In development Coming to Steam · Early Access targeted for 2027

Chimneys · a co-op Santa heistDon't wake the town.

You and up to three friends are a Santa crew, sneaking gifts into a sleeping Lapland town before it wakes up, or before the rival crew gets there.

Concept art: looking out of a sooty brick fireplace into a dark living room with a lit Christmas tree, a sofa, a rug with a sleeping dog and a moonlit window.

1–4 playersOnline co-op. Solo works too.
One night, one run20–30 minutes, a quota, then the workshop.
One Lapland townUnder the polar night.
PC, SteamWindows first. Price and date to come.

The job

Every house is a small heist.

Land on the roof, climb down the chimney, leave the gift under the tree, and be gone before anyone stirs. Every picture in this row is a real capture from the game as it is today. It is an early prototype, so it is rough, and it is ours.

Santa climbing onto a chimney on a snowy roof at night, with dark mountains behind.

Land on the roof

Park the sleigh on the snow and walk to the chimney. Santa is too big for the cat flap, so the chimney it is.

In the prototype

A dark living room with a sofa, a coffee table with cookies and a lit tree glowing in the corner.

Slide down. Leave the gift.

Drop into a furnished living room, find the tree and place the gift. Every gift you leave counts toward the night's quota.

In the prototype

Santa carrying a wrapped gift across a dim living room toward a lit tree.

Don't get seen

Kids stir. Parents wake. The street starts asking questions. Getting caught is where the chaos starts, and it's what we build next.

Building next

The crew

One Santa too big for the chimney. Elves small enough for the cat flap.

Every crew has exactly one Santa. The rest is up to you and your friends. Pictures here are character concept art, made with AI image tools, not game footage.

Concept art Concept art of a cheerful low-poly Santa with a white beard, red suit and black belt, arms held out.

In the prototype

Santa

The legend. The one the children wait for.

Good at: The tree, the big gifts, carrying the sack. Ragdolling across a roof.
Not so good at: Quiet. And a full belly sticks in chimneys.

Concept art Concept art of a young Christmas elf with a tall green hat, pointed ears, a red tunic and striped stockings.

In early tests

Elf

Small, quick, silent.

Good at: Stockings and small gifts, cat flaps, mail slots and every gap Santa can't fit.
Not so good at: Big gifts alone. Two elves can carry one together.

Concept art Concept art of a Finnish forest reindeer with large antlers and a plain dark nose.

Planned

Reindeer

The getaway driver.

Good at: Flying the sleigh, spotting lit windows from above, and yanking a stuck Santa out of a chimney.
Not so good at: Houses. A reindeer in a garden raises eyebrows.

Planned

Stuck.

Santa ate four cookies and is now wedged in the chimney, legs kicking, while the dad comes down the stairs. The reindeer hooks a rope and pulls him out like a cork.

Planned

Two Santas, one living room.

You come down the chimney and the rival Santa is already at the tree. Both freeze. A child on the stairs sees two.

Planned

Coal.

Last house, quota on the line. Santa reaches into the sack and it's all coal. Someone got to your sleigh while you were inside.

The rival crew

Two crews. One town. Every house pays out once.

The North Pole is short-staffed, so a rival Santa crew is working your streets. The first crew to place the right gift gets the house. Beat them to the chimney. Or make them late.

In the prototypeThey race you. An AI crew in green and gold chases the same houses with the same sleigh.
PlannedRing the doorbell while their Santa is inside.
PlannedLight the fire under their Santa in the chimney.

There's a brake on the sabotage. Any Santa a child sees costs both crews, so the quiet moves are safe and the loud ones are a bet.

Your crewRed and white

vs.

The rivalsGreen and gold

The wanted level

Santa, but with a wanted level.

You're free to do things your way. The town is free to notice. Get seen, and it escalates, from porch lights to police.

★
A child stirsLights flicker on. Footsteps upstairs.
★★
A child sees youThe parents wake up.
★★★
The street wakesDogs bark. Porch lights come on.
★★★★
PoliceFlashlights in the gardens.

Building next

Concept art of a friendly small-town police officer with a moustache, navy uniform and peaked cap. — The local officer. Friendly. For now.

The look

From grey boxes to a Finnish living room.

We're showing you where the game is and where we're taking it. Left is a real capture from today's build. Right is concept art of the target: warm light against cold moonlight, shadows under the furniture, glow on every bulb. Drag to compare.

Concept art of a log-walled living room at night: a lit tree, a brick fireplace hung with stockings, a red sofa with a plaid throw and a sleeping dog on a wool rug.

A real capture of today's living room: panelled walls, a lit tree, a blue sofa and a coffee table with cookies, lit mostly by one warm lamp.

Today · in-engine capture Target · concept art

Concept art was made with AI image tools to set the target. The in-game version will be simpler: flat shading, small textures. That's the plan for a game that runs on a laptop.

Nordic Christmas, down to the props.

A straw himmeli over the rug. A candle arch in the window. Stockings on the mantel and a log basket by the fire. And yes: joulupukki, the Finnish Santa, means "Yule goat". There will be a goat.

Planned

Concept sheet of Nordic Christmas props: a straw himmeli mobile, a knitted stocking, a wool rug, a pine armchair with sheepskin, a candle arch, a cookie table, a brick fireplace, a log basket, a straw Yule goat, a bookshelf and a five-colour palette.

Where we are

What works today, and what doesn't yet.

Chimneys is early, and we'd rather tell you exactly how early. Here's the honest list.

In the prototype
Fly the sleigh. Land on a roof.A night sky, snow, and a sleigh with three flight feels (floaty, snappy, heavy) that we're still tuning.
In the prototype
Climb down the chimney into a furnished room.Slide in, leave the gift under the tree, and watch it count.
In early tests
Online co-op over Steam.Friends can join a crew through Steam and carry and throw gifts together. It's built and is being tested with a small group of friends.
In the prototype
An AI rival crew.A green-and-gold crew that races you for the same houses.
Building next
Kids who wake, and the wanted level.The part where being seen matters.
Planned
The reindeer, sabotage, the goat and a full five-night season.All of it comes after the heist itself feels right.

Questions

Good to know.

When does it come out?

We're aiming for Steam Early Access in 2027. There's no date yet. The waitlist is where we'll say it first.

What can I play it on?

Windows PC, through Steam, first. We build on a Mac, so a Mac version is something we want, but we won't promise it until we know.

How many players?

One to four, online. Solo works too: you play against the AI rival crew. The whole game runs on a one-night, 20–30 minute loop.

How much will it cost?

We haven't announced a price.

What will you email me?

Playtest invites, news about the game, and the launch. A few emails a year, not a daily newsletter. Every email will have an unsubscribe link. Details are in the privacy policy.

Is Chimneys made with AI?

Partly, and we'd rather say so. The concept art and character pictures on this page were made with AI image tools, and the 3D characters were built from those pictures with AI 3D tools. The code is written with AI assistance. The screenshots labelled "In-engine capture" are real captures of the game.

Furniture and holiday props come from free CC0 packs by KayKit, and animations from Quaternius' CC0 pack. We'll fill in Steam's AI disclosure when there's a store page. See the credits.

Who's making it?

Chimneys is made by Auspicious, a tiny independent studio. You can reach us at hello@playchimneys.com.

Be first through the chimney

Join the waitlist.

One email when there's something to play, and an invite if we run playtests. That's the deal.