The adorable, festive FICSMAS is a month-long event that will make you feel weird.

Satisfactory's big 1.0 update was released this year, and it received a lot of praise from critics. It also had record player numbers. The blend of first-person and factory building gives a unique flavor and is hard to put down. Coffee Stain Studios, the developer of Satisfactory's 1.0 update, has released an upgraded and revamped version of its FICSMAS holiday event. FICSMAS, which has been happening since early access, is an in-game event that releases giant presents, surprises, and a new research tree with stuff to mass produce.

You'll be able, as in previous years, to research and create festive items such as tinsel, trees and bows. Ornaments and other festive items will also be available to help you achieve a special goal, namely a spectacularly decorated giant FICSMAS Tree. Along the way, you unlock special skins and placeables that match the spirit. I love the gingerbread truck, and the wintry gift-wrapped robot.

FICSMAS 2024 is a finished game that has a lot of new features. The biggest of these is an advent calendar that appears in your HUB and gives out new rewards each day. This is a similar device to the one we had before, but now it will dispense special data carts that can be used in your MAM for unlocking parts of a special FICSMAS tree.

You can start with FICSMAS by loading up your Satisfactory World, then visiting the HUB to get the details on the calendar. Be alert for giant FICSMAS presents that will fall from the skies within 300 meters of your pioneer. You'll also go into the MAM and work your way down the research tree to get stuff like conveyor belt skins that have the holiday vibe, culminating in the FICSMAS Wonder Star as a tree topper for your giant FICSMAS tree--a seasonal corollary to your classic Satisfactory space-elevator-driven megaproject.

You can also disable seasonal events by going to the Options menu in the main menu. Click on "Gameplay Settings" and then ticking the "Disable Seasonal Events". I'd recommend not doing this, as it's a fun challenge that doesn't distract from normal factory construction.

Enjoy the other FICSMAS items like the red and white cap of your Pioneer, the antlers and noses of the Lizard Doggos, the string lights along power lines, the wreaths atop poles... You get the idea. Be sure to blast a radioactive hog using fireworks and smack a space deer, whale-tick thing in the face with a candycane for me.

There are also rumors about a completely normal giant FICSMAS present that looks like a giant explosive nobelisk but is actually a normal gift. You should definitely open it.

You can find Satisfactory and FICSMAS 2024 on Epic and Steam.

Why did I spend so long talking to you about an event that was happening during the holidays? As I wrote in my PC Gamer Satisfactory 90% review, Satisfactory was "a masterfully made game for craftsmen, builders, and factories managers of all types."

"Satisfactory reminds us that videogames can be fun and satisfying, despite the fact that the factory-building genre focuses on balancing inputs and outputs with the right conveyor belt load. It turns your construction game into its own theme park, where you can transform this colorful alien terrain into a work based on your imagination," I said.

If you're about to start FICSMAS, I recommend that you read up on how Satisfactory might have been called something different if some of its developers didn't like the pun.