Bonus game · 1 player
Chimney Drop: a Sunburnt Santa bonus game
Santa's sleigh, pulled by two roos, flies over a street of Aussie rooftops at dusk, and you tap to drop a present down each clean chimney. It's endless: three strikes and the sleigh goes home.
How to play Chimney Drop
- The roos pull the sleigh over the rooftops. Tap to drop a present: it keeps the sleigh's speed, so let go before the chimney.
- Straight down the chimney: 100 points, and perfects in a row build a multiplier up to x5. Clip the rim: 50.
- Every house with a clean chimney needs a present. Let one go by, or miss the house altogether, and that's a strike. 3 strikes and it's over.
- Smoking chimney? The fire's lit: don't drop there. A possum on the roof swats anything coming down its side of the chimney: drop on the far side. Watch the windsock for wind.
- 10 perfects in a row win a strike back.
Scoring
| What | Points |
|---|---|
| Present straight down the chimney (perfect) | 100 x your multiplier |
| Present that clips the rim | 50 |
| Present on the roof | 0 (breaks your streak) |
| House with a clean chimney left without a present | strike |
| Present that misses the house, or goes down a smoking chimney | strike |
Perfects in a row build a multiplier: x2 from 4, x3 from 7, x4 from 10, up to x5 from 13. A rim, a roof, or a present swatted by a possum resets it. Every 10 perfects in a row wins back a strike. The first two houses are practice. Opens once 12 doors have a star.
Bonus game: opens once you have at least one star on 12 doors. It has its own top 100 for signed-in players.
Tips for a big score
- A present keeps the sleigh's speed when you let go, so it falls in a curve. Let go well before the chimney, not over it, and as the sleigh speeds up, let go earlier still. Watch the windsock: later in the game the wind pushes presents sideways.
- Read each house before you drop. A smoking chimney means the fire is lit: skip it, because a present down there is a strike. A possum on the roof swats anything coming down its own side of the chimney, so aim for the far half of the opening.
- Perfects are the whole game. A rim is only 50 and resets your multiplier, while a run of 13 perfects gets you to x5, where each chimney is 500. Ten in a row also wins back a strike, so a long clean streak is how you survive as the chimneys narrow and the gaps between houses open up.
The real story: possums in the roof
Plenty of Australian houses don't have a chimney at all, but a lot of them have a possum. The common brushtail possum is a native marsupial about 55 centimetres long that has adapted well to life alongside people [1]. It's nocturnal, sleeping by day in a hollow log, a tree trunk or any dark spot, sometimes inside a house roof, and in the suburbs it will eat almost anything [1]. The Queensland Government describes it as common in campgrounds and suburban backyards, and sometimes in the ceilings of houses [2].
If you've ever lain awake listening to thumping across the ceiling at 2am, it may well have been a brushtail heading out for the night. Possums are native animals, so if one moves into your roof, check your state's wildlife rules before doing anything about it.
In Chimney Drop the possums are on the roof and very protective of it. They don't get hurt and neither does Santa: a possum just bats the present back out, you lose your streak, and the house still needs a present. Drop on the far side of the chimney and it can't reach.
When it opens
Chimney Drop opens once at least 12 doors have a star. How the calendar works.
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Sources for the real story
- Common Brushtail Possum, Australian Museum
- Living with possums, Queensland Government