Happy Holidays everyone. I hope you are enjoying this festive season. Mac game Xmas Blox will bring the ho,ho,ho back into the merry times of this year with their new and unusual match play. This game is fun and relaxing even though you must use your mental prowess to solve this entertaining puzzle.
Xmas Blox is a match 3 game in 3D or in other words blocks stacked one on top of another. The game board is an ice rink type of grid 
where when you launch your block towards the cubes of similar color will slide across the board unless there is a block to stop it. The cube you use to slide over to the blocks on the ice can be launched in a straight line across the grid from either the lower right or left side of the square only. Each cube is worth 10 points. Every successful shot gives you a combo and with 2 combos you get a Xmas bomb. This bomb will destroy adjacent cubes when activated.
You can play in the Time mode where you clear the field in a limited time, Puzzle where you delete all star cubes from the ice, and the Arcade mode where you must earn a certain amount of points.
There are many available colored cubes, bonuses, and obstacles to enhance your play. At the lower right you can see which item will be 
coming up for you to launch so think ahead and plan your moves ahead of time. If you get a plain colored cube, you must determine where to place the cube for the best possible effect. Sometimes you will be presented with a wedge and this object will slide under a cube. There are double and triple bonuses where your score will increase. The time bonus will freeze the clock giving you more time to complete your level. Other items are the stone cube cannot move it and it never changes or bursts, blank cannot enter into the reaction of bursting but can slide, and pale (looks like charcoal to me) when touched by a color block will change to the same color. The recolor bonus will recolor the cube it touches to its own color, color bomb will 
bursts all blocks of the same color and a very helpful cube the rotate one will turn stone cubes into colored ones. There are even more bonus cubes: the quake causes an earthquake and will burst cracked cubes and create some cracked cubes. The block with a snowflake on it is used only in strategy mode.
The only minor annoyance with this game is the alarm sounding noise when your time is almost up. The music is a little mild and not christmasy enough for me, but it’s non-intrusive and if you play this game other than the winter season, it’ll work out fine.
Overall Mac match/puzzle game Xmas Blox is a new, different type of match 3 puzzle play with its many tiers to conquer. There is not an elaborate story line to distract you from your play, but it takes you from one level to another. It’s nice to see original plays like this game, Zen Stones and Mystic Mine bringing back the fun and excitement of puzzles. Merry, merry everyone. Enjoy the season playing Mac games.
Features of Xmas Blox:
-3 Game Modes
-Many Bonuses
-Strategy and Fun
Rating: 
