I guess they finally fixed compatibility issues. Worked just fine on my setup.

The story is unexpectedly bizarre, most of cliches are kind of there, but placed in a very surreal way. Some scenese are legit f-ing creepy, like when you see the Professor from bonus chapter, sitting alone in the dungeon with that thousand-yard stare in his stoned eyes, and you wonder if you're leaving the dungeon alive. Some are pure "why the f not", like the cannon shooting.

Thumbs up if you found it in LGR review.

The first Christmas Stories has plenty of great hidden object scenes and an interesting take on the old Nutcracker story. There are some pacing issues, but the wonderful scenery and an interesting bonus chapter hide most of these problems.

Hoffman’s classic Christmas tale, the Nutcracker has popped up in various forms over the past 200 years, so this hidden object game version was just a question of time. It is a rather loose adaptation though, where we play as a nameless stranger who tries to save both the Nutcracker and his princess from the evil Mouse King and his minions, because… I guess he had nothing else to do.

The game has an interesting mechanic in its helper system. Unlike in most HOGs, where we sometimes keep a pet, here we meet several critters who end up in our inventory as reusable handy “objects”, giving a new kind of depth to some of the adventure game bits, often to the game’s advantage.

Other than that, the first half offers a nice and tight pace with beautiful hidden object scenes and a comfortable level of point ‘n’ click elements. The second half is more problematic, as backtracking starts to become an issue, but at least the ending and the bonus chapter make up for it.

Watched Game Grumps play this and I had to have it. A very soothing holiday HOG.

Still doesn't work in Windows 10 - right half side of the screen is black. Tried the Windows 10 compatibility troubleshooter and a lot of variations but couldn't get it to work. Will try to return it I guess.

(Came here from the awesome LGR review)

An okay HOPA game with the Nutcracker Suite playing in the background and lots of Christmas decorations providing a seasonal feel. I didn't find the game very interesting overall, despite having a variety of puzzles (minigames). If you're looking for something very casual and seasonal, with a bit of a story and some HO scenes, this is probably worth picking up, but look for a good sale.

Pros:
- three difficulty settings, interactive map, integrated Guide
- variety and range of minigames (several challenging)
- cute collectible dolls in each room
- good voice acting
- nice cut-scenes (mini-movies)
- if you like cats, the bonus chapter is for you! [added to review]

Cons:
- older look and feel
- a lot of back-tracking
- unclear who the protagonist is or what is going on (there's a few mentions of Christmas magic, but nothing helpful
- general lack of excitement (my entirely subjective opinion); I tried but never got engaged in the story

~ Imp

Bought this during the 2018 Winter Sale because it featured on Lazy Game Reviews on Youtube.

For the price, it was a pretty good 3 hours of entertainment Not including the "secret" end game bonus chapter)

It's a point and click / puzzle game at heart (and not overly challenging).

The bugs other older reviews mentioned didn't occur when I played so it appears they have been fixed.

Delightfully weird. This game is worth it for the unexpected shifts in tone alone.

I would normally never play a game like this, but after watching the episode of LGR I decided to give it a whirl. The puzzles are unique and range from extremely simple all the way to a couple that were so challenging I had to skip them out of frustration (I'm looking at *you*, animal tile puzzle!)

I have a machine with Windows 7 and the game ran flawlessly with the exception of some slow downs and lag when moving through areas in the bonus content (the regular game ran perfectly.)

Lol this is one of those games that sucks but you end up getting addicted and beat the game. 20/10 would reccomend

I love Hoffmann's Nutcracker story, but this game doesn't have anything in common with it (except for some evil mice). Yes, I know it is not supposed to be a retelling; still, I expected some mentions of the candy country, Drosselmeier's story, or the clockwork house. Instead I had to trudge through snowy fields, dungeons, mines, collapsed libraries, without any fairy tale feeling or Christmas feeling. You have to walk back and forth a lot on the map, and the puzzles are greatly unbalanced. Overall it was a disappointment for me; the Living Legends series and A Christmas Carol / Tin Soldier were much better fairy tale inspired games.

I would not recommend purchasing this game until steam works out the bugs. The game randomly erases the current profile of whoever is playing at random intervals. Until this is fixed, the game really isn't worth it.