Game: Games Advent Calendar – 25 Days – 25 Surprises
Genre: Action, Adventure, Casual
System: Steam (Windows, macOS)
Developer | Publisher: Mindscape, Denda Games, Graphium Studio| Mindscape
Controller Support: Yes
Price: US $16,28 | UK £12,99 | EU € 14,99
Release Date: September 28th, 2023
Review code used with many thanks to Mindscape.
Games Advent Calendar – 25 Days – 25 Surprises is a unique gaming experience combining classic games with the traditional advent calendar. It was developed and released in 2023 by Mindscape. Incidentally, Yvonne reviewed a similar game on Switch from Mindscape in 2022; the Advent Calendar review is here.
The Gameplay of Games Advent Calendar
Games Advent Calendar offers two game modes,”Play Immediately” or “Full Experience”. In the second option – “Full Experience’, a game unlocks every day for 25 days. The idea is to start on the 1st of December and finish on the 25th of December, Christmas Day. For this review, I played in the first mode, “Play Immediately,” which unlocks all the games.
We start in a 3D-rendered winter village with a lighthouse, train station, and Christmas decorations. Each cottage unlocks a different game. We can either wander around the town or use the calendar on the right-hand side of the screen, where you can choose a day, and the game leads you to the cottage.
Games Advent Calendar boasts new games every day, but it’s really nine games with several levels scattered over the days. We have a platformer with a polar bear, Tetris, a side runner with a boy, collecting presents, a bauble shooter, a match 3 puzzle game, another runner, some pixel coloring pages, and some jigsaw puzzles.
Each of the games is in the appropriate winter setting and color scheme. All of them are relatively easy. The content for each day is right and feels more than enough, considering this is an advent calendar.
A fun addition is that some games offer the option of playing with friends in multiplayer. For that option, at least one controller is required to play.
Christmassy Fun?
As I said, the main area and mini-games are appropriately styled like winter holiday games. The main character in the platformer is a polar bear, Polly, whom we help to get across several frozen platforms, collect all the presents, and avoid the evil snowmen. One thing I didn’t like and found almost jarring was the sound the bear made when we failed a level. It was entirely not in style with the rest of the game.
The Tetris, Match 3, and Bauble Shooter levels are set against a winter wonderland with snowy owls and elves keeping us company. The runner levels have us collecting presents and avoiding penguins, snowflakes, and other obstacles.
Usually, I like pixel-coloring pages, and I enjoyed the images in this game. However, it was challenging to distinguish where to color. Besides, there isn’t a fast coloring option. You color with the right mouse button, and if you hold and try to drag the cursor along a line of boxes that need to be colored, you’ll drag the picture around. It makes coloring a page a slow and almost bothersome experience.
I liked the jigsaw puzzles. The pictures were cute, and then there was the option of a 3D puzzle – like putting together a broken Christmas tree ornament.
The Atmosphere
Visually, the game is entirely 3D rendered for the most part. The main area is somewhat rough and simplistic. We’ve seen some stunning winter games in the last few years. Sadly, Games Advent Calendar is not one of them. The mini-games, while cute for the most part, are also not anything to write home about. Still, the color schemes and background images were appropriate and wintery. The one game that I truly didn’t like the look of was the side runner with the boy collecting presents. It was especially disappointing because the title page looked promising.
In terms of performance, I didn’t experience any crashes or stuttering. The controls are responsive and fast. As I said, all of the games were easy.
The soundtrack consists of renditions of the traditional holiday tunes. Only the sound of Polly, the polar bear, dying was quite strange. Games Advent Calendar includes loading screens in between mini-games. Some include exciting facts about introducing Advent Calendars in the winter holiday traditions. That’s an excellent little detail.
Conclusion
Games Advent Calendar – 25 Days – 25 Surprises takes the very traditional idea of the advent calendar and tries to do something unique and fun. It’s not a bad idea, but the execution leaves something to desire.
Besides, even the idea is not particularly novel – for a few years, Google has been doing the same with the Santa tracker. The idea is the same – we have games around Santa’s Village, which can be played throughout December, culminating with tracking Santa Clause “live” on the 24th of December while he races around the globe to deliver presents.
Still, if you can’t wait until December and are in the mood for some simple fun, you can try Games Advent Calendar. I recommend waiting for a sale. Though the price is a bit too much for what the game offers.
Final Verdict: I’m Not Sure. 