Cave Story's Secret Santa

First Promo art for Cave Story's Secret Santa

Cave Story's Secret Santa is a small Cave Story spin-off released on December 10th 2021. It features a new 2D stealth gameplay style, where the player needs to enter houses and return stolen gifts as Santa. Pikii Godo Kaisha was also present helping to port it to the Nintendo Switch. The game was developed by Nicalis and Studio Pixel. It is currently avaliable on Steam, Epic Games, GOG and the Japanese Nintendo Eshop.

Synopsis

Jenka leafing through the book pages

The game starts with Jenka telling a story to Mimigas and with her puppies, somewhere in the Sand Zone, presumably at her own house. She tells them about the time Chaba tried to steal Christmas. As he sells weapons, and at the time his business was getting weak, Chaba with other Gaudis, originated a plan to break into everyone's homes, one night before Christmas, to steal the presents. Balrog found out the conspiration and managed to recover the gifts, Santa's house was the closest one to the Gaudi's hideout and, with that, Balrog teamed up with Santa to return them.

Gameplay

The game's menu for itself has the option to continue the game from the last completed level and the option to create a new clear game starting in the Jenka's Cutscene. Some of the options are to change the Languages (English and Japanese available) and to turn off the "Tv Effects". The player is placed in a starting Map that selects the levels, being Houses. Each one is a combination of puzzles that requires the player to return the presents to one or more Christmas Trees without dying or being caught. A sprint/run ability is available, pressing down shift (PC), but the player also can interact with objects and such. When finishing a level after entering the fireplace, the player Score will show up saying the time taken to complete the puzzle, if they found and ate the Bonus Cookies, and the amount of trees with gifts returned. The starting overworld map is the Bushlands, the second Mimiga Village and the final overworld map is Sand Zone, as stated by the Map System in the selection menu. Every beaten map will change from a red circle to a yellow one, making the player able to proceed after the path they are at.

Controls (PC)

Action	Key
Interact, confirm and take out patrols	E, Space or Mouse Clicking
Back	Q or ESCape
Sprint	Left Shift
Pause	ESCape
Move and selecting	Arrow keys or WASD

Controls (Nintendo Switch)

Action	Key
Interact, confirm and take out patrols	A
Back	B
Sprint	B
Pause	Start (+ Button)
Move and selecting	D-pad and joystick

Santa womping a Gaudi

Santa womping a Mimiga

Patrols

The Patrols are enemies that can appear in some levels. Those can eliminate the player if they are in their vision, though, they don't seek for them. In most houses, they are portrayed by Gaudis, while in a exception for the Cemetery House, Hi-tech House, Island Room, Curly's Abode, Run-down House and Top-heavy House, Mimigas with a light green shirt are the patrols. It is possible to take them out and womp them temporarily (5 seconds), when next to them and pressing the Interact Key. The Patrols vision are a green or yellow light as it appear in their front.

Related Achievements:

Name		Description
	i Fell Asleep	You womped 1 patrol
	Rampage	You womped 100 patrols
	Pacifist	You beat the game without womping any patrols
	Secret Santa	You beat the game without being discovered

Cookies

The Cookies are extra and optional scores present in every level. They are not needed to pass any of the levels, but they help unlocking (or not unlocking) some achievements in the Steam version. The cookies also check the "Bonus" element when escaping as done. Eating them will display the message "You ate the Cookies!", and interacting with the plate again displays the message "Those were good". Cookies high up the player velocity by the rest of the level after being ate.

In some houses like the Run-down house and Hallway House, getting the cookies will also require more actions. In the Run-down house, to get it the player will need to step in a Pressure Plate, which will put fire in the fireplace and will require a jellyfish juice to escape. In the Hallway House, getting it requires unlocking a vent with the Prybar.

Related Achievements:

Name		Description
	Cookie Monster	You ate all the cookies
	I Hunger	You beat the game without eating any cookies

Pressure Plates

Pressure plates are sometimes possible to avoid, and other times, it is required to power/step on them to proceed on a level. Stepping on them causes to the fireplace get blocked with fire, and a Jellyfish Juice is needed to remove it (the plate also gets darker once stepped). They take place in walkable tiles and are present in the levels; Santa's House, Cemetery House, Dangerous House and Run-down House, although, it is possible to avoid it In Santa's House and Run-down House.

Fireplace

Santa in the front of a Fireplace

The fireplaces are required to escape and finish a level, with that being said they are present in all the levels, Trying to enter it without returning the presents in all the Trees from the current level doesn't do anything.

When starting a level, the player will always spawn inside the fireplace. In the levels of Santa's House, Cemetery House, Dangerous House and Run-down, the fireplace can be blocked by fire if the Pressure Plates are powered, and interacting with it displays "A roaring fire!". In the Shack level, returning to the fireplace before delivering the gifts is useful, as the Map System can be encountered in it.

There are five different designs of fireplaces, with some of them following tile arts from the original Cave Story:

Related Achievements:

Name		Description
	Blocked	You pushed a block into the fireplace... for some reason
	The Orange	You left the house in a box

Christmas Trees

The Trees are another element present in every house at the game. Differently from Cookies, they are a obligatory event that the player must complete. Their star at the top emits a little yellow light.

Interacting with it will count as returning the presents for 1/X Trees, and will also change the Tree design turning it decorated with ornaments and displays the message "Presents Delivered!".

There can be any amount of Trees in levels, with the biggest amount in the game being 4 at the Island Room. To complete a level with more than one Christmas Tree, it is needed to deliver the presents in all of them. There can also be different Trees designs, there are three:

Spikes

Another way to lose and reset your game in Cave Story's Secret Santa is stepping on Spikes. The player stops when touching them and the message "OUCH!" pops up, together with a squeak from the original Cave Story. They are pretty similar to Red flowers, a single one makes an appearance at the Dangerous House, being just spikes with a 4x4 range, being deathly only at the bottom tiles.

A spike pit

Related Achievements:

Name		Description
	Secret Santa	You beat the game without being discovered

Drag Blocks

The Drag Blocks are interactable elements in the game. They are present in the levels; Malco's House; Shack; Snake House; Hi-Tech House; Curly's Abode; Top-Heavy House. When pressing the interact key one tile near it (not diagonal), and using the moving keys, it is possible to pull and push the block to any direction (except diagonal), the limit is another object or walls. The level with the most Drag Blocks is the Shack, with 17.

The Drag Block sprite is based off the Star Block texture from the main Cave Story game, being probably a reference for another block with a special use: the star block is the only tile that can be destroyed in Cave Story, and in Cave Story's Secret Santa, it gets the ability to be the only interactable tile, and together with the Walking Present, a moving tile too.

Sorry about the mess... -- Sign at the Shack

Pull and Push drag animations

Related Achievements:

Name		Description
	Blocked	You pushed a block into the fireplace... for some reason

Noise Ducks

The Noise Ducks are elements present in the levels; Shack; Duck House; Cemetery House; Curly's Abode. Stepping on them causes a Squeak sound play and each Patrol near it will go to analyze the duck for 4 seconds. After that, they look to the sides and will walk back to their origins place. At the Cemetery House and Curly's Abode, they make the player instantly lose and be discovered if touched instead.

At the Shack, the Patrol who is stuck between Drag Blocks will try to follow the Noise Duck, and will act like it is analyzing it, unless the player releases it.

Related Achievements:

Name		Description
	Secret Santa	You beat the game without being discovered

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Light Switches

NOTE FOR GUESTS: Try out my new light switches! -- Sign at the Dark House

Light Switches are a needless aspect in levels, while all they do is iluminate a certain area, although they should be helpful for the player. They are similar to Lamps, but with a bigger range of light. Even they are supposed to be introducted at the Dark House, with a sign quoting them, the Light Switches do appear in past levels before it, like at Malco's House. They are present in all the levels, except for; Santa's House; Chako's House; Dangerous House; Curly's Abode.

Walking Present

Walking Presents is another element that isn't required to beat any levels. They are present in the levels: LShaped House, Top-heavy House, Tanker House and Curly's Abode. First introducted at the LShaped House, the present boxes, when interacted, will dress up the player as a Walking Present box. When the player has it equipped, no Patrols will discover the player, as long as they are completely immobile. If they don't move, they are considered solid tiles for other NPC's. However, they are still vulnerable to Sleeping Mimigas, Puppies and Noise Ducks. The box will leave the player when they have delivered a gift in any trees or have taken out Patrols.

When finishing a level, going through the fireplace and still having it equipped will unlock The Orange achievement in the Steam port. The name is a reference to the game Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, where the character Solid Snake often hides inside a cardboard box that reads "The Orange".

Related Achievements:

Name		Description
	The Orange	You left the house in a box

Sleeping Mimigas and Puppies

They have a sleeping animation and if the player is near them by three tiles distance (or in some houses, lowered to two for some reason) for more than 2 seconds, the player will be discovered. Some of the Sleeping mimigas through the game are references to characters from the original Cave Story (King at the Strange House and Chako at Chako's House). It is possible to interact with them, fast enough to not be discovered, displaying the message "Better not wake them...". They can also be woken up by the lights, as shown in Cemetery House, Dark House and Donut House.

The same goes for the Sleeping Puppies, they use less space than the Sleeping Mimiga but do the same. Their interaction message is "A sleepy puppy...".

Related Achievements:

Name		Description
	Secret Santa	You beat the game without being discovered

Ventings

The Vents are opened passages in the walls. The Prybar is required to free the grid when they are locked, but sometimes passing through closed vents is optional for the stage. Drag Blocks are able to pass through them, but that will never be required to beat any levels. It isn't possible to see the path in the vents, which can result in a sort of maze, (Curly's Abode is an example for this). At the Dangerous House, a vent has more than one path, one of them secretly leads to the Cookies plate.

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A vent. It's on tight. -- Closed vent

Items

Items can be collected during playthroughs in Cave Story's Secret Santa. Differently from the main game, they don't have any drawings or portraits. The inventory also doesn't exist to check further on them. Although, five items exist and seem to be in the player's inventory during the game:

Prybar - Is useful for opening closed vents, and will break after being used for the first time. Is in; Snake House; Hallway House; Cemetery House; Hi-tech House; Run-down House; Tanker House; Curly's Abode. Will always be encountered in a chest, but in levels they don't exist, the chest will display the text "A chest! What's inside...", and nothing more.

Prybar acquired!

You pry open the vent. Your Prybar broke.

Jellyfish Juice - Inspired from the original game's Jellyfish Juice (click here to see), is in every map that Pressure Plates are, as those block the fireplace with fire. The Jellyfish Juice can douse the fire to unblock the escape. They will always be available in a fridge. In stages that don't have the Jellyfish Juice, the fridge displays the text "Time for snacks!", and nothing more.

Jellyfish Juice acquired!

It's empty... -- The fridge after gathering the juice

Charcoal - Everytime after dousing a fire with the Jellyfish Juice, the player receives some of it. Even so, it appears not to be useful in any part of the game. It could be just a reference to the Charcoal item from the main Cave Story, where it is received after dousing Santa's fire (click here to see).

You douse the fire... Obtained some Charcoal.

Map System - Is found in the Shack level in a chest, going behind the fireplace and to the left before putting the gifts in the tree. It affects the pause screen during the level selection, showing up the main game maps the Map System from Cave Story in the bottom part, from the areas: Mimiga Village, Bushlands and Sand Zone. Will start working as soon as the player has beat the Shack level with it in inventory.

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Fire Extinguisher - Is found, only, at Tanker House level, in a chest at the supposed storage room. It does the exact same as the Jellyfish Juice, but is used in a fire that is inside a vent, in the occasion.

I moved the fire extinguisher to storage, since we never use it anyway. -- Sign at Tanker House

Songs

The tracks for Cave Story's Secret Santa are all based on other songs from the original Cave Story game. There are only 3 that play along the game:

Delivery

The file for this soundtrack has this name probably from the relation of it playing during the time the player has to deliver the presents. This song plays in all the houses except for the Run-down House, for no revealed reasons. Some parts of it resemble the "Eyes of Flame" ORG from Cave Story.

Cave Story

This song is separated into two files, with the name "theme_intro" and "theme_loop", and as the beginning of it doesn't ever repeat, the loop is the second part. It resembles the title theme from Cave Story but, mostly, Carol of The Bells, a famous Christmas carol from 1919.

Overworld

A song only found in the Jenka's House cutscenes (in both the end and start of Cave Story's Secret Santa) and in the level selection, which could have relations for the final name of it. The lowered pitch and the remixed parts with "bouncing" on the second part of this soundtrack makes it sounds like "Overworld" from Super Mario: World. The Cave Story ORG that inspirated this was Mimiga Town.

Levels (Houses)

This is a list with descriptions for all the levels (Note: the map images are not accurate to what the player actually sees in game, mainly because of the altered light for better vision):

Bushlands

Santa's House

The first level in the game. Has an optional Pressure Plate, and a Jellyfish Juice in the fridge in case it's stepped. A single tree in the bottom of the room, spikes at the left and cookies next to a bed. The room is inspired by Santa's House from the main game, and the sign next to the spikes seems to have only scribbles now, according to the sign text itself.

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Malco's House

Has only one tree and if the player is the in front of Malco's view, they will be discovered. This level is most likely to teach the player the use of the Drag Block, according to the humor message described in the sign. The room could've been inspired by the Power Supply Room, where Malco is at in the original game. Malco got unused sprites in the asset files, they are similar to their ''attention'' animation, bouncing the head and with the mouth open from the original Cave Story, it could have been used when Malco discovered the player.

Please don't trap me in using that big stone block while i'm recharging, -Malco -- Sign at Malco's House

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Chako's House

Has a sleeping mimiga (Chako) next to the fireplace. The level introduces the sleeping mimigas as the player has to pass them to deliver the gift in the tree at the top of the house. The first ever patrol is located in the bottom part, most likely a kitchen, it has the Cookies. Inspired by the original Chako's House.

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Mimiga Village

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Strange House

Has a corridor with three patrols, and a single tree at the top of the room. A small tree with the Cookies is at the left, one of the patrols has a cycle that goes there. Next to the tree, a Sleeping Mimiga in the form of King is found as an easter egg.

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Dark House

Introduces the Light Switches. The player will most likely want to use them because the room is a total dark. A sleeping mimiga is in the left of the fireplace room and will be woken up with the lights, but that can be avoided if the player turns off them quickly. There's a sign with the text: "NOTE FOR GUESTS: Try out my new light switches!".

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Shack

Starts pretty dark, which will in most cases make the player turn on the lights. Has a maze of Drag Blocks. Inbetween, the Cookies are found, and the tree too. The level contains two Noise Ducks but it shouldn't be a problem for the player if the patrol is not released from the blocks. A secret lies behind the fireplace: entering it before returning the presents will unlock a path at the left, which will lead in a small space cointaining the Map System. The internal stage name for this level is "MESSY_HOUSE", which is related to the quantity of Drag Blocks. The level is inspired and based off the Shack from the original game. Things that bring up that is: it's in the Mimiga Village section, it's where the Map System is obtained (in Cave Story, the chest for it is right above the Shack) and Balrog hole can be seen next to the tree.

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Hallway House

To leave the fireplace hall, the player must quickly hide between the pots, as it's the only way not to be discovered at the first Patrol. The level has three of them, two of them constantly cycles in the corridors, while one won't move, right next to a chest containing a Prybar, that unlocks the vent to the Cookies room. It is the first map with more than one Christmas Tree (three). Next to one, there's a Sleeping Mimiga.

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Snake House

Contains two halls with a tree at the end of each one. It's the stage with more Patrols ever in the game (seven). It has two hidden rooms: one has a chest with a Prybar, and the second one is acessed through the closed Vent (requires Prybar) and leads to the Cookies Room with two Sleeping Mimigas. It has this name because of how the Snake animal constantly spines their body, related to the first section of Patrols that constantly change their facing directions.

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Duck House

Is supposed to introduce the Noise Ducks, although they are seen in past levels (example for this is the Shack). To pass to the upper map division, the player has to attract the patrols to the bottom duck. Finally, to escape, the player must repeat the process with the upper duck. The Cookies are found right next to the tree.

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Cemetery House

Has a Pressure Plate that can't be avoided, four Sleeping Mimigas in small bedrooms, a Sleepy Puppy next to one of them, and a Cookie next to one of them. There's also a Noise Duck that eliminates the player instantly, waking up one of the sleeping mimigas. At the bottom, a corridor that leads to the kitchen, where the Jellyfish Juice is at (fridge) and another corridor that leads to the Christmas tree. Next to it, a chest with a Prybar can be found, however it is optional, it only grants a quicker acess to the other corridor, connecting them in a vent. It could be inspired by the Cemetery, an area at the original game at the Mimiga Village. In the game, it's inside the Mimiga Village section too, being a possible house near it.

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Dangerous House

Has lots of Spikes scattered through the level, and a single Red Flower, that does the same as spikes. The player can only count in their own light to see what is at the level, as there isnt any other light in the map. There are two small trees, a Sleeping Mimiga and a Puppy. Jellyfish juice is needed in the stage to unblock the fire at the fireplace, can be found at the fridge. In the start of it, next to the fireplace, there's a sing that reads ''Watch your step...''. The Cookies are located in the room acessed through a vent. There are no Patrols in the level.

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LShaped House

Has this name because the room format is in the shape of an L. Two patrols cycle through two L lines, two trees are present and at the kitchen, the right side has secretly the passage to the Cookies. There's also a bedroom with a Sleeping Mimiga and an useless chest next to the fireplace. Is the first map to introduce the Walking Present, in the middle of the first corridor.

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Sand Zone

Run-down House

Only level that plays a different music, being it the main title theme. It has two Mimiga Patrols wandering around the place. In order to obtain the Cookies, the player has to power the Pressure Plate. The Jellyfish Juice and the Prybar are found in the hidden room that can be only entered through a secret entrance in the Cookies Place (as the original entrances are blocked with Spike Pits). There is only one Christmas Tree, found at the right bottom corner on the level.

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Top-Heavy House

Has this name because the room format is in the shape of a heavy weight. The level has five Patrols and nine Drag Blocks. The Cookies are found in the bottom left room, next to a Sleeping Puppy and a small Christmas Tree. The other tree is in the top of the room, the player has to pass through the Patrols to get there.

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Tanker House

The player spawns in the left part of the map with a Walking Present next to it. Has three Patrols, two of them mostly walk in the middle corridors, while the other one keeps track of the Cookies. Supposed "Storage" (according to the sign) has a chest cointaining the Fire Extinguisher, it's used in the bottom vent blocked with fire, where the first Christmas Tree and Prybar are found. Right above it, a blocked vent has to be opened to deliver the gifts to the final tree.

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Curly's Abode

Inspire by the Sand Zone Residence, Curly's Abode contains four Patrols, probably the Colons that are found in the original room. To get to there, the player has to pass through a vent with a hidden maze path, the direct path is blocked with Spike Pits. In the bottom right corner of the room, a Walking Present is available for the Player, and in the middle of the same room, the Prybar is found inside a chest. To finally get to the two Christmas Trees room (that is also inspired by the Sand Zone Residence, in the sublocation of the Small Room), the player has to avoid a Noise Duck and some Patrols, to unlock the venting. There, some Cookies take place, and a hidden entrance leading to a chest that reads "Someone left their laundry in here???". That's a reference to the Curly's Panties.

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Hi-Tech House

Only level in the game to have both Mimiga and Gaudi Patrols, with the total of four. There's only one Christmas Tree, although, it's blocked by a vent that can only be unlocked with the Prybar located at the bottom of the level. Two patrols that don't move keep track of the chest and one that constantly moves through the corridors too. Next to the chest, some cookies and junk boxes can be found.

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Island Room

It's a level where there a several small rooms connected with venting passages, there's only one Patrol present on it, in the supposed kitchen with the Cookies. There are four Christmas Trees, being the room with the most ever trees in the game. The level also contains a secret passage, in the same room with the Mimiga in a computer. In the left to it, the player can enter the wall and go down. There will be a pit where the player can enter a room, it's a reference to the game The Binding of Isaac, which is also from Nicalis.

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Donut House

Has this name because the room format is in the shape of a Donut. The halls of the level are circular and that's where the two Patrols are at all the time. In the middle of it, with an entrance at the top, there's the Christmas Tree, while the Cookies are hidden in a dark room at the right with a Sleeping Mimiga.

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Jenka's House

Isn't a playable level, but it's where the first and final cutscenes for the game take place. The player takes control of it at the end of the game. It is inspired by the Original Jenka's House

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Gallery

Bushlands in the Map Viewer (Nintendo Switch)

Mimiga Village in the Map Viewer (Nintendo Switch)

Sand Zone in the Map Viewer (Nintendo Switch)

Isaac room easter egg

Jenka's Facepic for CSSS

Map Viewer from the PC port

Title Screen

Lose Screen

Nintendo Switch box Logo

Malco unused sprites

Japanese Eshop page for CSSS

Reception

At first, the game received a massive hate, regarding the situation were Nicalis supposedly stole the Cave Story rights and IP from Pixel, and fans affirmated it was a game to clear the situation. Alternatively, some fans found it nice being a sweet stealth simple game, after many years without much Cave Story content going on, although, it still looked pretty far from the original Cave Story concept.

External links

• Steam page for Cave Story's Secret Santa
• Epic Games page for Cave Story's Secret Santa
• GOG.com page for Cave Story's Secret Santa (deleted)
• Japanese Eshop page for Cave Story's Secret Santa (deleted)
• Pikii announcement tweet with Pixel's Video
• Pixel's Video translatated tweet from Nicalis
• Studio Pixel announcement tweet for the game
• Official trailer for Cave Story's Secret Santa by Nicalis on Youtube
  
  

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Trivia

• The Drag Blocks have known issues: When pushing them and sprinting at the same time, it is possible to noclip into it.
  • Because of that issue, it is possible to bring those to spikes in the Snake House. It can only happen there due to the glitch, and the result is that even only the block is at the spike, the player is caught, but no retry option will be displayed and to continue, the game has to be re-opened.

• The stars at the background of the Selection menu seem to be heavily inspired by the Whimsical Star art, an item at the original game.

• After beating the game and passed the Jenka Cutscene, the player will be able to move. It reveals that Jenka's House has several hidden details and tiles that shouldn't be walked on.
• The Japanese Eshop port for the game has two versions: the first one (1.0) is different from the PC version from the following aspects: Removed the Sprint ability, removed the option to unable the "Tv Effects" (In-game), removed in some maps, the light switchers (making others begin with light already), lowered the player vision in dark levels like the Cemetery House, the Patrol lights got darker, changed the Map Selecting backgrounds, removing the snow, together with the little stars at the background. A second version came days after (1.2), with last minute changes. They made it equally the same as the current version in Steam, Epic games and GOG.
  • Three things to note: Sprint supposedly was removed because the cookies little speed velocity wouldn't apply while sprinting, so Nicalis "fixed" this bug by removing the ability to run. The effects can't be turned off in-game, but by editing the save in a Base64 decoder, it is possible to remove it by changing " "m_Effects": true " to " "m_Effects": false ". The map selecting graphic changes made some think it shouldn't be the update, and it should be the first version in fact (as the logic is that it snows later).

• The game had an issue where the Jenka's House level wouldn't count as complete when beating the game, which wouldn't award any achievements in the Steam version regarding beating the game. It didn't affect anything, as in the moment where the glitch existed, achievements were already broken.
• The saves for the game save information like how many times Patrols were taken out, and what levels the player ate the cookies, to manage the Steam Achievements better. The time taken to beat the levels in also saved inside the save file, even so, there is not any achievements regarding time.
• Cave Story's Secret Santa was, slowly, being hinted before it's official launch on December 10th, by Tyrone Rodriguez and Nicalis on Twitter [1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. ].
• The Patrols use the dijkstra's algorithm. They set checkpoints on the tiles for their maps and connect all them to create their path, where they will walk, stop, etc. They can easily adapt their shape of paths if there's a Drag Block or a Walking Present in their way. They are programmed to always have a way to follow and don't get lost. This does confirmate that the Patrols don't seek for the player.
  • Sometimes, if the player cross paths with the one, they can noclip into them, still resulting in getting caught.
• According to Tyrone Rodriguez, the game would be available until a little bit after Christmas. It was pulled out from GOG.com, Epic games and in the Japanese Eshop, but as from November 2022, the game can still be bought for free on Steam.
• The game itself is DRM free, making sharing of it easy. This also means it isn't for a limited time, and can be available for ever.