'Great value for money'

Shoppers are ditching chocolate and snapping up this alternative advent calendar to mark the Christmas countdown.

The number one bestseller in the toys and games section on Amazon is the LEGO Minecraft Advent Calendar for 2025.

This is just in time for the festive countdown from 1 December, with fans taking to the top of Amazon's bestseller list.

Alternative advent calendars have increasingly been replacing traditional chocolate advent calendar over the last few years, with everything from beauty to gin, and cheese or teabags to choose from.

So why is the Minecraft calendar so popular? Well, it features 24 surprise toys for kids - or adults - who love the game.

You can open one door each day in the countdown to Christmas, and find minifigures of Alex, Steve, Creeper, Drowned, Stray, and more, all with accessories and a festive touch.

Once you start opening the doors, you can put them all together and create a winter village Minecraft scene and enjoy creative play.

Plus each surprise in the advent calendar also works with other LEGO Minecraft building toys, so if you already own some sets you can combine them.

Shoppers who have purchased the advent calendar said it's "worth it" and "great value for money", with another saying, "good detail, fun activity. 300 pieces for Minecraft fans, a nice introduction to Christmas!".

While one customer said: "Great value compared to other Xmas children’s toy calendars, especially as Lego is an expensive though timeless product."

It's priced at €32.46 on the Amazon website and has been purchased more than 10,000 times in the past month.

As well as the LEGO Minecraft advent calendar, you can also get other popular series, with Star Wars, Harry Potter and Frozen options also available.

To purchase the popular advent calendar before it sells out head to Amazon here.