Christmas Alcohol Pairings: Platformers

It’s almost Christmas once again, so what better way to spend it than with a nice drink and your favourite games? But, have you ever thought about marrying the two more than ever before, to choose the ultimate beverage to accompany your playtime? Read on, and in this article we’ll look at drinks to enjoy responsibly with this years’ most popular platform games.

Tanglewood

Tanglewood is an old-school game, so it deserves a real old-school drink. None of these new-fangled micro brewery gubbins or fizzy pop masquerading as cider. No, a game needs something warm and brown with little twigs floating in it. To wit: it needs a real ale.

There are a few options here, and one that springs to mind immediately is Tanglewood Branch IPA. This didn’t make the cut however due to the aforementioned ruling out of microbreweries, and also the fact that it ceased production a few years ago. The similarly named Tangle Foot brewery do a few lovely ales that are worth considering too, including Fursty Ferret, a nice malty number, and The Legendary Tangle Foot, which is a lovely refreshing golden ale.

The winner for me though, with its fruity autumnal notes that complement the aesthetics of the game, is Fuller’s Red Fox. This deep ruby ale is a deep and mellow sipping ale which works well with the more considered approach to platforming that Tanglewood provides.

Unravel 2

This cute-as-a-button sequel from EA adds multiplayer into the mix. With a game that is best played with a friend, it seemed like a good idea to find a drink best enjoyed with a friend. And what better drink to enjoy with someone else than a cocktail.

As much as I try to make out that I’m a manly man, I’m really not, so from time to time I do like to sip something with a lurid colour and more sugar than Kim Tate and Jeremy Lyle put together. The perfect cocktail to go with this title would have to incorporate the colours of our two woolen heroes. If you remember back to primary school you’ll know that red and blue combine into purple, so what better than a purple people eater. This Grenadine-based cocktail incorporates Blue Curacao and Cranberry juice for a sweet but dry hit. If that’s not your jam though, perhaps a Purple Haze; a classic mix of Vodka, Chambord and Sprite.

Sonic Mania Plus

Sonic Mania’s success was a surprise to literally nobody except Sega. Fans of the series had been crying out for a classic 2D game like the 16-bit days and finally, thanks to a collaboration with Christian Whitehead, it came in 2017. Off the back of that, 2018 saw the breakout hit get a physical release with a bunch of new bells and whistles in the form of Sonic Mania Plus.

It would be easy to just say that Blue Curacao or WKD would be the way to go here, but we’ve already used colour for our inspiration earlier. Instead I’m taking my cue from the blistering speed that is Sonic’s other trademark.

The obvious choice for drinks that people who gotta go fast love to consume is the classic Jägerbomb, made by dropping a shot of Jägermeister into a glass of energy drink (usually Red Bull). This gets you drunk quickly, and gives you energy, because everyone likes an energetic drunk.

There’s an ever more potent alternative though which is less famous. Buckfast Tonic Wine, known to Glaswegian clubbers in need of a vitality boost as “Buckies”, is an even more lethal mix. Made by the monks of Buckfast Abbey in Devonshire, you’d think this would be a pretty posh drink. It turns out though that this caffeine-fortified wine is just as popular amongst the riff-raff. In 2010, an investigation by the BBC found that the drink had been mentioned by name in an average of 3 crime reports a day in the Strathclyde area alone between 2006 and 2009. If you decide to engage in a tipple of this speedy intoxicant, do so in moderation and please don’t break any laws. Except those of physics as you zoom through Sonic Mania Plus’s loops, ramps and rolling hills.

Remember, GameGrin only endorses responsible drinking. Be safe, have fun, and look after each other.