Mission in Snowdriftland:
Indie Games Edition
Mark your calendars and set your bookmarks, Mission in Snowdriftland is back to entertain us once again with its joy-inducing classic-style platforming gameplay set against the backdrop of a cheerful holiday advent calendar. Beginning today and continuing right up through Christmas Eve, a new level will be unlocked to play each day as we march closer to that most joyous of holidays filled with presents, friends and family gatherings.
The levels themselves have not changed, but that's not really a bad thing as they will all present quite a challenge for you to earn that bonus present waiting at the end. Use the [arrow] keys for control, avoid enemies or bounce on them, and collect all the snowflakes. You've gotta catch'em all. The game is well-designed with high production values, and the experience is well worth reliving again (and again).
You might remember us covering Mission in Snowdriftland way back in 2006. Back then, Nintendo had commissioned extra toxic, a German game development company, to create this amazing and joyful experience as a means to showcase unlockable goodies from familiar Nintendo games. But then the contract ended and it was taken down and disappeared from the Web only to resurface just in time for the holidays once more!
This time the company, under the label of tons of bits, has teamed up with a dozen different indie game studios to showcase unlockables from each of their respective titles. Complete each level to find a new surprise bonus waiting for you from these great indie games. It's a great way to share the talent offspring of so many wonderful indie developers, and we thank Tons of Bits for bringing back this great advent calendar platformer and sharing it with the world once again!
It appears we cannot play for a half-hour yet? Oh well, I'll be patient.
Ah yes, I remember this one. It was good fun. It'll be worth playing through again.
Hi Jay,
Thank you very much for the news!
We will continue adding new Indie Game Developers the next days. Mission in Snowdriftland is ALIVE! :D
The way the screen doesn't stay centered on your character, or aligned in any consistent way, makes this a real toughie.
I remember the old Snowdriftland, a ton of fun.
However there seems to be something wrong with the controls with this one. I'm not sure, but on my system there seems to be a slight delay which is especially evident when jumping. It makes the game MUCH harder then it should be.
Have to test this on another computer..
The only thing I can complain about is having to wait for the level to load again every time I die. Maybe it's just my slow connection but it takes forever T-T
It seems as though the doors get unlocked at midnight, relative to your own time zone! Lucky me I'm on the East of Australia! It's telling me that door 2 will open in 10 minutes! :D
7 minutes... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...
Yay it opened!
Maybe I shouldn't be on JIG at midnight >_> Who knows what else happens...
Ah! I played this when it was still under the Nintendo contract!
I wish there was a more convenient way to retrieve your rewards this time around, though.
I was able to stop the music from the menu screen -- any idea how to stop the music in the game itself?
I'm also getting long load times every time I die. Makes it pretty unbearable, actually.
It looks like you no longer have to wait for it to slowly load every time you die! Awesome!
This game is ridiculously fun, by the way. :)
@Maude Buttons
Turn your speakers down :D
At least that's what I did... though if you want to listen to your own, better music at the same time, I think the only option is the mute button on the main menu, as you said.
Man...This game is awesome with a touch of Mariosque mixed in there!
Yeah, the game is an awesome platformer.
I am frankly very surprised by the low rating so far. Apparently some people don't understand what an "advent calendar" is and are basing their rating on the fact they can play only 1 or 2 levels.
I hate this game because it promises to be so cute and fun, and the graphics and music are amazing. But the levels are so freakin' hard that it's a struggle to get through them. If you're going to have a one-touch water kill, at least make some checkpoints in the level so I don't have to start all over again. ARGH.
...Okay so maybe it's not so bad after all. Actually, the benefit of an advent calendar-style game is that it makes me want to go back and play the level 20 times to try and collect all the crystals. Which I may or may not have done.
I loved this game in 2006, and I was disappointed that they didn't bring it back in 2007. I'm very happy that it's been rereleased this year. :-)
I was somehow under the impression that the reward would be an actual game. However, I find that I'm only getting icons, avatars, and wallpapers. A bit disappointing, especially for the level of difficulty getting all the snowflakes.
[This is similar to how the downloadables were structured when the game was first released promoting Nintendo products. I think it's quite a nice reward considering most free Flash games don't offer any such prizes. Did we mention that this is a free game and that the developer isn't making any money on it? -Jay]
Thanks for your reply, Jay. I can agree. Just playing the game is fun. :D
Awesome, I'm glad you agree, Dhiroj. ^_^
I actually wish more developers offered cute little rewards like this when finishing their games. Even if it's an mp3 track, or a wallpaper or such, it shows they really care about the people who play their games.
Ugh, I'm sure this game WOULD be good, but I'm not sure I want to play a precision platformer that is ALL ice physics. :s It just makes things way harder than they need to be in the worst way.
Awww man, Snowdriftland! I've been waiting for this game my whole life! (Well, since 2006 anyways)
Don't forget, folks, stages 6, 12, and 18 feature hidden health upgrades. :-)
I can't access it because the internet filter I'm under says it contains pornography... are there any mirrors of it?
[There are no mirrors, and there is no pron on the site that hosts this game. -Jay]
I don't seem to be able to get that heart box in the 12th level. Its stuck inside a tree with no apparent way of reaching it. A hint would be appreciated
@StateMilk: To get the heart in Stage 12,
go left from the beginning of the stage instead of right. It's kind of tricky--having the heart from Stage 6 will help.
@OtherBill
How do you get up to that branch with the penguin squirrell after you go right? Jumping on the snowman-mobile doesn't help...
@OtherBill
After you have gone right and up the levels to the second snowman-mobile how do you get up to the branch? Jumping on the snowman-mobile doesn't work.
Thanks for the tip.
On the second snowman, jump once and land on him again while pressing jump at the exact time when you land. You seem to jump a little higher that way. Worked for me :)
@JIGuest:
Jumping on the second snowman should bounce you high enough to reach the branch--if it doesn't, I'm afraid I don't know what else to tell you. :-(
YES I finally got the extra life on 12!
Thanks OtherBill and StaleMilk for the advice and tips!
I have gone through level 12 like 10 times and cannot find the 23rd snowflake. can someone help me out?
The last few levels have been extremely underwhelming. Upto the 13th/14th levels the difficulty curve was extremely satisfying but after that the levels seem to have lost all challenge.
Either the game has made me a lot better than i was or it really has become easier. Either way, i hope the difficulty picks up soon.
Wes:
the only snowflake slightly hidden is near the heart which you can see inside the tree if you go left from beginning(to get the heart go right). from the first spider web you encounter, you should see a plus life inside a tree. Jump and try to reach next to it. Theres a snowflake there. Hope this helps.
I take back what I said. The last level is hell.
Yes! Finally finished it! Got all the snowflakes too.
Merry Christmas everyone!
It does not seem to be around this year
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