Winter Village is an area only accessible during the Christmas event. It is one of the few areas accessible by all players.
History[]
In the October 23, 2017 update, the SSO team hinted that the Christmas event would be getting an update from its past iterations.
In the November 29, 2017 update, the village was released. While old Christmas quests were removed, the release of the market released new quests in a compact area, so players would not have to travel all around Jorvik to complete quests.
The 2018 and 2019 iterations of the village were the same as previous years.
In the December 2, 2020 update, the graphics of the village was updated and Santa was removed from his usual location and added to the Jorvik City Mall. Instead, players could play quests with Mrs. Holdsworth’s Yule Goat that would introduce them to the Winter Village. The Yule Goat Hunt had been altered significantly, and the Ice Boutique was replaced with a Warm Wish exchange.
On December 1, 2021, the winter event returned, this time with a completely updated Winter Village. The same mechanics from 2020 returned (the Winter Festivities).
On December 7, 2022, the winter event returned with the same mechanics and Winter Village as the year before, with an additional story line to bring back the Winter Magic.
Appearance[]
The Christmas Market is a snowy landscape in perpetual nightfall where the stars and an Aurora Borealis are visible. The entire market is covered in Christmas decorations and lights.
The market itself has brown wooden cabins with snow on the rooftops. There are lots of shops, a café, and a large Yule tree with daily gifts underneath that players can collect. Next to the village is a giant lake of ice where players can slip and slide around, and there are different species of wildlife including penguins, deer, arctic foxes, and bears which can be found in the wilderness surrounding the village and lake. You can also find and take photos of magical winter horses that walk around the map in return for some winter magic.
There is also a dressage arena with show jumping prop options inside the village.
Residents[]
Santa[]
Santa was previously located at his home in the market and was available for some quests. He now only appears on the stage in the mall during the Christmas event.
Elves[]
The Elves are a re-skinned version of Chaun, the Leprechaun from the Fortuna Festival event, but unlike Chaun, the elves are decked out in christmas hats and jackets with white beards and blue eyes. A few Elves have special names and accessories. Many of the Elves of 2020 and years after that, however, are not unique in appearance. Some Elves are found only outside of winter village such as Landing Pad Helper, Dreams of Summer and Aurorus.
Elves in Previous Years[]
- Landing Pad Helper
- Bungle the “Race Helper”
- Gruggle the Delivery Helper
- Little Helper
- Jangle the Finish Line Helper
- Dreams of Summer (Reverts snow particles and frozen lakes back to summer)
- Aurorus (Rerolls auroras)
Elves in 2022[]
- Landing Pad Helper
- Crumble
- Pickle
- Jumble
- Jingle the Race Helper
- Bungle the Race "Helper"
- Penguin Race manager
- Fumble
Accessibility[]
To access the Winter Village, players must have finished the quest where Jasper Holbrook gives you access to Fort Pinta to unlock the quest "Holdsworth's Little Helpers". Upon following that quest line, the Christmas sleigh will be placed in practically every major area in Jorvik.
The sleigh in previous years
The sleigh in 2020 and following years
The Ice Boutique[]
Besides the regular shops where players could purchase Christmas clothing, gear, and accessories from previous years, there is also a small ice cave in the market. In this cave, players can exchange their "Christmas Wishes" for special (current year) exclusive clothing, gear, accessories, and a special non-disposable reindeer powder. The Ice Boutique was removed from the game in 2020 and replaced with the Warm Wishes exchange function. In 2021's Winter Village update, it was completely absent - in its place were photo background props.
Reindeer[]
There was previously a stable located in the market where players could purchase transformation powders for their horse, which will transform them into a Reindeer in one of the three colors depending on what powder is purchased (except for one, which had to be swapped for in the Ice Boutique and can be used an unlimited amount of times during the Christmas event). In 2020 and following years, the Holiday Reindeer powder could no longer be bought. Reindeer powder is now only accessible through Soul Riding rewards and if the player has any left over from previous years.
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These powders are available in:
- Brown (ice cave exclusive)
- Grey
- Rudolph (brown with a red nose)
- White
Trivia[]
- In Christmas 2020, the Winter Village’s snow and tree texture were updated. The sky and sleigh to Winter Village has also been updated.
- In Christmas 2021, the Winter Village was completely updated with a new layout and appearance.