Christmas Wonderland 7 Review: Ho, Ho, HOG

Well, it’s holiday time again, and that means one thing for good ole Saint Nick: work, work, work. The jolly guy in red is getting things ready for Christmas, but he needs your help locating a few miscellaneous items. Good …

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Well, it’s holiday time again, and that means one thing for good ole Saint Nick: work, work, work. The jolly guy in red is getting things ready for Christmas, but he needs your help locating a few miscellaneous items. Good thing you’ve got years of experience solving hidden object scenes and putting together jigsaw puzzles faster than Santa can belt out “ho ho ho”.

Christmas Wonderland 7 is a straightforward hidden object game patterned after the old school titles. You won’t find a series of rooms strung together with obstacles in the way and a narrative to dive into. Instead, you get hidden object scenes, plain and simple. Each one fills the screen with a massive mess of items, everything from toys and tools to animals, elves, Christmas ornaments and more. Clutter is what they call it, I believe, but it’s the beautiful sort of clutter you just can’t wait to sort through.

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Every hidden object scene comes with a text list of items at the bottom of the screen. Most of them are simple enough that you can just look at the name, find the object, and give it a click. Some items are colored blue, denoting an interactive task you must complete. See where it says “feed the calf”? Find the calf, find something it would like to eat, then drag the two together for a satisfying little mini-puzzle. You’ll also come across red items that are hidden underneath or behind parts of the scene.

Between hidden object areas, Christmas Wonderland 7 throws a variety of basic mini-games at you for a quick diversion. Jigsaw puzzles, word searches, that sort of thing, nothing that will throw you for a loop, and no real attempts at spicing up these games apart from adding a Christmas theme. Still, there’s something to be said about an old fashioned, straightforward puzzle sometimes.

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Christmas Wonderland 7 leans heavily on its holiday theme, and it does a great job setting a Christmas kind of mood. Every single part of the experience is drenched in seasonal cheer. It’s impossible not to crave eggnog and get a few carols stuck in your head. The visuals hit that theme home with a blend of photo realistic and digital art, creating something of a surreal look that suits the Christmas motif just fine.

With all the attention on the holiday trimmings, Christmas Wonderland 7 does skimp a bit in the gameplay department. This won’t be much of a surprise if you’re familiar with the developer, as they tend to focus on bare bones experiences that pick a puzzle and run with it. This game follows that formula to the letter. Everything about it looks and plays flawlessly, though, so it’s hard to pick bones with a game that purposefully sticks to the basics. As long as you’re not looking for the next epic casual game, Christmas Wonderland 7 will keep you busy and entertained on those long, cold holiday nights.

The good

  • The Christmas theme is absolutely stunning.
  • Easy to pick up and play.
  • Lots of puzzle variety.

The bad

  • A little too simplistic for many players.
  • Some red herrings in the hidden object scenes.
60 out of 100
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