Door 11 · Stacker
Present Tower: Day 11 of Sunburnt Santa
Wrapped presents swing across the screen; tap to drop each one onto the tower and build it as tall as you can. Line them up for PERFECT streaks, and watch for the surprise present that comes every fifth drop.
How to play Present Tower
- A wrapped present swings across. Tap to drop it on the tower.
- Overhang gets sliced off and a sloppy drop knocks the bow off. Line it up for a PERFECT and a streak multiplier.
- Every 5th present is a surprise worth double.
Scoring
| What | Points |
|---|---|
| Present landed | 100 |
| PERFECT present (lined up exactly) | 150 |
| Every 5th present (the surprise) | double points |
| Clean miss | ends the round |
PERFECT drops in a row build a streak multiplier: x2 from the 3rd, up to x5 from the 12th, and any sloppy drop resets it. The surprise present doubles whatever the drop scores, multiplier included. Overhang gets sliced off, and a sloppy drop knocks the bow off.
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
- Save your best concentration for every 5th present. A PERFECT surprise at x5 is worth 1,500, as much as fifteen plain drops.
- Presents come in three heights, but only the width of the tower matters. A PERFECT snaps the present to the centre and grows the tower back a little, so one good drop repairs a lot of damage.
- There's no clock, and the present swings right across the screen and back. If a pass looks off, wait for the next one. Each present swings a little faster than the last, so the patience you show early pays off later.
The real story: how wrapping paper was invented by accident
Patterned wrapping paper, the kind piled under every tree on Christmas morning, began as a stopgap. In 1917, brothers Rollie and Joyce Hall, who would go on to found Hallmark, were selling greeting cards and gift-wrap tissue (in red, green and white) at their stationery shop in downtown Kansas City [1]. When the tissue sold out, Rollie looked for something else and found the decorative French envelope liners the brothers already used in their card range [1]. They put them by the register at 10 cents a sheet, and they sold [1]. By 1919 the brothers were designing and making their own gift wrap [1].
A century on, the leftover paper is a Christmas Day job of its own. Bundaberg Regional Council in Queensland says plain brown or uncoated paper can go in the recycling bin, but glitter, foil and metallic finishes make paper non-recyclable [2]. For glossy paper it suggests a rip test: if it tears easily it can be recycled, and if it stretches it probably contains plastic [2]. Fold it flat rather than scrunching it into a ball [2]. Rules vary between councils, so check yours.
In Present Tower the wrapping stays on. Every 5th present is a surprise, and nobody has peeked.
Read more: Christmas traditions around the world: 35 countries, region by region.
When it opens
Door 11 opens on day 11 of your own calendar (your Day 1 is the day you first play), and for everyone by 11 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: Stack the Pav, Sandy Claus, Christmas Lunch Stack.
Sources for the real story
- The History Of Gift Wrap, KCUR (via KMUW)
- Recycle right this Christmas: what to do with wrapping paper, Bundaberg Regional Council