Extras:
The coins are silver/grey with a dark grey “W”. Does the “W” stand for “Wars” or does the creator have an ad deal with Webroot? Webroot is an antimalware product. Their symbol is a green circle with a dark green “W”. (The writer is kidding, obviously, but if you haven’t considered that, maybe you should, now?)
Santa W. Claus-wondered what the W stood for. Maybe it’s in reference to Wodan-a German God that resembles Santa Claus.
Some of the achievements have references to pop culture:
1.21 Gigawatts is how many gigawatts are needed to power the Delorean in the Back To The Future movies.
The One Who Knocks is a common quote from Breaking Bad. The founder of Counter Hack, Mr. Skoudis, is said to resemble the main character of Breaking Bad.
In the last two years of Holiday Hack Challenges, the phrase “Who is the villain.” was used. The writer thought that it was a typo. It wasn’t. It was a not-so-subtle clue about who the villains are.
Is Dr. Who from Whoville? Are Dr. Who and Cindy Lou Who related? Are they the heads of a crime family. Picturing the Who mob. :) Is the speck actually a space ship that has a slight miscalculation of scale with Earth, like in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy?
1978
Elf House 1
The fireplace secret room refers to the secret room in Counter Hack.
Elf House 2-Room 2
There is a 1977 Star Wars poster in his room depicting Darth Vader’s helmet behind Luke, who is holding a lightsaber to the sky, & Leia, C3PO, and R2D2. The Death Star is to the left of the helmet, and X-Wings are moving into attack configuration to the left of the Death Star.
There is a talking plant on the top right side.
The Big Tree
Tom Hessman was born after 1978. He isn’t living in his house yet in 1978. The Big Tree is a nod to Legend of Zelda:Ocarina of Time where the main character, Link, lives in a tree surrounded by elves. Have you found the Master Sword, yet, Mr. Hessman?
North Pole
The sign in the North Pole stating, “4351 Days Since the Last Grinch Level Event”, is in reference to when “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” movie was released. In 1978, it had been ~12 years since the Grinch terrorized the citizens of Whoville. Did they calculate for leap year days? (Yes, they did. :)) The Grinch Who Stole Christmas was released December 18th, 1966.
There actually is a Music Discombobulator. Seriously, search Google for it. :)
The placement of the homes and the Christmas tree in the North Pole reminds the writer of WhoVille.
Someone had an accident near Bushy Evergreen-or, Bushy had an accident. Don’t imbibe amber, frozen Dihydrogen Monoxide.
NetWars Experience Treehouse
NetWars sure has come a long way. The elves were playing Tic-Tac-Toe and Space Invaders.
Santa’s Office
There is a tiny TARDIS police call box on his table. A clue about who the villain is. This office actually looks similar to the Counter Hack Office. The tiny TARDIS isn’t on his desk in the pictures of Counter Hack, though. (The writer has learned that Mr. Skoudis now has a tiny TARDIS on his desk. :))
Small Treehouse
Minty Candycane is singing, “We Will Rock You” by Queen
The Corridor
Is either a nod to a strange 1970 movie short called Corridor about a man who is stuck in a corridor, forever chasing after a woman that he’ll never get to. Or, it is a nod to the 2010 movie “The Corridor. Or, maybe it’s both?
The Clock Tower
It’s the inside of the Clock Tower in the Back to the Future series of movies.
All Over The North Pole
The 1978 elves have cute references to the things that they are studying in 2016.
Holly Evergreen: “My aunt just gave me her famous Cran Pie recipe, which seems simple - there are only five ingredients! But I don’t understand these instructions. What do you mean the heat sinks?”
SugerPlum Mary: “So, I was talking with Minty about how much I wish Santa would take me on deliveries. I’d get to travel, to see the world, you know? Shinny interrupts and starts going on and on about how GREAT the North Pole is, there’s so much to DO here, why would anyone want to leave and all that. I said, “Shinny, look - everyone’s getting sick of your Localphile Intrustions.”
Alabaster Snow: “Hey, have you seen ‘Animal House’? What a riot. Those guys sure know how to have fun, but it’s not exactly RESTful, eh?
Sparkle Redberry apparently doesn’t exist in 1978, yet.
Wunorse Openslae: “It’s the weirdest thing - I keep getting Christmas cards in the mail. No return address, just initials: S.D. I don’t recognize the initials, so these SD cards are a mystery.
Minty Candycane: “Buddy, you’re an old man poor man - pleadin’ with your eyes, gonna make you some peace some day… What? Oh, sorry, I’ve just had that song stuck in my head all day.”
Pepper Minstix: “Hey, I just noticed my cursive changes drastically when I’ve had a lot of coffee. It gets a little more dynamic and harder to interpret. Does your handwriting have a distinct Javascript, too?”
Shinny Upatree: “Did you know I auditioned to play C3PO in Star Wars? I tried out and completed their whole Android Application Package and everything. I really thought I had a chance, but I got zip.”
2016
Elf House 2-Room 2
There is a new poster in the room. It is a 2015 poster for Star Wars Episode 7, depicting the symbol for the Rebel Alliance.
North Pole
On December 24th, 2016, the sign depicting “Days Since Last Grinch Level Event returns to 0. The story line originally starts December 24th. So the character starting before December 24th is a little confusing. Time travel, eh?
Santa’s Workshop
Why is Jason a hay bale? Jason obviously didn’t exist in 1978 either. There’s no talking hay bale in ’78.
Why does the middle reindeer moo?
Why are there only 5 reindeer in the game that we see? There are some mentioned in the SantaGram.apk. Why were they leaving? Where is Rudolph?
Why aren’t the 3 reindeer in Santa’s workshop in DFER? Maybe they are members of Rudolph’s Red Team instead?
Why is there an elf hat on the crane?
Santa’s Workshop Train Station
When a person looks at the STATUS command, they see a nod to the movie Back To The Future. The top speed is 88 mph. The Flux Capacitor is Fluxing. When they activate the train, they’ll see a screen similar to the console on back to the future.
Analytics Server
Has an ad that says, “Anyone reading this?”
Dungeon Game:
If one reads the engravings in the living room, it says, “This space intentionally left blank. The implementers blame Mike Poor.”
The dome room has a description of “elvish hacking rites”.
Cranberry Pi Device:
In the Cranberry Pi device, there is a support website listed. It is an actual website that says that Cranbian is the superior fruit operating system.
There are recipes that utilize cranberries as an ingredient in the device as well.
SantaGram APK
When Pepper Minstix is playing Dungeon, she decides to kick the mailbox and post about it on the SantaGram apk.
The elves seem to have an obsession with the beautiful landscape of the North Pole and animals living around the north pole-reindeer, polar bears, and white foxes.
Songs-Thanks Ninjula, these are awesome!
North Pole
Sleigh Ride
NetWars Tree House
Plump Sugar Fairies
Elf House 1 & Elf House 2
We Three Kings
North Pole-Train Station
Coming To Tizown
Small Treehouse
Driedel, Driedel, Driedel
DFER/Santa’s Workshop
Boogie Woogie Santa Claus
Santa’s Office/The Corridor/The Clock Tower
No songs. Eerie silence.
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