Santa's Holiday 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.



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?



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 see locked items that can only be unlocked by matching 3 or more items right next to them.

The game offers 4 helpful items that you can buy to help finish a level. These items destroy an item, destroy an obstacle, reshuffle all the items on the board or remove all the items of one type.

By completing levels you get gold. Gold can be used to buy items from the elves to decorate your personal room. Each item you buy immediately adds crystals to your wallet.

It's clear the game used to be a mobile game where you could spend real money to buy additional cystals. For the Steam version, the in-app purchases have been removed. But when you run out of moves, the game asks you if you want to spend 20 crystals to buy 5 extra moves to continue trying to beat the level. All of the four helpful items I mentioned earlier are also exclusively bought by spending crystals.

This has a strange effect on the difficulty curve of the game. The levels get progressively more difficult but the amount of moves you're allowed also increases, so that pretty much balances each other out. During the first few dozens of levels you'll find you have to either spend what little crystals you have or choose the better option and restart the level, especially if you don't have any crystals left.

But when you get to the higher levels, you'll have so many crystals you can buy all the helpful items you want and even buy 5 extra moves if you're very close to completing the level. So the difficulty actually decreases as the game progresses.



The graphics are as one would expect from a match 3 game. They're colourful and vibrant.

The music deserves a special mention. There are three (or was it four?) pieces of music that alternate while you play the game. These are very basic and of course Christmassy, but I heard them playing in my head hours or days after I played the game. So to my own disbelief, the songs are definitely catchy.



Santa's Holiday has no Steam trading cards and no achievements.

[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 see locked items that can only be unlocked by matching 3 or more items right next to them. The game offers 4 helpful items that you can buy to help finish a level. These items destroy an item, destroy an obstacle, reshuffle all the items on the board or remove all the items of one type. By completing levels you get gold. Gold can be used to buy items from the elves to decorate your personal room. Each item you buy immediately adds crystals to your wallet. It's clear the game used to be a mobile game where you could spend real money to buy additional cystals. For the Steam version, the in-app purchases have been removed. But when you run out of moves, the game asks you if you want to spend 20 crystals to buy 5 extra moves to continue trying to beat the level. All of the four helpful items I mentioned earlier are also exclusively bought by spending crystals. This has a strange effect on the difficulty curve of the game. The levels get progressively more difficult but the amount of moves you're allowed also increases, so that pretty much balances each other out. During the first few dozens of levels you'll find you have to either spend what little crystals you have or choose the better option and restart the level, especially if you don't have any crystals left. But when you get to the higher levels, you'll have so many crystals you can buy all the helpful items you want and even buy 5 extra moves if you're very close to completing the level. So the difficulty actually decreases as the game progresses. [h1]Graphics and sound[/h1] The graphics are as one would expect from a match 3 game. They're colourful and vibrant. The music deserves a special mention. There are three (or was it four?) pieces of music that alternate while you play the game. These are very basic and of course Christmassy, but I heard them playing in my head hours or days after I played the game. So to my own disbelief, the songs are definitely catchy. [h1]On Steam's extra features[/h1] [i]Santa's Holiday[/i] has no Steam trading cards and no achievements.