Santa’s Workshop

About this board game

Santa’s Workshop is a 60-minute worker-placement game for 2–5 players, set at the North Pole during the busiest time of the year. Across nine rounds, players lead teams of elves as they prepare gifts and care for Santa’s reindeer before the yearly trip around the world.

Place elves to collect the materials needed for gift building, including fabric, wood, and metal. Plastic can sometimes replace the standard materials, allowing gifts to be completed more quickly, although those gifts earn fewer Christmas Cookies.

Players can also customize their workforce by sending elves for training in particular aspects of the game. Each training choice provides a benefit for the rest of the game, creating opportunities to develop a more effective team as the rounds unfold.

• Build gifts for Santa’s inspections, which take place three times during the game.
• Mine coal, gather materials, and manage the timing of your actions.
• Visit the mail room to choose which gifts to build.
• Tend to eight reindeer, each offering a unique bonus.

The reindeer accumulate points the longer they go untended, so deciding when to care for them is an important part of managing your elves. Players must balance gift production with reindeer care while choosing when to visit the mail room and how to use their available materials.

In Santa’s Workshop, efficient planning may help your team build more gifts and earn a well-deserved reward: joining Santa on a sunny vacation after the long holiday season.