a more detailed art style that’s more in line with Zeboyd’s 2017 game, Cosmic Star Heroine. In fact, the battle system seems to be more in line with that game compared to the Dragon Quest-esque system of the original. The game also brings back the Battle Counter, a mechanic that cuts down on random encounters after you fight a select number of them. Presumably, Cthulhu Saves Christmas will keep Zeboyd Games’ tradition of having battles get tougher the longer it goes on.

Although a proper trailer hasn’t been shown off yet, the developer accounts have shared some screenshots. They’ve also shared some music that’s being composed by Joshua Queen, bringing synths that are a mix of Christmas cheer and Lovecraftian horror. While a specific date hasn’t been set, the team seems dead set on releasing it this month for the Christmas synergy.

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