Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders

I've watched a lot of games promise that "one more run" loop and fumble it. Snow Riders actually delivers it. Megagon Industries swapped the mountain bikes of Lonely Mountains: Downhill for skis, and the result is a leaner, more open-ended sequel that somehow makes repeated wipeouts feel rewarding rather than punishing. The physics are noticeably more forgiving this time around, which means you can actually experiment, take risks off the beaten path, and feel like you're improving rather than just suffering. The solo side of things is built around three mountains, each divided into four trails with both Blue Diamond (Normal) and Black Diamond (Hard) variants that open up different obstacles and route options. A solid tutorial gets you reading the isometric slope quickly, and from there it's about memorizing lines, hunting shortcuts, and managing the crouch-for-speed mechanic without losing control. Braking feels counterintuitive at first, and you'll need to unlearn the instinct to just let go and coast. Checkpoints in Zen Mode let you place your own save spots, which is a clever idea that occasionally backfires badly if you plant one right next to an immovable rock with no exit path. It's a genuine flaw, and the absence of a checkpoint undo option has caused more than a few unnecessary restarts. The fixed camera perspective can also work against you on tight sections where the angle simply doesn't show you what's coming. These are real rough edges, not dealbreakers, but worth knowing before you go in. Post-launch updates have added meaningful content. A free Freestyle update brought Trick Mode, where over 100 specific challenges have you chaining flips, spins, and grabs on the way down, plus Free Ride Mode that strips out checkpoints entirely for pure speed runs. Both modes also contribute XP toward your account level, which is a genuinely welcome fix for solo players who weren't enthusiastic about grinding multiplayer lobbies to progress. A Steam Workshop-backed level editor is also in active development, with user-generated trails already browsable in-game. The game is growing, and Megagon is listening. Now, the part that actually matters for a Saturday night crowd: multiplayer supports 2-8 players with full cross-platform play, split between a co-op mode where your group shares a limited pool of checkpoints down the mountain, and a versus mode that is exactly the chaotic race you want it to be. That co-op checkpoint economy is a smart tension mechanic that forces actual communication and makes every save-point decision feel meaningful. The bad news, and it matters, is that there is no local split-screen. None. If your plan was four people on the same couch, Snow Riders cannot deliver that. Everything social here is online-only, which is a real limitation for a game that screams party-night energy. Make sure your group has decent connections and the same platform or Steam accounts before you plan the session. For a gamepad, Snow Riders feels exactly right. DualSense and DualShock are both officially supported, and the two steering options (screen-relative or left/right) let you find what clicks for your muscle memory. Controller is the recommended input and it shows. The low-poly art keeps performance demands light, so you won't need a powerhouse rig to hit smooth framerates. Visually it sits somewhere between charming and stunning depending on the moment, though some reviewers have noted that wall-to-wall white snow is less visually varied than the earthy greens and browns of Downhill. Fair point, though the light hitting fresh powder on a clean run still looks genuinely lovely. Snow Riders earns its 87 on Metacritic and its Very Positive Steam rating honestly. It's a tight, confident game that has gotten better since launch and shows no signs of stopping. Just don't let anyone tell you it's a sofa co-op game. Grab your friends online, pick the breakneck versus race, and accept that you will wipe out on the last gate. That's the deal.

Riley · Scout Team

Sports & racing

Be the first to comment on Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders.