Santa's Holiday

[i]Santa's Holiday[/i] is a decent run-of-the-mill match 3 game spanning 100 levels. Its major downside is that although in theory the game's difficulty increases with each level, it actually gets easier. And of course its Christmas setting may mean people consider it a seasonal game or they would never consider playing it. [h1]Story[/h1] Santa is tired and went on a holiday. So you have to help the elves get everything in order for Christmas… by solving match 3 puzzles. You weren't really looking for an in-depth story in a match 3 game, were you? [h1]Gameplay[/h1] Typical match 3 gameplay. You have to drag one item to an adjacent spot to swap it with the item in that spot so as to create a row of 3 of the same items. Matching 4 or 5 of the same items rewards you with bonus items, for instance a bomb that destroys the items around it. The items are Christmas-themed: Santa's face, Christmas trees, red stockings, sugar canes, and so on. You have a limited amount of moves to clear each level. As the levels progress, you'll encounter additional challenges. For example, you'll see some crates that can only be destroyed by matching 3 or more items right next to them. And you'll…

(Note: The Tutorial/Power-Ups are written in GERMAN only. If you speak it? Great. If you are familiar with Match-3s? Great. IF this is your first game and you are confused: [u]Pickaxe[/u] is for smashing one randomly selected tile. Does [b]not[/b] work on obstructions. [u]Hammer[/u]: Works on any (one) obstruction. [u]Snowman[/u]: Will shuffle all but obstacles/gifts/keys. [u]Falling Star[/u]: Pick a token and it'll destroy ALL the tokes of the same type. Alright... Despite this game having "gems" that are needed to purchase the Power Ups? It's actually not bad. It's colorful, X-Massy themed and every room decoration/toy you unlock -> You can move 'em around as you like. Gems come from purchasing the decorations/toys (with in game gold coins) and the way levels are designed... You don't have to heavily rely on those Power Ups that much. *Phew* My only... Eh... "Issue"... Was when this bug kept occurring: two tokens you can swap on the board fused together. Yep. So like if you have a ball and a tree? Now it's a ball AND a tree in ONE SPOT... And whatever you do... You can't match them. Unless...! You manage to "grasp" the right token and *maybe* it'll mat…

Very nice game. The only negative is that the blue background color on most tiles is too bright, making it harder to see matches. Regarding another user's review, it didn't get stuck after the 3rd level for me. No bugs so far at all.

Merry

Love this game! I really appreciate the untimed mode, because being timed stresses me out, and I just want to relax and play. I love match 3 games and wanted something festive for the holiday, and this 100% delivers! I will be ordering other games from this studio.

Not much to say about this game. Santa's Holiday is a normal Match-3 game. Not very difficult. Played it on timed and only a few level my time was running out.Extras weren't used by me. A few times there was an bug with overlapping items on the same tile. A little confusing but not serious. I bought it for a little over € 2 on sale. Full price = not worth it!! Reduced price = recommended!!!