Discussion Point: The Best Presents

 Written by The TAG Team

Now that the holidays are over, let's talk about the loot you've gotten over the years.  Remember when you were a kid, opening up presents on Christmas, Hanukkah, your birthday, or another occasion?  How about the joy of being given a big box, the mystery (and perhaps anxiety) over what might or might not be in it?

Did it ever turn out to be a game?  Or some new, upgraded hardware to play those games with?  What was the best gift like that you've ever gotten?  Or, if you're a better person than we are, the best game or hardware you've given someone else as a gift.

Regale us with "los regalos" from holidays past in the comments below!

Companions of Xanth – Faun and Games

By Ilmari

What was my goal again? It seems that for a couple of posts I’ve just been going through various parts of Xanth, without any clear idea where I am heading. There was some sort of prize I was supposed to find out, and I had to look for the Good Magician Humfrey… Really, neither of these plot points have had anything to do with the challenges I have been facing.

This one’s the next one in line

Jack in the Dark - Saving Christmas (Won and Final Rating!)

Written by Andy Panthro

The toy shop back room is where we begin the finale.

 How can one small child save Christmas? Well, this isn’t any small child, this is a witch! And if there’s any magic in this world, surely this is the time for it. Already we have defeated the dancing puppet, and the soldier toys are back in their toybox. This has allowed us access to the back room, and with that a whole new selection of items and toys to contend with.

Companions of Xanth – Crewel Lye: A Caustic Yarn

By Ilmari

Scorching desert, and all directions lead just to the same place. After a few futile attempts, Nada, my companion, identified the place as Void, one of the elemental regions in the northern Xanth. Despite what the name says, it’s not empty, but more like illusory – there’s nothing real there, but you can use the illusions as if they were real.

What was that? Did I see a door appearing and vanishing? I talked to Nada and she didn’t believe I saw anything. Talking to her enough, with sentences that indicated me believing in the door, made it reappear as solid.

Missed Classic 136: Jingle Bells (1986)

Written by Joe Pranevich

Merry Christmas! When I first started reviewing Christmas adventure games, eleven years ago, I thought that I’d have a lark for a year or three and then we’d be done with Christmas games as a genre. This is our twelfth one! (We covered two games last year.) When the holidays come around, I excitedly open Santa’s bag of presents– our secret spreadsheet with every Christmas game that we know about– and pulled the next game on the list.

The first one was Juleadventurespil, a Danish holiday game written in 1983 and distributed as a type-in. It would be one of our earliest Christmas games, but has the downside that I don’t speak Danish. I may try it another year, but I elected to pass for now.

The second was Gremlins, a 1985 Adventure International game based on the film of the same name. This was a tougher choice. Gremlins, like Die Hard, has a reputation of being a non-Christmas film that is set at Christmas. A review of screenshots show relatively little Christmas content in the actual game and it didn’t seem to be what I want to play when I seek Christmas joy. Plus, I’d have to watch the movie, which I have been actively avoiding since I was a kid. Perhaps next year. 

That leaves us with my third pick: Jingle Bells: A Sleigh Ride with Father Christmas, written in 1986. This was a commercial release for the ill-fated BBC Micro, written by a company better known (if known at all) for its educational software. I failed to get an emulator working, but thankfully a BBC Micro enthusiast website had one working online! Apologies if the fonts don’t look exactly right. 

Let’s get to some Christmas joy!