A Christmas-themed board game in which Santa and Jesus “go-head-to-head” has been dubbed “shocking and blasphemous” with calls for it to be banned from Amazon.
Santa vs Jesus, created by Komo Games, invites players to divide into two teams – Team Santa and Team Jesus – and complete various challenges in order to win the most “believers”.
The game was funded by a Kickstarter campaign and received £4,500 in 48 hours, ultimately gaining £7,146 from nearly 150 backers.
But since being advertised on Amazon it has garnered a number of critical reviews, with some calling for it to be removed from the site.
Giving the game one star out of five, Amazon reviewer Robert H described it as “[a]bsolutely shocking and blasphemous” and “[w]holly unacceptable and offensive”.
Another reviewer said: “I find it in the poorest of taste and offensive. Jesus (complete with nail holes in Hands) and Santa with their followers/ friends fighting over a Christmas tree. how upsetting!... Take it out Amazon."
Danny Webster, spokesperson for the Evangelical Alliance, told the BBC he has a problem with the Santa vs Jesus game as "it trivialises Christian belief and equates them both as fictional characters".
The majority of the game's reviews have been positive, with fans calling it a "fantastic new concept" and "thoroughly entertaining".
One commenter said: "I am a Christian and am not the least offended by anything I saw.
"Take it in the spirit it is meant to be played."
The game’s creators, David McGranaghan and Julian Miller, said they developed the idea for Santa vs Jesus a few years ago when they were asked to entertain their families over Christmas.
Responding to the criticism, Mr McGranaghan told The Independent the negative reviews were "a shame" because "our goal is to have a bit of tongue-in-cheek fun".
He said the Santa and Jesus idea was partly inspired by the tension between "consumerism and religion on Christmas day."
"It’s a shame because they’re reviewing something without fully knowing the product," Mr McGranaghan said, who is also the creator of the board game Game for Fame.
"If they had complaints about the product itself or the quality of the game play then that’s completely fair enough, but they’re maybe getting on a bit of a high horse based on a very quick decision over the title, which for us is a little bit frustrating because we spent a lot of time on this product and we really care about it."
