The Game I Play During a Snowy Day

I love snow. Or at least I do when I don't have to shovel it. Recently here in the states a ton of the country underwent a massive snow storm that dumped record amounts of snow (and super low temps, at it's worst it's been -20°F with wind-chill where I am). In my area we got, for the first time in a very long time, about a foot of snow. Which I had to shovel. Now, one of the best past times people have with that fresh pow-pow is snowboarding, skiing, snow-tubing, or sledding. Personally, I loved that as a kid, but after I broke my foot on my first run of the day during what some guy on the ski-lift nearby very kindly called a "wicked wipeout", I haven't gone up a hill since.

There is one thing I have done though, play games that allow me to experience what I want to experience without having to put my bones at risk again. Or, rather, there's one game that I play in times like these that I love and often think about going back to. It came out in the late 2010s and is just such a fantastic game for snowboarding, or really any snow sport. I'm talking about Steep, a game that didn't get the love it deserved, in large part because of how Ubisoft didn't really do a very good job with it. That game though gives you the feeling of being able to do almost any snow-sport in multiple massive maps of mountains that you are able to just drop in anywhere and start doing your thing.

So today I'm doing a smaller piece (that totally isn't being written last minute because I don't have some of my other articles done in time for today). Today I'm talking about why I love Steep, what it means to me, and why you should totally play it during snowy days.

But Why Though?

Steep is a game that replicates the feeling of any snow sport. Whether it's sledding, Skiing, Snowboarding, or other sports that can be done in snow but aren't technically snow sports. You get the sound of the snow under your feet, the sound of the wind going past your ears, you even get the feeling of not knowing where you should go so you get to pick (as long as it's down). There are 3 maps in Steep, the first is the Alps, which is actually where the developer was based. The second is Alaska and is X Games focused. The third is in Asia, I think China. Honestly I wasn't able to go to it because it requires a lot of "Steep Coins" or whatever and in order to earn those you have to play a lot of different events and I just haven't. Each map is beautifully rendered in the map screen in full 3D glory where it shows you different activities you can do across the mountains and drop zones you have unlocked. You also get to see the trail of whatever run you have just done and then are able to go back and select a spot during that run and respawn right there in seconds.

Steep does something that I genuinely don't think any game has ever done for me, made me want to go out in the snow and try Snowboarding again. Okay, so that's not that much of an achievement since there aren't a whole lot of Snow based games, but it's a big thing for me! It's just, the feeling of having the freedom where to go, of the only thing that matters is the snow and getting down in whatever way you want even if it's super slowly. That feeling is unmatched and I desperately want to experience it so I then boot up Steep and go ahead and get the closest thing I can to it.

The activities are fun little side things but I don't think they are super important, even if they help you unlock more of the map. I just like fucking around in the game, finding out that I might have bitten off more than I expected with this particular route only for me to open the map and go slightly farther up my trail to try again right away. Or to just say fuck it and hold Triangle or Y to be able to start at the beginning of my run so I can take a completely different direction. The freedom the game provides is just second to none and it's genuinely a shame the game no longer gets updates, even if there is the positive that there are no more micro-transactions so you literally just play the game and earn currency you can use to unlock more stuff. That's really nice.

It Means More Than You Think!

As I mentioned in my intro I broke my foot skiing as a kid. I always loved being out in the snow and such so Skiing was a great fit, especially since I just couldn't Snowboard to save my life. But once I broke my foot I was no longer brought to any places to ski by my parents, or rather my Dad because he was the only one who could afford it.

Yet, I always wanted to keep skiing, I always wanted to enjoy the snow in how I had before the broken foot. So I, naturally, found myself enjoying Snowboarding games. Specifically, as a kid I adored SSX on the original Xbox but it was still rather arcadey for my taste, I wanted something that could replicate that feeling of being able to just go anywhere without having to worry about it being a race or doing tricks or even having a finishing line. I wanted to go around a Snowboard to my hearts content. I got that with Steep.

More so, Steep gave me something that I had never had before, the ability to just go around a mountain and enjoy the sport of Snowboarding without any pressure. It was chill, it was fun, it was exactly what I wanted. Steep was able to give me back that feeling of being a kid and being able to be in the snow and not worry about hurting myself. It let me have fun shredding that fresh pow-pow again. It was awesome.

You should play it too!

Steep is not an expensive game anymore, it's just 30 bucks on Steam and, while it doesn't get updated anymore either, the game is one that feels like it didn't need constant updates. I think you should play it if you have fond memories of doing any kind of Snow sport whether as a kid or as an adult. The game will make you remember those moments. It's also, as the whole point of this article states, the best thing you can play when it's Snowy out. Sure, it doesn't offer you the ability to escape the cold by playing on a tropical island, but it does offer you control. It offers you the ability to take the Snow that is coming down outside and to experience it in a safer environment. An environment where you don't have to worry about frostbite, staying warm, breaking bones, or having to end for the day and go home. It offers you freedom and the ability to do whatever you want on the mountain.

I genuinely think you should play it, if you haven't already. It's such a shame it never got more attention because it deserves it far more than some games out there. The worst part, the absolute worst part, is that it's made by Ubisoft so does end up having some online only stuff. This sucks and pisses me off, it's not the perfect game of course. Another big issue is the controller cursor is incredibly and unbelievably slow. But if it goes on sale, and you like snow sport based games, you should play it. Take that power back and shred some snow!

The Conclusion

I adore Steep, and when it was announced I knew I would. I will always love going around the maps and fucking around and being able to just feel the zen of doing a run without any tension or worry. To hear the snow under my character, the wind at her ears, the speed of going down the slope, the terrified sounds and phrases she makes/says when I make a jump that is way too high, it's just such a wonderful experience and on days when there's a ton of snow in my area, where I am literally snowed in, where someone stole my only snow shovel because they needed it for the snow and now I'm even more so left without a shovel until someone I know with a 4 wheel drive comes to my rescue, on those days it's a great feeling to boot up Steep and experience the snow how it was meant to be experienced.

So I will leave you with one more video for you to watch, or rather listen. Just listen to the sound of the snow, the sound of the wind, and then the inevitable wicked wipeout that comes when you go too fast. Listen to the sounds of Steep and maybe go and grab it when it's on sale. It's a great experience.

Meow,

Cat