this game is stupid 4 some of them but it's really a great chunk 4 me but playin this during christmas sure is great fun

>Ambrosia

"#9 & 10… As well as leaving a period out, you misspelled ‘clicked’ as cliked, but who is counting your errors? Well, perhaps the most glaring one should be pointed out since you made such a stink about it… the CORRECT spelling of Santa Claus is WITHOUT the ‘e’."

Within the context of computers, "cliked" is as valid a spelling as "clicked". And what I said about the spelling of Claus was, "Really, is it that hard not to put an extra E at the end?" the operative word being "not".

"I know I should wait for Whiterabbit’s review because I know I can trust what he says to be accurate, but I am going to take a chance on you due to my own mitigating circumstances. If I find out later I have missed out on a decent game because I followed your advice, I will be miffed."

Your "mitigating circumstances" are a remaining giveaway time of 20 hours? And, in case you didn't notice, other people said the same things.

"I took offense at your personal attack of the programmers just because they speak a different language than English. I believe that is uncalled for. Laugh at their attempts to translate from their native language into English if you want, but stop the prejudicial bashing of the developers and the political assaults and slams just because they didn’t get perfect English into the game or its description. That is not fair and it is not just. How many languages do you speak and write? Also, the last time I checked, the Internet is not only accessed in the U.S. and North America. It is accessed around the world. Give them a break; at least they are trying."

If you're going to sell a game internationally, the least that you can do is hire a decent translator. It's not a "personal attack" when I happen to mention that they're Polish.

"Thank you for the technical information on the game play. I have thrown my back out so every second in this chair is painful. I will not bother downloading this game due to your review of the game play. There, do you feel credible yet?"

I was making a joke about how nobody cared about what I had to say until yesterday, when I wrote my review of Bistro Stars.

>Secularsage

Thank you for your advice. I will try to improve my future reviews. Thanks!

hi there, I tryed to download the game but it keeps coming up with a blank page and says down. please help

tina

Turned it off at end of level 1. For me, it wasn't fun, & when a 6 yr old almost throws your mouse, ya know they must not like it much. lol :) BUT it was a bit of the season, which was nice. The errors in English weren't too bad, but I do agree that a professional looking game would have someone who speaks the English language edit it before putting iy on the market. Many people online would be glad to edit the English free for them. If they read this, sorry guys. Try the entry plaza at www.Cybertown.com for English speakers who would correct the spelling free, they are mostly nice people there. It's free to chat in the plaza. Or maybe ask someone here.
Thank you GOTD team! Seasons Greetings all!:)

PS-Lockett- must say you're doing a bit better today! I didn't mind reading yours today. Although if it's a review, like someone said, personal opinion/feelings could be left out? :) That's 1 of 10 reasons I never review, I just "chat", or "comment", I guess. lol:)

#23

Lockett — if you want to write reviews, you first need to learn how to write. Your “review” was just a bunch of rambling nonsense that could have been summed up in one paragraph. You also need to learn that there’s a difference between discussing a product’s pros/cons and just stating your own opinions. The former is greatly useful to others. The latter, only slightly.*

I'm no writer by any stretch of the imagination, But man oh man, you nailed this guy good. I couldn't agree more with your statement.
It was all babble.
I think WR. does a good enough job. I seldom read his entire write up. Not saying he is bad, just super long winded.
So, if I won't read WR. entire write up, I know I am not going to read another review.
But after your comments, I felt the need to go back and read this review.
Secularsage is correct in his opinion or at least I agree 100% with em.
I also passed by todays offering. Thanks anyhow, GGAOTD. see ya tomorrow.

Lockett -- if you want to write reviews, you first need to learn how to write. Your "review" was just a bunch of rambling nonsense that could have been summed up in one paragraph. You also need to learn that there's a difference between discussing a product's pros/cons and just stating your own opinions. The former is greatly useful to others. The latter, only slightly.*

WR provides information above and beyond the game, which is appreciated -- he lets you draw your own conclusions. That's why so many people cheer him on.

As for "Santa Claus," it's a platform jumper than features a scrolling screen and simple "kill and collect" gameplay. What really merits discussion is that this title was clearly not coded very efficiently, since only the menu screen at the beginning runs at full speed. The game requires far more memory than a simple title written with Shockwave should. The game seems like it's running at about half speed. I also had problems doing basic things like putting in my name due to the game hanging on the entry screen. I was hoping to adjust the frame rate through the "options" screen, but the only options you have are to turn off the sounds and music (yes to both, please).

Since the game is pretty much unplayable on my system, I'm not going to mess around with it. Normally, I can get at least a half hour's worth of enjoyment out of even the weakest offerings, but this one's not worth the trouble. Ah, well. Thanks anyhow, GGOTD.

*(Why yes, I am a professional writer who used to write game reviews for a living. Thanks for asking!)

Lol at the comments here... (tho I luv how you always look for the "best" in things, WhiteRabbit, while still trying to be honest; and kudos to Lockett for his "Big Boy" review... if we're gonna have sarcasm, might as well give us a truckload!) tho I must say the game stinks. ROFL... never thought I'd say that. But I DO thank GGAOTD for the chance to sniff it out ourselves. But the key controls are so "iffy," they'd have any kid frustrated within a minute. I usually don't mind key-controlled games, but I do appreciate it when you have the option move the "fire" button closer to the arrow keys. Think of little fingers here. And I do appreciate cute graphics, but to me, this aren't cute, they're downright spooky! Remember having a doll that always really scared you when you were small? Or having nightmares because a clown approached you at a fair with his mascara dripping? Kind of on that level. And yes, I draw graphics, so I admit I'm picky about that thin line between "cute" and "weird." Anyway, thanks, as always, for the offer, Team!

I am sorry but it took over a hour to download and trust me my computer is fast and I am not new to using a computer or programs that is my job but this was insane and than i couldnt play it. it runs to slow. sorry about neg. feedback i really enjoy this site as do my nieces they play all the games i get off this site.

Jeggie - what if the staff of GGOTD is Jewish? Happy Hannukah, staff!

As for the poor spelling in the game, that is completely unacceptable. If you make and market a game or application for English speaking users, make sure you use good English. If the developers are Polish or whatever and can not translate perfectly into English, make the game for Polish speaking users. Nothing wrong with that. We ARE a global community but if you can not use a language correctly, do not even attempt to put out a game in that language. You lose credibility instantly.

Some games I like; some games I don't like. However, I want to thank you for providing this free game service. It must take a lot of research to find these games and get permission to give them out at no cost. Merry Christmas and a happy and safe holiday season to all the staff and their families!

The link to the Art work for Wik and the Fable of Souls that I mentioned in my fist comment above is wrong. The following link will take you to it:

http://www.wikgame.com/images/WikProfile1.pdf

If possible would one of the moderators copy and paste the one I've pasted above to the correct place then delete this post {it's the first address I've added to the comment}. Thank you.

OK... I am going to be late for work if I'm not careful... but I just had to see how bad it was after reading Lockett's review. Also, I was intrigued by the Communist overtones.
Due to my liberal arts degree in Russian, I determined that the developers are Polish. (Thanks, higher education)
I am not able to offer a subjective review of this game. I was giggling after reading the comments - and once I downloaded the game (which took perversely, quite a long time)it was all downhill from there.
Kudos to the developers for their attempt - perhaps this was a school project. There is no way I could do this.
I am keeping this game. My tears of laughter have dried after attempting to help "Santa Clause and the angry trolls." I just thought of something - I didn't see any angry trolls, just aggravated looking bouncing snowmen, wearing what looks like blue pots on their heads. On further reflection, the snowmen represent the cold, autocratic Communist government, and Santa Clause is really your average old Polish man, let's say Zdladislav Jones, who obviously drowns his working sorrows in drinking vodka and trying to stay warm throughout the cold Polish winters. The possibilities of hidden meanings in this game are ....I just can't think of the word.
Hurrah for Polish Santa game. I better get ready for work.

Another one from Play.pl, who gave away that excellent Trabi Racer from several weeks ago. Today’s is a platform game based on Santa Claus. You can read the story line when you first boot up the game as it is presented to you in game. Basically some trolls have stolen all the gifts for this years Christmas from Santa’s grotto. Santa realizes that the all important day is fast approaching and he knows that he cannot disappoint all those children all over the world who are awaiting his arrival. He has to chase those naughty trolls away and collect all the stolen presents. There are ten sets of presents to rescue from each world you encounter.

The basic concept of the game is great but very seasonal. There seems to be a bug because I was unable to see the new profile I created, which is also supposed to show you each player’s statistics such as which world you are in, the level score, the number of lives you have left and the amount of energy you have left. I did try changing the monitors resolution to see if it would cure the problem, but this is one of those games that auto sets the screen resolution while you are in game anyway and didn’t make any difference apart from mess up my desk top icons; however this didn’t stop me playing the game.


The graphics are very bright and chunky, and with very simple key board controls you should have no problems controlling Santa’s journey from one platform to the next; or so I thought. It was actually really hard to jump from one platform to another because if there was a monster above you this would interfere with your jump. The platforms themselves are far too small in relation to the baddies inhabiting the platforms; though you can freeze the trolls and other baddies during your progress by firing off one of the snow flakes that you collect. Each collected snowflake gives you approximately 10 shots. Make sure you collect the snowflakes as you travel through the world though because each once you exhaust the snow flake ammo, the game becomes almost impossible to finish; and may be a good way to teach your child restraint, lol

This is not a game where you just blast away at your enemies as you need to make virtually every shot count. For a child this may be quite a hard game to play initially because to be able to move, jump and shoot snowballs at the same time as well as hold off firing manically requires plenty of patience and dexterity, though with a little practice, the game can be a lot of fun, well at least in my opinion :) Thankfully there’s no time limit so provided you are patient and can wait for the right moment it should be easy to progress to the next level. This is done by collecting all ten presents on each level. There is a counter to the top right of the screen that tells you how many presents you’ve collected. Along the way you can also collect stars and Christmas tree baubles, both of which give you extra points. The baubles are counted on an indicator at the top middle of the screen, but as yet I’ve not figured out what it means. There’s also plenty of opportunity to collect hearts which give you extra lives. Whenever you touch a troll, other baddie or certain objects such as the lumps of jagged ice you lose energy, which is indicated (using small heart icons) to the top left of the screen



I did take several screen captures, but not enough to do justice to the excellent graphics because I had the same problem I had with Trabi Racer and had to shut down the game to be able to see the screen captures I’d created. I did try and Google the game, but I only got one image which showed the game as a boxed game ready for sale. There were no in game screen images to be found using any of the better search engines, and even on Play.pl’s home site there’s not much to show.

All in all despite my usual aversion to platform games, apart from the more exotic platformer’s that I’ve bought over the past few years such as Gish, Wik & the Fable of Souls, Gumboy Crazy Adventures and Barrel Mania, this is another okay game, that with a little practice will probably delight the children over this festive period, especially in the run up to Christmas. As mentioned above it may be a little hard for the younger child to control at first (I found it difficult initially as well, lol) and is definitely not as user friendly as games such as Turtix and the Snowy the Bear platform games that have been recent giveaway’s, but do try and persist for a while, especially if you enjoyed the two I’ve just mentioned as it is a fun and definitely a family orientated game. I’ll have to see if the children want to try this game this evening; that is if they complete their homework in good time :)

I think this is worth at least 7 out of 10 despite my initial thoughts on the game. I must admit I was going to dismiss it out of hand when I first installed it and just give it a cursory test, but I’m glad I persevered with it as it’s a reasonably decent game, that as I say above is easy to beat if you’re patient; maybe in light of that fact you could use it as an ideal trainer for the kids lol. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nothing special, but for this time of year a perfect game giveaway.

Thank you very much Play.PL and the game giveaway team for a decent platform game.



For those interested in checking out any or all of the games I mentioned above here are some links to available free demo’s; I’ve included links to a page of images for each gme as well, so as to give you a visual idea as to what to expect. As always I would say that the visuals are not the most important part of a game, but having them does make the game a lot more pleasant to play.. Each one of these games has its own peculiarities that endear them to me (at any rate) and also make them a cut above the usual platform game:

I personally love Gish for it’s dark tunnels, excellent art work, sound track, comedy and just sheer enjoyment at the different challenges that face Gish on it’s (It’s a lump of animated tar) quest to save the heroin, who was kidnapped at the start of the game. It has several modes of play and all levels are available to play right from the start. There’s a levels editor, which can be hard to figure, but once you do is really rewarding. I promised the community that are into Gish I’d write re-write the editors instruction manual which is virtually non existent, but until I’ve finished some other stuff it’s on the back burner, with only a roughly sketch out plan done so far. As you would expect with a game that features a levels editor, you can get custom made levels from the same address as the demo is available from which effectively doubles the game play. For those who are really not able to afford this game, it is possible to download the game from more than one distributor and play the hour long demo from each. You can transfer the saved games from the expired demo to the new demo so that you don’t loose progress; however this is not strictly necessary as there are loads of mini games that are available right from the outset.

Gumboy Crazy Adventures is a beautifully rendered game, with excellent game play, that features another lump of something, though this time Gumboy can morph into several types of ball or square. Still the general principle between these two games is vaguely similar. It does come with a free game called Gumboy Crazy Features that introduces you to all the different aspects of the full game. It’s now retailing at half price at around $10.

Barrel Mania is one I only discovered recently, but is a brilliant puzzle/strategy game that will have the family playing together for hours, again it has excellent graphics and a steadily increasing difficulty levels as you progress. It also has excellent art work (which is a feature of all four examples).

Wik and the Fable of Souls is another more recent discovery, that features Wik a strange goblin like creature that uses it’s tongue to swing from platform to platform as well as the usual way of jumping. Wik’s tongue is really sticky so he can collect insects easily as well. (you’ll understand what I mean if you download and play the demo. It’s another stunner, with excellent game play. Check out the following link to some beautiful art work dedicated to the game (I love this fantasy style of drawing and coloring):

http://www.wikgame.com/Downloads.html


All four in my estimation are suitable for children, although they are not for the youngest children simply because their motor skills would not allow them to play the games. They are however great for honing these same skills in children ages 5 and above. Where possible I’ve linked to the developers home pages (all but barrel mania):


Gish 43Mb:

http://www.chroniclogic.com/~gishgame/index.htm

http://images.google.co.uk/images?svnum=10&um=1&hl=en&q=Gish+game&btnG=Search+Images


Gumboy Crazy Adventures 27.4Mb:

http://www.gumboycrazyadventures.com/

http://images.google.co.uk/images?svnum=10&um=1&hl=en&q=Gumboy+Crazy+Adventures+game&btnG=Search+Images


Wik and the Fable of Souls:

http://www.wikgame.com/Downloads.html

http://images.google.co.uk/images?svnum=10&um=1&hl=en&q=Wik+and+the+Fable+of+souls&btnG=Search+Images


Barrel Mania:

http://games.softpedia.com/get/Shareware-Games/Barrel-Mania.shtml

http://images.google.co.uk/images?svnum=10&um=1&hl=en&q=Barrel+Mania+game&btnG=Search+Images




,blockquote>Finally for those who requested the add-on to Strike Ball 2 Deluxe, I’ll be Emailing everyone to let you know whether you won. By the way I actually had both add- ons so I’m going to give one each to those that my son and daughter picked. Check your Emails tonight. I’m in need of some pain relief via playing some games. Despite getting those new games yesterday. I’ve still not played any of them, lol


p.s.
I took a quick peek at the comments so far and would like to say thanks for a good review Lockett, much better than your usual one liners. And a credit to you. although we disagree on the worth of the game.

#9 & 10... As well as leaving a period out, you misspelled 'clicked' as cliked, but who is counting your errors? Well, perhaps the most glaring one should be pointed out since you made such a stink about it... the CORRECT spelling of Santa Claus is WITHOUT the 'e'.

Long reviews are not necessarily better reviews and do not necessarily give a person credibility. It is the useful and correct information given within the long reviews that gives a person credibility. I know I should wait for Whiterabbit's review because I know I can trust what he says to be accurate, but I am going to take a chance on you due to my own mitigating circumstances. If I find out later I have missed out on a decent game because I followed your advice, I will be miffed.

Fwiw, although I appreciated the information you gave concerning the slowness of the game play and what problems you found with the game, I took offense at your personal attack of the programmers just because they speak a different language than English. I believe that is uncalled for. Laugh at their attempts to translate from their native language into English if you want, but stop the prejudicial bashing of the developers and the political assaults and slams just because they didn't get perfect English into the game or its description. That is not fair and it is not just. How many languages do you speak and write? Also, the last time I checked, the Internet is not only accessed in the U.S. and North America. It is accessed around the world. Give them a break; at least they are trying.

Thank you for the technical information on the game play. I have thrown my back out so every second in this chair is painful. I will not bother downloading this game due to your review of the game play. There, do you feel credible yet?

Thank you #9 for your terrific reviews. I appreciate the time you take to explain the games and give us your opinion on them. It really helps me out a lot.

Merry Christmas to all! And Happy Holidays too!

I was surprised when i finished the second level and though i got to play another one. Well, i couldnt, since there only was two levels. Who the f*ck makes a game with only two levels?! They're not long or especially fun either, and all of them... might as well say "both" of them, looked the same and played the same. The graphics looked ok i guess. The music was vacuum - sucked. I didnt sense any "christmas feel" in it, it was just annoying, that tingeling crap. Controls were ok although i like when you can set them yourself, i usually use z, x and c for these types of games. Gameplay sucked. It was boring. Just flat out boring.

Btw, you only collect 20 "sets" of x-mas gifts in the whole game, right? "Christmas is coming and Santa Claus knows he can’t dissapoint children all over the world who are waiting for his coming." All over the world. Right.

Thumbs down, dont bother downloading.

Here comes SANTA CLAUS-Here comes SANTA CLAUS
Right down SANTA CLAUS lane!!
HO-HO-HO MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
I just love this time of year!!
Thanks much GGOTD for making it seem like CHRISTMAS everyday!!
......Bozobill

Looking at the comments, I decided not to download today's game, but I did visit the developer's site to see if they had made anything else. Well, in their description of this game, they say that it has two levels. Only two.

I guess they made up for the game being so slow by making it so short. That way, you wouldn't spend any more time beating it than any other game like it. Smart.

AAARRGH!!! Woe is me! I left out the period after "Snowflake"!

Actually, that was intentional. I don't remember why I did it, though... Maybe I was protesting the appalling grammar used in other people's comments. Who knows?

I have decided that I will assume the role of a reviewer - because apparently you get more credibility if your comments are longer. Here's my revew for today:

Okay, the first thing that I noticed about this game from the site was that the developers(InImages, I believe) can't spell Claus. Really, is it that hard not to put an extra E at the end? I downloaded it anyway.

The first thing that I noticed after starting the game was that there's NO CHRISTMAS MUSIC. Even Foxy Jumper had a half-hearted ringtone mix of Jingle Bells. As if the music wasn't bad enough(I mean, it's not even good music on its own), apparently, the developers not only can't spell Claus, they barely know English. Evidence for this is the control options, which are perplexingly listed under "Steering". For a second I wondered if this was a racing game and the screenshots were mixed up, but then I saw the keyboard with the control buttons highlighted and knew what it was. The controls were pretty straightforward - arrow keys to move and jump, space to shoot...control to "choose spell"? Whatever. Before playing, I had to see who made this game. As expected, the names were all Russian, or at least Eastern European. I went back to the game screen and clicked "Start". You have to create and name a player profile, but whatever you type in is represented by those little boxes that you see sometimes on foreign websites, so I guess that it doesn't matter. Oh, and the mouse...takes...forever...to...move...while...you're...doing...this. After finishing that, I cliked on "Play".

I was greeted with an amusing loading screen. I say "amusing", because their English was even worse than I thought that it would be. The "story", if it can be called such, literally says that "Last night mean Trolls crept into Santa Clause’s house and stole all Gifts for children." So Santa doesn't want their help? Maybe it's because they're Trolls.

Well, after the game finishes loading, you're taken to a wintry wonderland of snow, ice, and...watching...Santa...who...looks...like...a...psychotic...granddad...bounce...up...and...down...at...about...five...frames...per...second. Seriously, playing the game is like reading that(and it's not an issue with my computer being slow - I have a dual-core Toshiba Satellite). At least you have plenty of control over him while he's in the air. I appreciated the Calvin and Hobbes reference in the enemies and the way you kill them - freezing snowmen in ice mirrors "Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons" perfectly...oh, wait, Calvin and Hobbes wasn't published in Communist countries. Never mind, it's just stupidity on the part of the designers. Oh, and did I mention that getting one pixel of Santa's hat to touch one pixel of a snowman's butt hurts him and makes him fly backwards? It...happens...in...slow...motion...of...course. Also, you can only freeze the snowmen if you have collected at least one snowflake They only hold about five shots, but everything's moving so slowly that it's impossible to miss. The control key does nothing(or maybe there are more attacks and I was too bored to get far enough to see them). If you run out of snowflakes missing enemies(not that it's easy), you're stuck with them. Hey, this level seems a bit long...okay, I've collected about ten presents, that's twice what you have to do in Foxy Jumper...WHY AM I EVEN PLAYING THIS GARBAGE?!? I exited promptly(or at least as promptly as I could, with the stupid exit menu...taking...forever...I'm tired of ellipses - it takes forever to fade in. You can't do anything while it's fading in except watch it fade in. Then you have to watch it fade out after you press escape.

While writing this, I opened the game several times to make sure that I was getting the Comlish(Commie English) right. After waiting for the second time since first running the game for the exit menu to load, I decided to force-kill it with the Task Manager. That's when I discovered something unsettling - IT DOESN'T SHOW UP. Who knows what's going on while this program is running? Afraid for the life of my computer, I quickly uninstalled the game - but not before taking a peek in its folder directory. It turns out that all of the game's files, including the HTML Help doc, are in Polish. Weird.

Unlike with Bistro Star, there really wasn't anything that I could give this "game"(game being used in the relative sense) any merits on. The controls were horrible, due to everything being so slow(I even ran it in Compatibility Mode for XP and nothing happened), the graphics looked like something done by a kid with Photoshop back in the 90s, and, worst of all, the only reference to Christmas was Uncle Scrooge in a Santa suit(and he can't even spell the name of the guy whom he's impersonating!).

Overall, I give this game a four and a quarter out of ten(five for graphics, 1 for gameplay, five for sound, and six for theme). My advice is that nobody should download it for any reason - it's so bad that it will either create a strong suicidal desire in the vic- I mean, PLAYER(I'm having trouble staying alive long enough to type this), or kill them completely. For your own safety, STAY AWAY. You'll be glad that you did.

>Ernie LaVallee

Everything that you see here has been proofread with more careful attention than yesterday. I am indebted to you for my now-higher standards. Thanks!

#2 No wonder your 4yr old didn't enjoy the game. Shouldn't she be in bed? Thanks GGAOTD but I'll pass.

I thought it looked cute. I still do for that matter. The graphics are awfully cute but playing it is nearly impossible. Like others have said, you can't create a profile and all the "help" files are in Yugoslavian or Russian or something that I cannot read. I would like to see this game revamped with English help files and mouse controls and music that sounds less like a windup music box and more like music. I decided to uninstall it. Sorry. I really hate posting negative stuff but this game just isn't worth the download.

Me too......cute idea bad game....needs major work...controls work only 1/2 the time....uninstalled within 15 min.......and I'm a new puter user...lol...still....am spoiled by usual good stuff here...lol

Thanks Play Publishing & GOTD team!!! :)

If you have foxy jumper downloaded, don't bother with this one, it's like that only with st nick and different bad guys, looks like the clones are taking over! sigh, now I know how Luke Skywalker must've felt LOL. The only difference is in this one is it seems a bit slower than Foxy Jumper.

so I go outside and see 6 snowmen carrying a board with a bucket of water on it

I ask them " what's up with the bucket of water?"

the say : "Dead friend, we're the paul bearers"

Really, don't waste your time. I d/l it thinking it would be great holiday fun for my 4 year old. But even she is bored to tears by it! This game is an excruciatingly slow moving platform game where Santa has to jump around shooting snowflakes at evil animated snowmen to freeze them (I can't figure how freezing harms a snowman, but that's neither here nor there!) while collecting gifts and ornaments. Tinkly music that drives you nuts in a short space of time. No mouse controls, only keyboard. No instructions seem to be given and many of the menus I found were poorly translated. There is a bug in the code of some sort when you go to create a new player profile and it shows nothing when you type but blank boxes, so forget about creating a recognizeable profile.

I give it credit for being cute in its illustrations and for working in Vista. But otherwise the execution and code are so sub-par I can't recommend this to anyone, 4 years old or 44.

Xmas is early ...thanks guys......needed a lift today....