Tips for top holiday video games

It's the most wonderful time of the year! No, not Christmas. I'm talking about that week between Christmas and New Year's, where schools are out and most of corporate America takes a breather. In other words, a week of uninterrupted game time (with, perhaps, a couple breaks to go see The Force Awakens again).

Nothing can spoil that fun any faster than getting stuck, though. No matter how hard you try, you can't clear a certain level or solve a particular puzzle. Or maybe your multiplayer skills could use some work.

The good news is that despite its reputation as a hive of scum and villainy, the Internet can also be pretty helpful. We've scoured the web to find the most useful guides for the year's hottest games.

Fallout 4

To be frank, the best wasteland assistant isn't found online. It's in your local bookstore. The Vault Dweller's Survival Guide from Prima (PRiCE) contains over 500 detailed pages of tips and suggestions, along with traditional walkthroughs. It also has the locations of all collectibles and points of interest and advice on how to handle dangerous encounters. And, as a bonus, it comes with an eGuide, with interactive maps, that you can access online.

Don't want to spend money? Polygon has a fairly thorough (and still growing) online help center that will guide you through the game's missions and quests and give you a hand in discovering the collectibles of the wasteland. It also runs down larger themes that can set you on the right path early in the game.

Call of Duty: Black Ops III

For the first time in a few years, there's no official Activision companion app or help site for Call of Duty. That’s a bit frustrating, as those tools were a good way to review your in-game stats (as well as those of your clan). A few third-party apps have shown up, but those tend to carry notable price tags and their effectiveness is debatable.

You're probably better off leaning on a more traditional guide, like this one from IGN, which walks you through the singl- player campaign and offers valuable information about the weapons and abilities for when you jump into the multiplayer mode.

Star Wars: Battlefront

Since Battlefront is primarily online, there's no real "walkthrough" available for the game. But there are plenty of tips on how to play better. Prima, again, comes through with this online guide to winning Assault Walker mode, largely considered the best of the game's modes. GamesRadar also offers some good tips.

But if you really want to learn how to succeed, the best plan is to watch the masters at work. Spend some time on Twitch, watching and taking notes. That will show you what's possible, though like Luke, you’ll need to practice to learn the ways of the Force.

Halo 5: Guardians

Like Black Ops III, Halo 5 is really two totally different games: the campaign and the multiplayer. And just as with Star Wars Battlefront, the best way to improve your multiplayer skills are to observe better players on Twitch and learn to emulate some of their moves

For the single player mode, GameFAQs offers a solid guide that will help you track down all those hidden skulls.

Super Mario Maker

The best thing about Super Mario Maker is there really is no winning or losing. It's all about showing off your creativity and making something that showcases your personality. In many ways, the game itself is the best tool to create more ambitious and creative maps, in that you can download those created by other players and take inspiration from them.

Since the Mushroom kingdom is a bit crowded, though, YouTube is a good place to find a never-ending source of videos showing everything from level-creation basics to ridiculously complex creations.

The Witcher 3

Our Game of the Year winner is a truly gigantic title, one you can play for days on end and still barely feel as though you've scratched its surface. Geralt's journey is perilous and often complicated, so there's no shame in needing some assistance from time to time.

VG24/7 has one of the best guides/walkthroughs online, with a thorough description of how to navigate the main and secondary quests, as well as information on where to find monster nests and treasure stashes. It will even tell you how to get the game's best ending, though — spoiler alert — it’s full of spoilers.

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