snow!
snow! (with a lowercase “s” and an exclamation point always, which modern word processing programs can NOT handle) is kind of a 3D version of the old Windows game SkiFree. It’s low stakes, almost meditative. It’s a game you could play for a few minutes every single day, forever. But for such a relaxing game, it has quite the Aphex Twin-style, drum and bass soundtrack.
Also, it’s in freakin’ full 3D on a 1-bit Playdate. There’ve been a number of dithered, three-dimensional attempts at this point, but it still never ceases to amaze. It’s not the most detailed, for sure, but it runs a whole lot smoother than some PS1 or Atari Jaguar games I’ve seen attempt it.
Okay, so you’re skiing down a mountain in first-person view. There’s no end – you can ski forever if you want. You can do jumps and spins in the air and pick up coins to buy new ski goggles, which change the frame of view in fun (although never helpful) ways. These goggles are expensive, so you have many hours to look forward to if you want to collect them all.
There’s a free ski mode with no consequences, but there are also two with online leaderboards: one in a narrow kind of ski park with a leaderboard that clears and refreshes daily, and one on a much wider mountain with an “all-time” leaderboard. The big mountain level has a random skier/snowboarder on it with you, leading the way and dropping coins or hazards behind them for you to pick up or avoid as appropriate. You can try to avoid the other rider completely by pulling over to the other side of the mountain (because you can bonk right into them, ending your run), but then you won’t get to pick up any extra coins they toss behind them. Up to you! Do you want more money faster, or do you want to try and catch up with Resonant Tale developer Orange Thief’s godlike score?
One wrong move – hit a tree or a rock or land a spin poorly – and that’s it, time to restart. It’s quick and easy to do so, and it’s done in a way that never really made me feel that bad? There’s a running scoreboard at the top showing you the next person on the leaderboard, giving you something to shoot for. Oh, and the leaderboard was pretty essential for me to get the maximum enjoyment out of the game, so make sure you get the Catalog version instead of the same-priced Itch one in this case – only Catalog games have online leaderboards on the Playdate.
You can turn with the d-pad or the crank, and both felt great. I liked the crank more for this one, though? Felt almost like I was driving a racecar, and I loved using a silly new pair of goggles I just bought, even if it cuts off my peripheral vision. You really only need to see forward! Good life lesson here, somewhere: look ahead, and look cool.
It’s not the most complicated game: there’s a very slow coin-finding progression of what is essentially only cosmetic stuff, and while the mountain changes, it’s still just the one mountain with no racing or anything to make it more exciting. But it just… feels really good to play. It looks great with the retro-style polygonal trees, rocks, skiers, balloons, helicopters, and other things you see out in nature, and the music really feels like something I’d listen to while blasting down a mountain. It has a great sense of speed, and you can really embody the skier. For a game where everything is blocky and black-and-white? That’s an incredible feat. You don’t need million dollar graphics to be immersed. You just need to strip away all the distractions and leave a pure gaming experience in its wake. That’s what snow! does. Just great stuff, and more than deserving of a few minutes of your time every day for a year or so, or at least until you can afford all the best ski goggles.
(Released February 11, 2025, on Catalog and Itch. Copy provided by developer, but I won it in a social media contest, and I don’t know if the developer knew who I was yet. Seems like that still counts maybe? Also check out some of his upcoming Quake engine stuff - just unhinged how good it looks.)