It’s time to bundle up! January is a chilly time of year and you don’t want to catch a cold (been there, done that). Luckily, you still have a little bit of time left to earn Dez a brand new sweater in Animal Cove.

The Winter Festival

Coming on the heels of the Harvest Festival in November, KingsIsle introduced the “Winter Festival” to Animal Cove in December. After noticing the newfound coldness in the air, Winston exclaims that a call is coming through to the island. It’s Elias! It turns out that he’s been working on a *secret* super-powerful weather machine, and in the spirit of the holidays, he’s sent some snow to the island! But we’re totally not supposed to know about that … sorry, what weather machine? *whistles*

In addition to the snow, the island is also fully decked out in holiday/winter decorations. Click on them to see how you and your friends interact with them!

The Challenge

Just like the Harvest Festival, the Winter Festival provides players with a brand new challenge – with a couple of twists. The Winter Festival consists of 12 new puzzles with 3 “checkpoints.” If you ever fail a puzzle during the event, you’ll return to your most recent checkpoint. Because of this, make sure to use your boosts and resources wisely. You don’t want to be repeating levels (especially with these being on the very hard side!). If you manage to complete the entire event, you’ll unlock a new outfit for Dez!

Presents

New puzzles mean new obstacles! Right off the bat, you’ll encounter presents. To unwrap presents, you’ll need to make matches of the same color next to them. For example, if you want to unwrap a green present, you would need to match green pieces next to it.

Candy Canes

Candy Canes are another new obstacle. They can’t be moved, destroyed, or manipulated, so you’ll just have to work around them.

Rewards

Reaching a gift box unlocks a reward. This happens 4 times during the Winter Festival:

• Completing up to level 3 unlocks 200 coins and 1 Hammer
• Completing up to Level 6 unlocks 2 Thunderclouds and 1 Hammer
• Completing up to level 9 unlocks 300 coins and 2 Double TNT
• Completing all 12 levels unlocks Dez’s Sweater Outfit, 1 Mega Booster (Bomb + Thundercloud), 1 Thundercloud, and 1 Double TNT

Dez doesn’t seem to be too fond of his new sweater, but I think he looks cute! I’m sure it’ll grow on him.

If you’re currently in Animal Cove beta, be sure to earn Dez’s sweater outfit before the Winter Festival ends. You don’t have much time left! Good luck and have fun. :)