(Image credit: Pounce Light)

Tiny Glade's winter update finally lets me turn my castles into that scene from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

· PC Gamer

Even though castle doodling simulator Tiny Glade has a lot of flexibility in letting your imagination run wild, the game still features a few restrictions that can affect your builds. A prime example of this is the limitation on how many lights you can adorn your buildings with. Usually, you're stuck with a measly 32, but thanks to a new winter update, now you can add enough lights to make your builds visible from space.

As part of the update, the light limit has been removed entirely, so you can douse every last inch of brick with a light if you so desire. It's bound to make for some fantastically whimsical creations over the holidays. I've already shared my admiration for other players' creativity in Tiny Glade, but this new mechanic is only going to reinforce that. The intensity of lights can also be adjusted, so whether you want a blindingly bright spotlight or a dimmer, more warming atmosphere, you'll be able to manipulate light to whatever suits your build best.

Aside from lighting, the clutter that automatically spawns while you build, such as baskets and crates on the ground or laundry hanging from the windows, can also be moved around and rotated. I don't even want to start complaining about how many times I've placed a window and a basket of folded laundry has popped up underneath it and ruined the whole vibe of my derelict castle ruins. At least now, I don't have to worry about it at all since the ability to delete clutter has been added too. I don't even have to try and stash items behind other structures when taking pictures, I can just get rid of the problem entirely.

New clutter types have also been added which is particularly exciting since I was getting a little bored of the same items popping up. Things like fabric rolls, bread and veggie stalls, benches, flower boxes, and various pumpkins have been added. Although they are very small additions in the grand scheme of things, these items are the details that give each build its own unique flavour. Paired with the freedom to place them wherever you like rather than being tethered to certain areas, there's never been a better time to flex your creative muscles.

Starting December 19, seven festive daily themes are being rolled out too which will get you into the spirit of the season. These will conclude on December 26, but during this week of daily challenges, you'll also get to experience new music that accompanies your sessions. The addition of festive music is another subtle change to help make Tiny Glade all the more immersive, which is dangerous for someone like me who will easily accidentally sink another few hundred hours into the game, carefully rotating each tiny piece of clutter.

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