Merry Vaultmas everyone! What's Vaultmas, you ask? Well, more than just your average, ordinary Vault, it both falls on Christmas, and includes some Christmas-lite content so that whatever you are or aren't celebrating (Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa tomorrow, Hearth's Warming Eve...), you can enjoy it without feeling like Santa is being shoved down your throat. Whatever's going on with you today, here's hoping you spend it with someone you love (or at least tolerate) and next time we see you... it'll be in 2013!
Christmas Escape 3 - Be honest... every time Neutral releases a new escape game you squeal a little, don't you? You're stuck outside in the snow and only want to come in out of the cold, but because this is a Neutral game you can expect that to take a while and more than a little brain power. Rendered in simple, lovely cartoon style with more than one adorable surprise waiting for you, the game is a challenge, but not obnoxiously so, and just the sort of clever game you always hope you get to unwrap on Christmas morning. Especially since there's a whole series of them!
Yuki in Winterland - FlashTeam's point-and-click adventure about a little girl delivering cookies may not be much of a challenge (... like, at all) but it is absolutely adorable, and the perfect sweet treat to put a smile on your face. The game is packed with details and great design, and the low level of difficulty combined with the gorgeous presentation and whimsical story makes this the perfect thing for the young (or young at heart) to enjoy any day of the year.
Grow Ornament - As if we needed a special occasion to celebrate Eyezmaze's Grow series! The point of this simple pleasure is to figure out what order to click the icons in so that each one levels up to its max and leaves the tree fully decorated and festive. It's not as complex or baffling as, say, Grow Valley, but it's full of On's signature style and quirky brand of whimsy, and it's a gorgeous little holiday treat from a developer who's already given us so many presents over the years.
Sugar, Sugar: The Christmas Special - If anyone is capable of bringing a bit more joy to the world with his physics puzzles, it's definitely Bart Bonte, whose Sugar, Sugar series is literally the sweetest of them all. Draw lines to direct falling sugar into receptacles to fill them up, drinking in the swanky, simple design and clever concept along the way. There's something hypnotically relaxing about this game, something satisfying about watching the little particles of sugar pile up, and the different colours add a layer of challenge without making things too complex. Just the right thing to enjoy at the end of a long, busy Christmas day.
While we welcome any comments about this weekly feature here, we do ask that if you need any help with the individual games, please post your questions on that game's review page. Well, what are you waiting for? Get out there and rediscover some awesome!
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