Door 16 · Tapper
Mozzie Mayhem: Day 16 of Sunburnt Santa
It's carols by candlelight in the park, and the mozzies (mosquitoes) are here for the crowd. Swat them for 60 seconds without blowing out the candles or shooing the fireflies.
How to play Mozzie Mayhem
- Mozzies fly in and land on the carollers. Tap to swat them. 60 seconds.
- Mid-air swats are worth more; fat full ones most. Sandflies come in swarms.
- Don't tap the candles! A blown-out candle costs 200 and darkens the rug for 5 seconds.
- Leave the fireflies alone: shooing one costs 200.
Scoring
| What | Points |
|---|---|
| Mozzie, swatted after it lands | 100 |
| Mozzie, swatted mid-air | 150 |
| Fat mozzie | 200 |
| Sandfly (they come in swarms of five) | 50 |
| Mozzie that bites a caroller | -50 |
| Blown-out candle | -200 |
| Shooed firefly | -200 |
Swats in a row build a combo: x2 from 4, x3 from 8, up to x5 from 16. A tap on nothing, a bite, a candle or a firefly resets it. A blown-out candle also darkens its rug for 5 seconds. The last 10 seconds is a frenzy with up to 10 mozzies at once.
Stars: the three targets
Stars don't lock anything; they show how you're going, and doors with at least one star count towards the bonus games.
Tips for three stars
- Hit mozzies before they land. A plain mozzie is 150 in the air but only 100 once it's sitting on someone, and if you leave it too long it bites, costs 50 and wipes your combo.
- Sandfly swarms are combo fuel. They're only 50 each, but five quick taps add five to your combo, which gets you most of the way from x1 to x2 or from x4 to x5 in one go.
- A tap that hits nothing resets the combo, and a tap on a candle or a firefly costs 200 as well. A mozzie within reach of your finger always counts before the candle, so tap right on the bug; but if a firefly is closer to your finger than the mozzie, the firefly is the one you shoo.
The real story: Carols by Candlelight, an Australian Christmas Eve tradition
Carols by Candlelight began with a radio man and a single candle. Melbourne broadcaster Norman Banks saw a woman on Christmas Eve 1937 singing along to carols on the radio, her face lit only by a candle, and wondered how many other people spent Christmas alone [1]. From 1938 he organised a carols festival in Melbourne's Alexandra Gardens, which became a Melbourne institution and spread across Australia and abroad [2]. About 10,000 people came to the first one, and since 1959 it has had a permanent home at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, where ticket sales and donations now help children who are blind or have low vision [1].
Singing outdoors on a December evening has one catch. NSW Health says the December to January period is usually the peak time for mosquito numbers, and advises covering up with light-coloured, loose clothing and using a repellent with DEET or picaridin [3]. Mosquitoes are most active around dawn and dusk, which is exactly when the candles get lit [3].
Mozzie Mayhem is every park carols night you've been to: a rug, a candle, a family trying to sing "Silent Night" and a cloud of uninvited guests. In the game they just get a gentle swat.
When it opens
Door 16 opens on day 16 of your own calendar (your Day 1 is the day you first play), and for everyone by 16 December. Play the door before it to open it. Once it's open you can replay it as often as you like, and after Christmas Eve all 24 doors stay open. How the calendar works.
Play now
Same kind of game: Blowie Swat, Bon Bon Snap, Unwrap Rush.
Sources for the real story
- Our history, Vision Australia Carols by Candlelight
- Banks, Norman Tyrell (1905-1985), Australian Dictionary of Biography
- Health warning to avoid mosquitoes during holiday season, NSW Health