"The Santa Simulation" is the eleventh episode of the sixth season of the American comedy television series The Big Bang Theory.
The story was created by Chuck Lorre, Eric Kaplan and Steve Holland, and turned into a teleplay by Steven Molaro, Jim Reynolds, and Maria Ferrari.
"The Santa Simulation" received mostly positive reviews from television critics, with comparisons being made to other shows such as Arrested Development and Community due to the relationships and the Dungeons & Dragons game.
Leonard, Sheldon and Howard each inform their significant others that they will play Dungeons & Dragons and that the girls are banned from participating, while Raj invites Stuart.
Sheldon is not happy, and the game begins with Raj's character dying in the first room of the dungeon as he accidentally triggered a fatal trap in his excited rush to save Santa.
Meanwhile, in the game, a trap requires the singing of the carol "Good King Wenceslas" to prevent all the characters from being crushed to death.
In the tag scene, Santa visits Sheldon in his apartment and apologizes to him for being unable to revive Pop-Pop, but then surprises him by firing a cannon at him in revenge for being left to be eaten by ogres.
Even the occupations associated with D&D, such as Fighter or Wizard, speak to the exchanges between Raj and Amy or Sheldon and Santa to provide more insight into their relationships."
Club reviewer Oliver Sara thought that the episode made Sheldon more sympathetic, while changing the dynamic between Raj and Stuart to something similar to Tobias Fünke and Michael Bluth from Arrested Development.
[5] IGN writer Jesse Schedeen enjoyed both halves of the episode, but felt that the girls' bar scenes needed more time.
She was left disappointed by the girl's bar scenes, and thought the "only entertaining moment was when Raj and Amy bonded over their youthful woes with the opposite sex".
"[4] Maane Khatchatourian for Entertainment Weekly thought that it wasn't as good a Christmas episode as season 2's "The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis", but that "it was hilarious and heartfelt, nonetheless".