A Tiny Snow Game Review (PC)

A Tiny Snow Game encapsulates the notion that not everything needs to be perfect to be enjoyable. It tells it exactly how it is, with a snowball in one hand and a universally accepted goal in the other. It doesn’t aim to do anything more to break the ice, so to speak. No, it settles for a composition that’s both recognizable and simple to understand. With an arena, an infinite pile of snow, and a trove of familiar game modes—Free for All, King of the Hill, and Story—A Tiny Snow Game doesn’t beat around the bush with its blueprint. And you know what? I have absolutely no issue with that.

A Tiny Snow Game is exactly what you would imagine it to be: an arena-based co-op battler in which up to four players duke it out over a thread of breezy biomes and chilly challenges, a short ice-addled adventure mode and a slope of slippy theatrics on a frosted canvas. There are a few basic modes for you to explore, a beginner-friendly set of mechanics to learn, and, as if it add the icing on the cake, so to speak, a fairly sizable selection of maps to shovel through. That is, at least in a nutshell, A Tiny Snow Game: an indie snowball fight with glimmers of top-down mayhem and a lot of fun, albeit somewhat generic gameplay tropes.

If you’re keen to hear more about this solo developer’s introductory battler that has just launched on PC,  then be sure to stick on a woolly jacket and join us in the great outdoors. Let’s jump right into the thick of it. The snow, that is.

Slipping & Sliding

Granted, A Tiny Snow Game isn’t the be all, end all of twin-stick shooters. That being said, it is a game that makes an effort to appeal to a wide spectrum of users, with its refined auto-target system and hand-holding aspects providing an even ground for newcomers to wet their heels, so to speak. To say that it’s an easy game wouldn’t be true, though, to make it absolutely clear, A Tiny Snow Game is a co-op title that ought to resonate with younger audiences more than the elder folk. But don’t let that fool you into thinking that it’s a kiddie sport; on the contrary, A Tiny Snow Game does, in fact, harbor some challenging elements. Well, I say challenging, when in reality you ought to be able to sweep most, if not all of said challenges beneath the glacier in a single sitting or so.

With all of the above said, it’s safe to say that A Tiny Snow Game wasn’t necessarily built to last. All in all, it is a short game, and it doesn’t do much to keep you coming back for another fight once the initial story mode melts down into a credit roll. Thankfully, where the game falls short in its adventure department, it makes up for in its timeless bouts and familiar modes—a section that, frankly, doesn’t need any formal explanation. It’s thanks to modes like Free for All and King of the Hill that, despite being unoriginal and lacking in pizzazz, the experience trickles on a little longer than the average co-op battler. Granted, it still isn’t perfect, though to be honest, you can’t really go wrong with a good old-fashioned Free for All.

Snowball Fight!

A Tiny Snow Game might not boast the most authentic physics-based gameplay mechanics on the ice block, though it does make it so that each throw and each attack feels oddly satisfying and comical. And it’s an easy game to master, too, more so given that your only task, other than the one that involves learning the arenas and the environmental aspects, is to perfect your shot. But as I mentioned earlier, due to the game fostering a beginner-friendly design and a somewhat forgivable interface, even the “trickiest” aspects aren’t quite nearly as bad as one might expect of a co-op-PvP hybrid game.

The world itself has a lot of great set pieces and solid thematic components to call its own, with some classic arenas that are highly reminiscent of your traditional arena brawler à la Crash Bash and all of the wacky theatrics and animations to go along with it. It doesn’t always look great, I’ll admit. Yet, A Tiny Snow Game does manage to make the simple pleasures of adolescence and schoolyard humor oh-so satisfying with its easy-on-the-eyes visuals and complimentary gameplay elements. It isn’t a perfect game, nor is it one that sets the new standard for PvP brawlers, but it is one that generates plenty of laughs and happy-go-lucky shenanigans with the tools that it possesses in its arsenal.

Verdict

A Tiny Snow Game isn’t the face-melting party game that you might be hoping to carve into, though it is a cozy little couch co-op battler that ought to keep your toes frosty and your insatiable appetite for simple arena fights quenched for a couple of hours whilst you bite your tongue for another PvP excursion. Again, it’s a silly and simple game that doesn’t strive to be much more than what it openly states on its tin, and so if you are looking to indulge in a narrative-driven PvP game that houses a generous collection of chapters and general twists and turns, then you might be sorely disappointed with just how little of all that A Tiny Snow Game carves out from its glacier.

Having said all of the above, you can’t really go wrong with A Tiny Snow Game, what with it being a free-to-play game with plenty of material to offer its chilly combatants and fledgling multiplayer fanatics. It most definitely scratches an itch that the common gamer tends to frequent every so often, and so, if it’s a quick and simple remedy that you’re looking for, then you needn’t look any further than A Tiny Snow Game. If, however, it’s something with a little more meat on its bones, so to speak, then you might be better off seeking refuge in a slightly more fleshed out brawler.