Santa’s Sack is one of the most simplistic yet fun iPhone/iTouch games I have played to date. Naughty monsters have stolen the presents from Santa’s sack and it is your job to retrieve them by tilting your iDevice left or right to move the sack and catch the falling presents dropped by the evil monsters before the presents disappear forever; and inevitably ruin Christmas for a lot of children! The game ends when you lose ten lives, with a life lost for every present missed or when a monster falls into your sack.

Zipping across the screen and catching the presents isn’t your only worry however, as other obstacles are thrown into the mix to affect the gameplay. Catch a bomb dropped by the monsters and the controls will invert for a short period of time, meaning your sack must be tilted left to move right, and visa versa; and this can become extremely confusing and make missing presents an easy feat. Catching a falling snowball will make your sack slow down which will obviously hinder your chances of catching the presents, but even worse, accidentally catch one of the monsters themselves and you’ll instantly lose one of your ten lives. The good news is that a fairy will make a visit every now and then and give you the opportunity to catch a falling star which when obtained will award you with an extra life. There seems to be the perfect amount of variables in the gameplay to keep it addictive and challenging, while at the same time allowing you to crank up a reasonable high score.

My biggest disappointment with Santa’s Sack is the lack of a Global Leaderboard. Being able to compare your high scores with friends and other addictive sack drivers around the world would have been a nice addition and could have added an extra incentive to pushing yourself to beat your current highscore. Infact, Santa’s Sack doesn’t even include a Local Leaderboard! The game only displays the highest score you’ve obtained and not, say your top 10 efforts. This is acceptable if you’re the only person playing on the iDevice, but if you share the iDevice with friends and want to compare scores, this is a real shame.

For some strange reason unknown to man, or Santa himself, the game fails to include a pause button. I’m not sure why the developers left out this simple feature as it couldn’t possibly have given you an advantage in the slightest gameplay wise. Not being able to pause the game could be a problem if the ridiculous amount of excitement and epic adrenaline levels force you to go to the toilet or you hear some strange noises coming from the roof on Christmas eve and feel the urge to investigate!

On a more positive note, the games graphics are gorgeous and easily some of the best I’ve seen on an iDevice. The amount of detail seen in the environment and on the characters/props is impressive and pleasing on the eye. The colourful appearance of the game and the characters seen such as Polar Bears and Fairies will make the game appealing to all ages, young and old. Only one song appears throughout the game which is bearable, especially when considering you won’t be playing the game for hours on end and instead more of a pick up and play when you feel the urge to beat your high score or have some time to kill; unless you become insanely addictive of course, and if so, grow up. You have the option to turn the music and sound effects off at the main menu, so you shouldn’t be concerned over your ears taking a beating.

Overall, Santa’s Sack is a great little pick up and play game which has helped deliver some much needed Christmas spirit into my Scrooge-like self. I highly recommended checking the game out seeing it’s currently free on iTunes for a limited time, and even at its usual 59p price tag, Santa’s Sack is a bargain and should be in your iDevice’s stocking this Christmas.