"Fa La La, Fa La La"... the spirit of Christmas as expressed by that little pig that herds sheep. But let's be honest; this time of year can be tough for many people. Thank goodness Julia and Kostya Stankevych have created a simple puzzle game that encapsulates the peace that we all deserve and wish for, especially at this time of the year. With some beautiful chiming music, and gorgeous graphics with gently falling snow and shimmering stars, you can't help but feel all Christmassy playing Starlight Xmas.
Just like in the previous two Starlight games, to solve each of the thirty levels simply move your mouse, without clicking, around the screen to find the point at which the constellations of stars fall into place to create pictures. In Starlight 2, each picture was automatically bumped into place when the cursor was placed near the point of solving. In Starlight Xmas, the actual point of solution needs to be found, requiring just a little patience to locate the particular spot, and providing just a wee bit more of a challenge. What is completely new in Starlight Xmas is the addition of a puzzle mode. This mode is comprised of thirty dot-to-dot, or star-to-star, puzzles. Complete the pictures by clicking on stars to join them. Not all of the stars in each puzzle are needed, so it takes a little bit of guesswork to figure out which stars make up the puzzle. Each puzzle is solved when all the right stars are connected to each other.
In each mode there's easy access to the main menu by clicking or hitting [Esc]. There's volume control and you can mute the music without removing the sound effects, and there's access to a walkthrough. In classic mode, your score is based on how quickly you solve each level. In puzzle mode, the score is based on the number of mistakes made. In puzzle mode, one minor frustration is that when you realize that you've clicked on a star that's not part of the puzzle, the intuitive response is to click it again to deselect it but instead we're advised that you can't connect a star to itself. But the frustrations are by far outweighed by the beauty of the graphics and accompanying music, as well as the smooth, almost pure gameplay.
Overall, Starlight Xmas is so sweet and uncomplicated. It offers us a moment to relax and unwind, gently reminding us of the meaning of Christmas while indulging our senses. So take a break from the everyday, immerse yourself in a simple yet magical game and maybe you'll emerge singing "Fa La La" like that happy little, sheep-herding Christmas pig.
I love the concept of these games, but they are WAY too easy. In classic mode, the longest any level took me was 8 seconds, and I had over half of them in 3 seconds or less. I'd appreciate the game more if it were more challenging.
It's more like interactive art than a puzzle game, IMO. The disappointing part of the puzzles section is that the majority were the same as the classic game. Loved the music and it was very relaxing to play the classic version.
This is probably a strange issue to have with a Christmas game, but I found this a bit too religious for my taste. I was expecting (and at the beginning got) candy-canes, reindeer, trees. I was not expecting crosses or churches.
Those of us who are either non-Christian or entirely non-religious might celebrate the Christmas holiday as a secular festival of gift-giving and family togetherness. That this game didn't fit that is, of course, up to the game designers, but I found it disappointing and a little surprising.
I think it would have been much better had the connecting lines stayed in view at all times. As it is, rotate till the lines show up, then move in whichever direction makes them get shorter till it clicks.
I love the mechanic of this game, but it's a shame it's so easy. I'm not trying to brag, but I solved every puzzle in 5 seconds or less. There's no challenge at all. Even as "interactive art" it doesn't hold much interest.
Well I thought it was enchanting, especially for people who didn't play the other Starlight games. It's serene and cute, and even if it isn't really challenging, it works very well as a Christmas interactive art project, and that's quite enough. Also, there's a grand total of two religious images, so I can't really believe anyone would mind them.
It's taking waaay too long to load. I've been waiting 10ish minutes while the bar slowly creeps along.
Windows Vista, Firefox 3.6.12, not downloading anything or loading any other pages, and my machine is clear of viruses yesterday according to AVG.
[Try refreshing the page now. It should be a lot better. We're having some server issues at the moment. -Jay]
I don't understand why anyone would complain about the religious imagery (what little there is). It's a CHRISTMAS game, not a "winter holiday" game, and while there are a lot of secular traditions revolving around the holiday, it IS a religious holiday. If I were to play a Hanukkah game, I certainly wouldn't be surprised or disappointed to find a Star of David or a picture of a synagogue.
@Craig -
Because this is the first Christmas game I've seen here that has anything at all to do with religion. The rest were all about a man in a red fur coat, reindeer, snowmen, and evergreen trees. In other words, exactly what one would expect from a religion originating in the Middle East.
I found it jarring and not to my taste, and commented because I was curious as to whether or not others felt the same way. It is only a game, and a slight one at that. This isn't something about which I care passionately, but just an opinion I wanted to share.
I can't even get pass the first level of puzzle mode :((
Dylan
The very first puzzle is a
five pointed star
Turns out there was a slight bug in the game. It didn't respond to mu cursor until I reload.
I knew what it was though, but the game đidn't let me continue.
Okay :)
Update