As well as being the time of the year for new video game releases, it is also the time of the year that gamers will turn to mods to make their favorite games a bit more festive. Those looking for a white Christmas this year need look no further than the icy cliffs of Winterhold. The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is renowned for its modding community, which at this point has created pretty much any mod a gamer could ask for. Whether they want flying Thomas the Tank Engine characters to replace dragons, or want to expand the map of Skyrim, gamers can find what they desire by delving into the game’s mods.
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At this time of the year, Skyrim players may be looking to introduce Christmas to the otherwise dark and conflicted world of Skyrim. Fortunately, gamers are well within their liberties to do so, making Skyrim possibly the best video game to play around Christmas time. While it’s simple and easy to turn Skyrim into a winter wonderland with a few mods, the volume of mods out there can be daunting to new modders. Fortunately, there are a handful of Christmas mods that stand out among the rest.
Skyrim Christmas Moon
Skyrim Christmas Moon is one of the more basic Skyrim mods out there, but sometimes value can be found in simplicity. This mod simply adds an image of Santa’s silhouette flying across the in-game moon, creating the illusion that Santa has come to Skyrim. Of course, this mod includes Skyrim’s dragons pulling Santa’s sleigh along, instead of Rudolph and the rest of the reindeer. This mod combines both aspects of Christmas and Skyrim in a successful way that subtly instills The Elder Scrolls 5 with the Christmas spirit. This may not be the mod for gamers looking to overhaul Skyrim, but it adds a little something.
Candy Cane Villages
Players can also transform the villages and towns of Skyrim into something entirely new and Christmas-y this holiday season with Candy Cane Villages. This mod makes all villages and farmhouses look like something straight out of the North Pole by recoloring them to fit a very obvious Christmas theme. In some cases, this will be more obvious than others, but all of Skyrim’s buildings will sport some kind of Christmas decoration with this mod. While Skyrim Christmas Moon was for gamers looking for something a bit more subtle, Candy Cane Villages will be very much in the player’s face throughout their playthrough. Like Candy Cane Villages, though, this mod is fairly basic, so more can be done on top of it.
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Instrumental Christmas Music
Of course, there is no better way to get into the Christmas spirit than by listening to Christmas songs on repeat, and there is a mod for that. Instrumental Christmas Music will replace Skyrim’s soundtrack and bard music with something wholly more festive. Skyrim is known to have some of the best video game music scores out there, but after listening to it for over 10 years now, players may look to replace the admittedly iconic and nostalgic Skyrim soundtrack with something different. If it is something different that players are looking for, then ‘tis the season for some instrumental Christmas music.
It may seem blasphemous to look to alter or replace Skyrim’s iconic soundtrack, but the audio is a large part of any video game experience. Playing Skyrim with the music off will completely alter the experience of the game, and for some may detract from the feeling of immersion Skyrim looks to instill in all of its players. As a result of this, for gamers to truly get into a festive spirit while playing The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, they will need much more than a few visual overhauls to look beyond the base Skyrim experience. Replacing Skyrim’s soundtrack with Christmas music is a good start towards making Skyrim’s winter wonderland that much more immersive.
Saturalia - Christmas in Skyrim
For players looking to stick more closely to the lore of Skyrim, a mod more along the lines of Saturalia may be of interest. Saturalia is the official Tamriel equivalent to Christmas, celebrated on the 25th of Evening Star and like Christmas, is used as a time for gift-giving and celebration. While Saturalia may not exactly be the same as Christmas, the parallels between the two may be enough to promote festive cheer within the player, while some of the other mods can represent a more traditional Christmas experience.
Saturalia - Christmas in Skyrim is a mod that sees a great many Saturalia-specific elements added to the base game of Skyrim to get players in the holiday spirit. The world of Skyrim will be filled with festive decorations, new food and drink types, vendors, and much more to decorate Skyrim with the Saturalia spirit. However, the more impressive aspect of this mod is the quests that have been added to the game. Two new quests will be added to Skyrim which are fully voiced and centered around Saturalia. As mods go, this is one of the more expansive ones available, so players may look to download this alone if they’re struggling to make a decision.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is available now on PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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