Door 17 · Stacker
Sandy Claus: Day 17 of Sunburnt Santa
Build a giant sand Santa on the beach by dropping sand blocks onto a swinging stack before the tide comes in. You have 45 seconds, and every perfect drop buys you two more.
How to play Sandy Claus
- Tap to drop sand blocks and build Sandy Claus before the tide comes in.
- You have 45 seconds; the water creeps up the beach. A PERFECT drop adds 2 s.
- Overhang gets sliced off. When the wave hits, the round ends and your score stands.
Scoring
| What | Points |
|---|---|
| Sand block | 100 |
| PERFECT drop (lined up exactly) | +50 and +2 seconds |
PERFECT drops in a row build a multiplier: x2 from 3, x3 from 6, up to x5 from 12. A sloppy drop resets it, and whatever hangs over the edge is sliced off. The round ends when the wave arrives, when you miss the stack completely, or when Sandy Claus gets too thin to build on.
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
- Time is the real enemy. A block that swings past the stack takes around two to three seconds to come back, and a PERFECT only gives you two seconds back, so letting a block go round again for a perfect barely breaks even. Take the first good chance at each block.
- A PERFECT has to land within a few pixels of the block below, and it's worth the effort: +50, two extra seconds, a bigger multiplier and a slightly wider stack. A streak of perfects is how you reach 6,500.
- The blocks swing faster the higher you build. When they speed up, stop chasing the block with your eyes and watch the edge of the stack instead, then tap as the block's edge lines up with it.
The real story: Christmas Day at the beach, done sun-smart
For a lot of Australian families, Christmas afternoon means the beach, and the beach means somebody building a sand Santa. Christmas falls in the southern summer, and Cancer Council Australia points out that most of the Australian summer brings "extreme" UV in the middle of the day [2]. The World Health Organization recommends protecting your skin whenever the UV Index is 3 or higher, and even the shade of a beach umbrella doesn't stop all of it, because indirect UV scattered by the atmosphere can still burn [2].
That's why the old Australian sun safety slogan matters. Cancer Council launched Slip, Slop, Slap in 1981, one of the most successful health campaigns in the country's history, and in 2007 it became Slip, Slop, Slap, Seek, Slide [1]: slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen, slap on a hat, seek shade and slide on wraparound sunglasses [1].
Sunburnt Santa's name is the joke, not the advice: our Santa wears zinc and a hat, and you should too. Build your Sandy Claus in the morning or late in the arvo (afternoon), and leave the midday sun to the seagulls. If you're overseas and wondering why any of this happens in December, here's why Christmas is in summer in Australia.
Read more: Why is Christmas in summer in Australia?.
When it opens
Door 17 opens on day 17 of your own calendar (your Day 1 is the day you first play), and for everyone by 17 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, Present Tower, Christmas Lunch Stack.
Sources for the real story
- Slip Slop Slap Seek Slide, Cancer Council Australia
- Health check: what does the UV Index mean?, Cancer Council Australia