GTA Online's Christmas treats include being mugged by The Gooch

Hear that? Christmas bells are ringing, carolers are caroling, and GTA Online players are being pounced on by an atrociously-named Grinch parody. He's one of several Christmas treats now stocked on the streets of Los Santos, which also pack snowmen to destroy, rooftop shootouts and, for some reason, superpowered beasts getting chased by serial killers.

Alice O counts GTA Online's seasonal events amongst her favourites, and Christmas does seem like a nice time of year to drop in. Everywhere is covered in snow and festooned with decorations, along with various opportunities to earn extra cash.

The Gooch has a chance to pop up and attack you while you're wandering the streets, and fending him off will earn you some dosh, plus a mask to wear. There are snowmen you can hunt down by honing in on sleighbell sounds, which you can murder all 25 of to earn $125,000 and a Snowman Outfit. There's also a Die Hard-inspired shootout on the Weazel Plaza rooftop, which you can wade into to earn a new pistol, a christmas skin for a different pistol, and $25,000.

I'm most thrown by the (returning) Beasts vs Slashers event, where three-strong teams of invisible superpowered beasts have to leap through checkpoints before they're taken down by three-strong teams of Slashers armed with rocket launchers and thermal vision. It's Christmassy, somehow.

All of the festive fun stops on December 28th, and more details can be found on Rockstar's event page.

GTA 5, which includes access to GTA Online, is on sale for £13/$22/€22 on both Steam and the Epic Games Store.

Alice B thought she'd got the last word on RPS before Christmas, but she didn't realise I was still lurking in the dark 'American news hours' corner of the treehouse. The last word on RPS is now Gooch. Sorry.