Aim and fire
You sit at the party and look out across the room. One finger does the rest.
- Touch the room where you want the band to catch.
- Pull back with the same finger. The band goes the opposite way from your pull. Pull down to send it up the room. Pull left to send it right.
- Let go to fire.
A longer pull gives more power. While you pull, a gauge at the top of the screen shows how hard. A very short pull fires nothing, and a note says Pull farther. Pull too far and the band snaps: SNAP! A snapped band does not fire, and that is all. Take another.
Aim higher or lower: while you hold the band, put a second finger on the screen and slide it up to raise the shot, or down to lower it. Each new band starts level.
Look around: swipe sideways. If your finger moves sideways first, the game turns your view instead of pulling the band.
The first time you play, two notes show you this: Swipe sideways to look around the party, then Touch the room, pull back, and let go.
Your tasks
The sticky note in the bottom-left corner, the one with the holly on it, says which party you are at, which round, and what to do.
- Each round asks for three things. Do them, and the round is done.
- Lines that start with Bonus are extras. You don't need them to finish.
- Some bonuses are secret. They are not on the note until you find them.
The note shows what is still to do, four lines at a time, the three tasks first. What you have done comes off the note and is counted at the bottom. When everything on it is done, it says All done. Enjoy the party!
Tasks ask you to knock things over, hit them, set them off, or start a chain reaction: knock one thing into another, and that one into the next. Some ask for a chain of three.
For a few seconds when a round starts, and again each time you finish a task, little cones point at what the note asks about: amber for the three tasks, purple for the bonuses. They mark the room's objects, not the machines or anything that moves, and never a secret. Don't want them? Turn off Point out the tasks on the break menu.
The company's machines
D.I.M. Corp. has installed machines to solve problems nobody had: a Cookie Rationing Unit, an Automated Gift Distribution System, a Holiday Cheer Measurement Device, robot waiters, and more as the season goes on. Hit one and see what it does. Some have buttons. Nobody said you could press them.
Rounds and parties
The season is five D.I.M. Corp. holiday parties, each grander than the last. Each party has three rounds: the same room, set up a different way, with its own tasks and its own memo from HR.
| Party | Where |
|---|---|
| 1. The Cubicle Christmas Party | Cubicle area, by the supply table |
| 2. The Open Office Christmas Celebration | The open office. All of it. |
| 3. Management's Holiday Gathering | The Executive Boardroom |
| 4. The Executive Christmas Gala | The Grand Ballroom, top floor |
| 5. The D.I.M. Corp Grand Holiday Celebration | The Grand Hall. Every department, all at once. |
Finish a round's three tasks and the next round opens. Finish a party's third round and the next party opens. Everything that has opened stays open, so you can go back to any round you have reached.
Finish the fifth party and the season is over. Management may have a word.
HR's memo
When a round's three tasks are done, the PARTY COMPLETE stamp comes down and Human Resources files a memo. It lists what you did, notes the bonuses you did this time, and counts the round's party favors: every task, bonus and secret you have ever done there, out of how many there are.
The memo records what you did. It does not grade it: there is no score and no rating.
| Keep celebrating | Put the memo away and stay at the party. Every bonus is still there. |
| Next round or Next party | Go on to what just opened. |
| Party again | Start this round again, from the top. |
| Party list | Every party, and every round you have reached. |
Play a round again and HR refiles the memo. What you find adds to what you found before. Nothing is ever taken away.
Nothing can go wrong
There is no clock, no score, no shot limit and no manager watching. Nobody gives warnings, and there are no rules to break.
- Hit a guest and they react, and have a word with you. That is all. Dave from Accounting: “Hey! I'm holding cocoa here.”
- Snap a band and it costs nothing.
- Start over whenever you like: tap the start-again button in the top-right corner, and everything goes back where it started.
Arriving
The first time you go to each party, you walk in: about ten seconds through your own eyes on the way to your seat, with a look at what the company is up to. Tap Skip to go straight to your seat.
To see a party's arrival again, open the party list and tap Watch the arrival again.
Taking a break
Tap the pause button in the top-right corner. The game also goes on a break by itself when you leave the app. From the break menu you can go Back to the Party, Start the Party Over, open the Party list or Quit to title.
The settings are on the break menu too:
| Music | On or off. Off silences only the music, never the sound effects. |
| Music volume | How loud the carols play. |
| Sound effects | How loud everything else is. |
| Point out the tasks | Little markers over what the note asks about. On to start with. |
The party list
Tap Party list on the title screen, on a break, or under HR's memo. Each party shows its invitation and how many of its rounds you have done, and once it is complete, its party favors.
- Join, Carry on or Party again takes you to the party.
- Tap a round to play it. A round you have not reached yet is locked.
- A party you have not reached yet says Opens once the party before it is done.
iPhone and iPad
Corporate Confusion: Holidays needs iOS 18 or later. It plays in portrait or landscape, on iPhone and on iPad. On iPhone you also feel the band stretch and snap, and what it hits, through haptics.
The game is silent when your device is set to silent, and its music gives way to any music you are already playing.
Questions? See Support.