Santa Tracker

Santa Tracker is an advent calendar-inspired town full of games to play, videos to watch, igloos to explore, and tidbits to learn. Each day of December unlocks new easter eggs in the village - from reindeer flight school to the friendly waving walrus - so kids always have something new to discover. With over 45 games, 18 videos, and a whole lot of eggnog, we had almost a decade of holly jolly fun working on Santa Tracker with the talented folks at Google.

The Village

Each day of December unlocks new easter eggs in the village - from reindeer flight school to the friendly waving walrus - so kids always have something new to discover. With so many holiday festivities in Santa’s village, it’s easy to wonder where to begin. We kept the calls to action super simple - Learn, Watch, and Play - so that kids and parents could see their options upfront and choose their path.

Green text panel beginning "Santa Tracker is two dozen marshmallows melting in hot chocolate", with small holiday icons

Everyone welcome

From slip-sliding penguins to dancing elves to Mrs. Claus herself, the everyone is here! As you explore the village you’ll find Santa’s family and friends frolicking about, with representation from all ages, backgrounds, body types, skin colors, abilities and gender expressions.

Santa Tracker characters grouped on red: Santa, Mrs. Claus, elves, a snowman, a reindeer and a yeti

Pattern of elves on purple, floating with jetpacks, phones and envelopes

Rolls and sheets of wrapping paper in pink, blue, green and orange printed with elf patterns, beside a red ribbon

Red woven label on a green wool blanket reading Google Santa Tracker 2015, Faribault Woolen Mill Co.

Phone showing the Santa Tracker village home screen with a Play button and countdown

Phone showing game cards for Santa Selfie, Present Bounce and Build & Bolt

Grid of game and video tiles including Santa Selfie, Elf Maker, Code Lab and Penguin Dash

Illustration of elves gardening in a greenhouse with a candy-striped tree and palm trees

Elf Glider game screen: an elf on a hang glider flying over snowy rooftops at night

The Big Night

Of course, all of these games and goodies are built in anticipation of Santa’s big day - Christmas Eve. For a full 24 hours on December 24th, users can jump into city view, learn about holiday traditions in faraway lands and - most importantly - follow Santa as he makes his way from chimney to chimney, around the world.

Santa Tracker map screens showing Santa's sleigh over Australia, with city panels for Melbourne and Barcelona

Santa Tracker is about building magic into every detail, every character, every interaction, every moment. It’s a demonstration of making technology meaningful, understandable and accessible to include the widest possible group of people.