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Here are 5 snowy games you can get for cheap in the Winter Steam saleBrrr-illiant savings

Brrr-illiant savings

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Square Enix

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Square Enix

Max reaches out her hand, wearing a yellow winter jacket.

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 ofthe best snow in games. But unlike that list, which features the likes of the often desertyRed 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

Image credit:Critical Reflex

The player fries bacon and eggs for a trio of cold customers.

The dishevelled and jittering vectorfolk ofArctic Eggsask 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 isdown to 6 quid ($7/€7). Get to work.

Life Is Strange: Double Exposure

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Square Enix

Max looks at the golden ghostly image of her friend Moses as he walks on a snowy path.

Set in freezing Vermont on a university campus during the winter holidays, you’ll see both blood in the snow and aKrampuscelebration inLife Is Strange: Double Exposure. You will also kiss cute people on the mouth, no mistletoe required. It’s got a30% 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’spoor 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

Image credit:Unknown Worlds Entertainment

The player looks upon an abandoned research facility during a harsh blizzard.

I couldn’t forgive myself if I failed to include the icy waters of this excellent survival game. It’shalf-price at £12.50 ($15/€15). My principal memory of this cold adventure is discovering just how much there is to exploreabovethe surface. The map ofSubnautica: Below Zerois 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

Image credit:Ubisoft

A skier performs a trick with the sun glowing behind.

I did not particularly enjoySteepwhen 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, themountains 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

Image credit:Focus Entertainment

A truck navigates a snowy road under a pipeline.

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. “SnowRunnerhasn’t turned its back on temperate climes and muck,” said Jeremy inhis 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 anIce Road Trucker.