Merry Squishmas!!!

Hello everyone and Merry Christmas! I hope that everyone enjoyed the last 12 days and are enjoying the festivities of today. What did everyone get/do? If you got any awesome video games and consoles (and if you didn't that's fine too) then... turn off your consoles, put your systems on charge and spend some time with your loved ones.

This is why I'm posting today and a lot earlier than usual. I've realized that after nearly 20 Christmases, traditions are always the same but who you follow them with is always changing. People will come and go for a variety of different reasons. Sometimes people may not be able to come for Christmas. Spend all the time that you can with them (unless they are really cruel people or something).

One Christmas in particular that I remember fondly is Christmas Day of 2015. I remember getting quite a few games that year. All I remember from that year is me either sitting in my room or in the living room playing those games non stop, talking to nobody. I knew it was bad but after recently looking at my 3DS Activity Log, I felt awful... I somehow put 8 hours into my 3DS and four hours on the Wii U.

I must have really learnt my lesson because I only played for half an hour last year (for blogging purposes on New Leaf).

Christmas is why I choosing to take a week off blogging. Spend the day with your loved ones, then "rot your brain" on Boxing Day. Your games can wait but the people and memories can't. Thank you for reading and I'll see you all next year!

Squishmas 12: Toy Day

Today is Toy Day and the last day of Squishmas! Weird how time flies when your blogging about random stuff.

Slightly off topic but for some reason, Tammy's house plot still isn't a house yet. It showed up on the 22nd and hasn't changed. Weird...

I've been keeping track of all the clues that I managed to get over the last ten days. Stitches was the only villager I didn't get a clue from, plus there are two villagers that only mentioned the colour green (at least Iggly mentioned wallpaper).

When I went to buy the Santa outfit (I lost my one from last year, oops) I got Labelle's manniquin. Best Christmas present ever!

After a quick search I found Jingle!

Like every year, our goal is to play Santa and give all our villagers the correct gift

Iggly was the first person I found. His clues were wallpaper and green, so of course I gave him...

Rolf was next and was lucky enough to get a full jar of candy. Sweet!

Lucha wanted something red. I somehow started off with THREE UMBRELLAS! Luckily I got rid of one of them here and he liked it!

Rosie wanted something brown. At this point i had to google some of the remaining items. The bingo wheel looked to be the brownest object. I gave it to her and she wasn't so happy...

Filbert asked for an umbrella... so it was a 50/50 shot. I got it right though!

All that was left were two green objects and a swell tee. I figured that the swell tee belonged to Stitches but I was wrong.

I somehow got both green items correct so I got 6 out of 8 correct!

I guess I got Stitches and Rosie's items mixed up. I decided that this year I would keep the sack if I didn't get them all right. So free sack!

Thank you for reading, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Squishmas 11: Make a Squishmas themed song parody!

Since today is the second last day to Squishmas, I'm deciding to have a little fun and get you guys involved.

Everyone knows the song "The 12 Days of Christmas" (the one that takes ages to sing and has a bunch of birds at the beginning). I've heard a lot of weird parodies of it over the years and want to see if anyone can write a parody of it, based on my 12 Squishmas posts. To give you a little more time, tomorrow's Squishmas post will be based on Toy Day.

All you have to do is either comment on this post with the lyrics or tweet it to @SquishyPixelz using the hashtag #Squishmas (thank goodness for 280 characters now). The winner will have their song mentioned on the blog and Facebook page. Its mainly just for fun! The contest will end on the 1st January 2018 when I will announce the winner.

Thank you for reading and I look forward to your parodies!

Squishmas 10: Yesterday's shortest day

Yes I know this event happened yesterday, but due to some computer trouble I had to either do something else yesterday last minute or miss a day of Squishmas (and I wasn't going to do that). So I'm talking about what took place then today (Note; I did not time travel). With that out of the way, lets get started!

Yesterday was the shortest day of the year. In Animal Crossing, the day was cut altogether!

Isabelle was handing out blue glow wands to keep us safe in the dark. I like how the blue one is event exclusive while the others can be bought.

There is also a face cutout board with children (and a snowman) playing, but I never looked at it. Either way thank you for reading and have a good weekend!

Squishmas 9: My Christmas themed Pocket Camp

Over the last few days, I’ve been working on my campsite in Animal Crossing Pocket Camp to make it both Christmassy and cute. So here is what I did with it so far for the holidays.

For my Campsite themed, I decided to go with a Christmas cafe with a variety of different foods to offer. I even added the picnic blanket!





It turned nighttime while I was taking photos but they look cooler now!



I even have live entertainment in front of the tree!



Thank you for reading and have a good day!

Squishmas 8: Best party games to play with family and friends

Usually I'm not a huge people person (usually? maybe 99% of the time). Christmas is the only exception, since I get a year to mentally prepare myself for the occasion. Its also the only time of year where my family are willing to play video games (besides my brother but... he kinda sucks at them). Luckily video game companies have our backs and bestow upon us hundreds of multiplayer games. I'm going to go through the (personal) best ones.

Mario Kart series
Ahhh Mario Kart. I have loved you since Mario Kart DS and you only get better (besides the Wii U version of Mario Kart 8. The Battle Mode should have been there from the beginning). You can play with up to four players locally (or in the rare case that some owns 8 DS/3DS systems with a copy of either Mario Kart DS or 7, then your sweet!) Its a good time!

Just Dance series
I'm not going to lie, this series is my guilty pleasure and I was disappointed that I couldn't play this when my TV's sound broke. It just feels weird dancing in silence. If you have a large open space (or a really small on for the lols) and pretty much any console, then your ready to go. Just don't shatter a Wii remote like my family and I did a few years back.

Mario Party
Actually don't! You might ruin all friendships and not have any loved ones left. NEXT!

Wii Sports/Wii Fit/Anything with Wii in the title
These games were MADE to be played on Christmas. I remember getting a Wii one year for Christmas and my family have a bowling tournament. It was awesome, even if I did get hit in the face with a Wii remote. The "Wii" series is either filled with multiplayer games or single player ones with scoreboards. Almost anyone can just play one of these games.

So that's my list but of course, there are a lot more. Thank you for reading and watch out for flying Wii remotes!

Squishmas 7: Dreaming of Tinsel

Today I went into the dream town of Tinsel. I was warmly welcomed by light up trees and adorable looking paths.

This town has four houses, all with one room with a slightly different theme. The first one was themed around a Christmas party with a letter writing station in the corner.

The town also use four leaf clovers as more natural paths which makes for some lovely scenery.

The second house looked to be either a cabin or a traditional workshop. Either way it looks really snug.

The third person belonged to Ivy the baker.

almost every dream town seems to include a bakery or cafe of some sort, but this one has to be my favorite. It still looks like a traditional sit in type bakery while being festive like the rest of the town. Also extra brownie points for fitting that giant cake in the back!

The fourth and final house, is defiantly the cozy cabin, which is owned by Noel!

They managed to rope the most basic PWPs into their town without making them clash with the festive theme. Like the Campsite and lamppost.

Overall this town is gorgeous! If you want to have a visit for yourself here is the Dream Address. Thank you for reading and "be sure to bundle up"

Squishmas 6: My Christmas Traditions (related to gaming)

We are at the Squishmas checkpoint now (Yayyy!). I started thinking about my gaming traditions before the hecticness that we call Christmas starts. So without further ado, lets go.

Once December starts (or earlier) I would start playing Christmas music. Mainly gaming music since there aren't any lyrics to distract me from what I'm doing (I can't just sit and listen to music, I need to be doing something). If you need some Winter/Christmas tune suggestions, feel free to check out my fourth day to Squishmas post.

December is also when I would usually do a huge clean out of my bedroom. I personally enjoy cleaning so I look forward to doing this every six months. Its cool finding old stuff and making room for Christmas presents and festivities. Its also a way for me to get the Christmas decorations.

As Christmas gets closer and closer I start cuddling up in blankets and staying in the house with no shame (since "normal" people go outside in the summer). Its the best time to unwind and playing something more relaxing. Stardew Valley has been that game this year since the Switch is so portable.

On Christmas Day I would play a few multiplayer games with my siblings and relax. Christmas is about family and loved ones after all. Thanks for reading and here's to another six days of Squishmas!

Squishmas 5: New Years Resolutions

If your reading this on the day it was posted, its exactly two weeks until New Year's Eve. That's really weird! It doesn't even feel like its December (maybe it does since its freezing, but meh). Since there is only a little bit of 2017 left I decided to go over some blog and gaming related New Year's Resolutions that I have.

Go through my game backlog
I have quite a few games that I either haven't touched in years or haven't even opened. Stuff like Mario and Luigi Dream Team, every Zelda game I own (I'm almost finished Wind Waker though) and Pokémon Platinum (I left with two Gym Badges). I should try my best to finish games before I get more (there might be exceptions though)

Try some new games/series
2017 wasn't too bad for trying new games. I finally tried Stardew Valley after months of thinking that its not accessible (I have 70+ hours in my file). I also started PC gaming, even if its only Minecraft. If anyone has any suggestions for PC games I would love to hear them. Anyway I would love to try some more games or even an entire series. Final Fantasy has got me interested, so have a few others that aren't at the top of my head.

Grow more as a blogger
This year was weird, especially since it was the first full year of doing it (since I did start in June last year). I've gotten better but there is still a lot that I could do to improve, like getting into the habit of proofreading my posts or writing about more games.

Try some other things besides blogging
Over the last few months, I've been playing around with the idea of doing other things, things that require sharing my actual voice to the world. I've been doing research and have the tools necessary to get started. Its just actually starting.

I have other resolutions but they are more real life related. Hopefully 2018 is an awesome year. Thank you for reading and have a good day.

Squishmas 4: Best Winter/Christmas songs in games

One thing that I love about the Christmas season is the music. Its either really upbeat and cheerful, or soothing and beautiful. Plus no two Christmas songs are the same. Video game songs are no exception. Personally I think they are the best for setting the mood in a particular area since all the song has to do is hit the correct festive nerves. So here are some of my favourite Winter/Christmas songs in video games.

Winter White (Earthbound)
A song that is both cheery and sad, Winter White really sets the mood for the area. The bells in the background make you ready to go on an adventure with your new party member. But the main melody makes you think about the temperature itself, that its cold and that winter isn't just sleigh bells and happiness. Brentalfloss has also done an awesome vocal cover for it a few years ago! You can listen to Winter White here

Winter Theme (Harvest Moon Magical
For some weird reason, Harvest Moon games always have the best winter themes. This could be to fill in the gap that crops fill during the other seasons. The theme in Magical Melody is no exception. The subtle bell like sounds that play the main melody (pun not intended) kind of reminds me of figure skating for some weird reason. You can listen to it for yourself here

Rosalina's Ice World (Mario Kart 7)
The character selection may not have been the best but at least this game had awesome tracks with matching music. I loved the music in this track mainly for the use of the really low piano notes at the beginning. Its not often you hear low pitch sounds in a Winter/Christmas song unless its a hymn. You can listen to it here

Snowy Fields (Kirby's Epic Yarn)
Right off the bat you hear bells, trumpets and other loud noises that scream "Its Christmas" in your ear. After that it quiets down a bit and sounds more like a sleigh ride adventure on your nearest hillside. I like this one because its not often you hear voilins lead a wintery song. I was stuck between this one and "Frosty Wheel". This one takes the wheel (that one was intended) because there's a lot more going on in it. You can hear it here

Snowmads' Theme (Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze)
This is the first (and only) song on my list from a game that I haven't played yet. I remember hearing the main tune in a video and I spent ages trying to find it. Now I love it. It reminds me of one of those old fashioned ice cutting scenes in movies or something. It sounds epic but still has that feeling of trudging around in the snow. You can listen to this one here

Shiveria Town (Super Mario Odyssey)
I'll try not to say too much about this one since the game is still really new. But this song is so cute! It makes me want to start knitting again It has such a homely, welcoming feeling. You can listen to this one here (possible spoilers though)

So there you have it. It was difficult choosing between certain ones from different series but it was fun to play them in the background while I write this. Thank you for reading (and listening). I'll see you all tomorrow.

Squishmas 3: Dreaming of Navidad

Today I went into the dream town of Navidad (I'm guessing that its named after that Spanish Christmas song). Its a hacked town which explains why Luna is half bush.

There was a cut out board of a rather chubby Santa. 

They had an area set up with Santa outfits. I put everything on except for the beard.

They had a cut out board hacked in from a previous event. Too bad the Dream Suite is only one player.

The town is very pretty with some nice looking areas, like this walkway!

There were two houses to explore. The first one had a traditional Christmas living room, with presents and Jingle furniture dotted around.

The left room looked to be a Christmas dinner for ten, with turkey and desserts. Yummy!

The second house had one of those America exclusive trees. Why didn't Europe get them? They look so pretty.

There was also a kid's bedroom which was filled with toys and a white TV. I didn't know that it could be remade in that colour.

That house was Cindylou's. It looks like I took the photo too early, but there wasn't actually any text. I'm speechless too!

Overall, Navidad is a very pretty town. It was filled with festive cheer and neat little suprises. Thank you for reading and if you would like to visit Navidad, here is the Dream Code.

Squishmas 2: Best snowy day games

Its been snowing in the UK for the last few days (I was lucky enough to get almost 2 foot of the stuff). This made me think about my favorite "snow day" games. You know, the ones that make you feel warm and fuzzy inside (even if your already in a thick blanket). So here are some games that I enjoy playing during cold weather.

Yoshi's Woolly World
The characters and environments are basically made of fuzzy socks so its perfect. Plus it has multiplayer so you share these warm feelings with the person sitting next to you. Its also amiibo compatible and even on the 3DS so you don't even need a Wii U to play it.

Stardew Valley
A bit of a new game but I've put a lot of winter hours into this one. Since its on the Switch, I can easily move to the room with the best heating (in my case, the living room). It's even good in bed if you can get comfy (or if you have a light laptop to place on you).

Tomodachi Life
What is more entertaining than a bunch of random Miis on an island? I don't know but it is pretty fun. Make whoever you want and watch them interact with each other or do crazy things. Since its on 3DS it can be played anywhere!

Minecraft
A game where you can build whatever you want and can play with multiple people? Yes please! Its pretty much available on everything these days; Switch, Wii U, PC and its even coming to the Nez 3DS in 2018. I wouldn't be suprised if its on our microwaves at this point.

There are many more but they would be based on preference and what type of winters everyone has. Thank you for reading and I'll see you again tomorrow!

Squishmas 1: Intro to Squishmas!

Welcome to Squishmas! This will be a 12 days (well 13 if you count Christmas Day)series where I talk about winter/Christmas themed things in gaming.

Yes, I know that the countdown usually happens AFTER Christmas, but this is for those who just can't wait.

How this will work is that I will post something Christmas related everyday (alongside New Leaf on Mondays and Fridays). I will ramble on about different gaming and Animal Crossing related things and end it with a special post on Christmas post on the 25th. I hope that everyone enjoys the next few days!