Steam sales aren’t the drop-everything-and-grab-yer-wallet events they used to be, according to you lot. The Winter sale that began yesterday is almost identical to the Autumn sale that ended just two weeks ago, for example. But you can still find one or two gifts if you bore deep enough into the ice. Me? I’m only interested in one thing. How many of these games are snowy and chilly enough to induce wonderful hypothermia? I’m on a frostbitten quest to find out. Here are the most winter-iest games you can pick up for cheap.
There is some overlap between this and our list of the best snow in games. But unlike that list, which features the likes of the often deserty Red Dead Redemption 2, these games are all snow all the time. What’s more, they are so encrusted in rime that they are being discounted. It’s okay. It’s just cosmetic damage.
Arctic Eggs
The dishevelled and jittering vectorfolk of Arctic Eggs ask for only one thing: a well-fried breakfast of eggs and cigarette butts. Stand in the snow and cook fried sausage, bacon, sardines, cockroaches, pufferfish, bullets, glass, and more. These people are hungry, please, do not disappoint them. Controlling the sensitive frying pan with flicks and twists of the mouse until the physics-based “food” has flipped over can be tricky. Especially in the harsh winter of the pole. But I believe in you. This surreal cooking sim is down to 6 quid ($7/€7). Get to work.
Life Is Strange: Double Exposure
Set in freezing Vermont on a university campus during the winter holidays, you’ll see both blood in the snow and a Krampus celebration in Life Is Strange: Double Exposure. You will also kiss cute people on the mouth, no mistletoe required. It’s got a 30% discount to £35/$35/€35. To me, that is the Max Caulfield sequel finally approaching the realms of affordability (and the lowest price it’s been so far). I had mixed feelings about the silly plot, especially Max’s poor detective skills, but there were enough heartfelt moments and good characterisation to leave me feeling pleasantly raw in the classically sentimental Life Is Strange way. If you’re a fan of the series but have been putting it off because of the big price tag, maybe now’s the time to double (exposure) down.
Subnautica: Below Zero
I couldn’t forgive myself if I failed to include the icy waters of this excellent survival game. It’s half-price at £12.50 ($15/€15). My principal memory of this cold adventure is discovering just how much there is to explore above the surface. The map of Subnautica: Below Zero is smaller than the first game in terms of downward depth, but it’s exciting to get out of the water and make cold expeditions into frosty canyons, where icebound research stations lie abandoned between long stretches of hoverbike-able ravines. Ah, so peaceful. Wait, what’s that strange rumbling…?
Steep
I did not particularly enjoy Steep when it came out in 2016. The controls were similar to the skateboarding games I love but with extra trigger-pulling and thumb-twirling that made it feel over-complicated. And, god, the mountains that spoke in purple prose. Yeesh. But listen, it did have excellent snow effects, the environments were often stunning, and the wingsuit events that required you to break as many bones in your body as possible were strangely satisfying. It’s £4 in the sale ($4.50/€4.50). To me, that’s very fair for a couple of happily snapped collarbones.
SnowRunner
I haven’t played this get-stuck-in-a-truck delivery sequel, but it seems at least as enjoyable as the muddy original for fans of driving sims. “SnowRunner hasn’t turned its back on temperate climes and muck,” said Jeremy in his review. “But its Alaska maps are undoubtedly the centrepiece, with their frozen lakes and winch-bent trees half buried beneath white powder.” It’s £12.50 at the moment ($15/€15), pretty decent for anyone who would like to drive onto a frozen river with all the sweary nonchalance of an Ice Road Trucker.
So. Those are my picks, I want to leave now. Frankly, I’m getting cold and running out of firewood to burn while I rummage through the icy sale-wastes. But I suspect there are fellow list goblins lurking out there in the comments fog. Come hither, my friends. Give unto me thy opinions. What good snowy games do you spy in the sale?