The Holiday season is here once again, and as gamers get prepared to spend time with their families, they should also carve out the time to grab some exclusive achievements and trophies while they can. Achievement hunters are used to spending hours grinding away at a game to earn its hardest commendations, but even they don't have all the time in the world to wait for date-exclusive trophies to unlock. Thankfully, gamers can grab a handful of trophies this Holiday season, hopefully finally earning them the platinum on some older-generation classics.
As trophy hunting has gotten more popular, the last few years have seen a shift in achievement design. Now, for the most part, games tend to keep their trophy list restricted to just single-player objectives, which can be unlocked at any time. That wasn't the case during earlier console generations, however, and there are a handful of games that have at least one time-restricted trophy, and that time restriction is often Christmas day.
All the Major Christmas Day Achievements and Trophies
The original Psychonauts has one of the easiest Christmas day trophies around. On both PS3 and Xbox 360, players simply need to load up Psychonauts on Christmas day and purchase an item from the in-game Camp Store. This should pop the "Christmas Shopping" trophy or achievement. The gruesome Saw 2 also has an incredibly easy Christmas day trophy, requiring players to simply boot up the game on Christmas day. This should give players the tongue-in-cheek, "You Wasted Your Life" achievement, mocking the player for playing such a grim game on one of the happiest days of the year.
One of the most infamous Christmas day achievements and trophies is Batman: Arkham City's "Storyteller." Playing through Batman: Arkham City naturally, players will encounter the villain Calendar Man in a cell underneath the courthouse. If the player visits Calendar Man on 12 specific dates, then they'll unlock the "Storyteller" trophy. Along with Thanksgiving, New Year's Day, and Valentine's Day, players will need to visit the eerie murderer on Christmas day, though thankfully they can walk away as soon as the trophy pops.
The Halo: Master Chief Collection also has a slightly more complicated Christmas achievement. To unlock the "Elder Signs" achievement, players need to view two different sigils on the Valhalla map. These special sigils only show up on specific days of the year, with one of those being Christmas day. Players can also check back in a few days later on New Year's Day to make sure they get the second condition for the achievement. If players miss New Year's Day, then they can head back throughout the year, with some dates being Earth Day on April 22, Cinco de Mayo, July 4, and Bungie Day on July 7. Each sigil has its own unique, quirky design, ranging from Christmas lights to references to Bungie's Marathon series.
One of the more recent games on this list, players can load up The Swindle on their PC, Xbox One, and PS4, along with previous generation consoles. The general gameplay loop of The Swindle sees players attempt to steal as much loot as they can from different boroughs of London. The Christmas-related trophy, called "You're a Mean One," requires players to 'clear out a poor person's house' on Christmas Eve. To obtain the trophy, players need to head to the Slums district in the game and steal 100% of the loot inside the house. The subject matter may be grim, but the trophy itself is a fun nod to the iconic story, How The Grinch Stole Christmas.
