Review: Big Trouble in Little Chimney (Nintendo Switch)
Ho ho ho! Yes, it’s that time of year again. What better way to celebrate the holiday season than by playing a Santa-themed game? What do you mean there’s no such thing as a good Christmas game? Big Trouble in Little Chimney for Nintendo Switch is here to try and set that record straight.
The first thing you need to know about Big Trouble in Little Chimney (apart from the obviously cool name based on a classic ‘80s movie starring Kurt Russell) is that it looks a lot like Vampire Survivors. It’s a top-down survival outing featuring weapons, upgrades, and hordes of relentless enemies. But there’s more to it than that.
You play the role of Santa—or a beefed-up version of him—who must defend the world from turkeys, elves, exploding presents, and other holiday-themed enemies. Unlike Vampire Survivors, Santa’s adventure is a twin-stick shooter. You control Santa with the left stick and aim his weapon with the right.
The goal is to survive for 10 minutes in a boundless arena until Krampus arrives. Enemy numbers increase in number and difficulty during that time, making this objective hard to pull off. To assist, every felled enemy leaves a gem behind. Collecting these adds to your XP, allowing you to select from various special abilities each time you level up.
You also earn coins. Elves randomly appear during your run, dolling out dimes as they flit around the field. Whether they’re good or evil is unclear; the coins are useful, though, being traded in for items in Santa’s shop between runs. There are upgrades aplenty, and it’s fun to check out the various weapons on offer. Each has its own stats in terms of damage, fire rate, and range. Do you prefer a stronger weapon that fires more slowly, or something with better range?
You can also permanently upgrade your health and change your special attack at the shop. There’s even an optional pet animal (cat, dog, or duck) who will join your run and collect coins for you. It all adds to a slightly easier experience the more you play, giving you plenty of incentive to try again. Because, yeah, it’s kinda hard. Those turkeys are persistent! A few other gameplay options help matters, like an auto-aim toggle.
To keep things varied, Big Trouble in Little Chimney has another mode called Giftpocalypse. This endless outing is set on a single screen with Santa protecting the presents around the Christmas tree. Elves appear from the edge of the screen to steal these presents, but a quick shot sends them back to where they came from, dropping the gifts where they were shot. You can bring them back to the center of the screen by touching them, keeping them close at hand to protect them. Your goal is to earn the highest score.
Overall, Big Trouble in Little Chimney is a fun Christmas-themed game that pays homage to Vampire Survivors in a unique way. It might not be something you play for more than a few hours, but it comes at a budget price and offers plenty to do during its short runtime.
