How to Play the New Winter Wonder Level in 'Astro Bot'

The holidays are here, and with them, all kinds of winter-themed updates to your favorite online games. Seasonal events are common in games like Final Fantasy XIV and Fortnite, but recent game of the year winner Astro Bot is surprising players with a brand-new level that’s already becoming a holiday classic.

Titled "Winter Wonder," the level does take a bit of doing to get to. Most importantly, you need to beat the main Astro Bot campaign before you can unlock it, so if you’re brand new to Sony’s award-winning platformer, be prepared to spend eight to ten hours playing it before you can get in the festive mood. 

Once that’s done, you’ll just need to load into the main universe hub where you normally access the game’s major areas, called galaxies. It won’t be too long before you’ll see a small flying planet wearing a Santa hat. Smack into it (use R2 to boost if you’re having trouble) and the planet will move to the right side of your screen and morph into the level in question. Now, simply fly over it and press X to begin playing.

Once you’re in the level, you’ll be treated to a snowy platforming paradise with 15 gifts to chase down, each containing different bots, speeders, and costumes to unlock. I won’t spoil your presents early, but even playing as efficiently as possible, getting everything should take you about 15 minutes.

Along the way, you’ll run and jump across gingerbread houses, ball pits full of ornaments, candy cane gardens, and fields with grazing robotic reindeer (and maybe the odd elephant or monkey).

Winter Wonder isn’t the first free post-game level to be added to Astro Bot, with five speedrun-focused challenges having preceded it over the past few months, but it is possibly the one with the most staying power. The vibes here are just immaculate, and I could easily see replaying it becoming a new holiday tradition in some households.