Games revolving around winter sports have more of a niche audience than other sports-related titles, but there’s still plenty to choose from. Now you can experience the joy of shredding through the snow without leaving the comfort of your couch. Whether your favorite winter sport is skiing, snowboarding, ice hockey, or something else entirely, there’s a game out there for you.
There haven’t been too many games made for winter sports. Games revolving around winter sports weren’t much of a thing until the late ’90s. Recent years have been similarly scarce. That being said, we’ve searched high and low to bring you the best of this genre.
7Cool Boarders
Launched on the PlayStation 1, Cool Boarders was one ofthe first snowboarding gamesever made. With wacky physics and a variety of stunts you can perform, this game pioneered many aspects of the snowboarding genre. The first game is a purely single-player experience, but it was still praised for its thrilling gameplay.
Despite the simple gameplay, Cool Boarders has a laser focus on every aspect of snowboarding. There’s a wide range of boards for you to choose from, all of which have different advantages and disadvantages on the slope. Cool Boarders is a great snowboarding game for folks who want the best fundamentals a game has to offer.
6Steep
Steep is an open-world sports game with a variety of activities for you to try. If skiing and snowboarding aren’t to your tastes, you could also try paragliding, sledding, or basejumping. There’s also a variety of different maps for you to choose from, based on different corners of the globe.
If this game has any flaws, it’s that most of the features require you to be online. Still, this enables you to meet and interact with other players, or even participate in friendly competition. There’s even a wide array of tricks you may perform for each sport. Being stylish enough will reward you handsomely, so start practicing today.
5When Ski Lifts Go Wrong
If you’re a fan of games like Happy Wheels and Contraption Maker, ths game is for you. When Ski Lifts Go Wrong provides an interesting take on the skiing genre. Instead of skiing down the slopes yourself, you’re tasked with building slopes for others. There are no limits, save for your budgetand the laws of physics.
What makes the game memorable is, as the title implies, where things start going wrong. You’re tasked with making sure a number of NPCs arrive to the other side of the lift safely. This is easier said than done, as plenty of amusing injuries await the NPCs who use an improperly constructed lift. If you need a dose of dark comedy, then this is the sporting game for you.
4Santa’s Slippery Slope
Santa’s Slippery Slope is a short game with a simple promise. A freak accident left presents flying out of Santa’s sleigh, and now he must retrieve them lest Christmas be ruined. It’s pretty much just an excuse to ski all over the North Pole as Santa, and that’s fine by us.
Santa’s Slippery Slope is definitely a game that’s short but sweet. It makes up for its lack of content with its quality and charm. The controls run smooth as butter, and watching Santa go down all those snowy mountain slopes is downright satisfying. And while this game isperfect for Christmas, it’s also great to enjoy year-round.
3NHL 2K7
NHL2K7 is one of the best licensed hockey games out there. Launched in 2006, the game provides an extensive roster of teams, along with commentary from Bob Cole and Harry Neale. It’s been lauded as one of the most immersive NHL games ever made. Many of these features would go on to be included in future NHL titles.
NHL 2K7 pioneered several features for its time. Among these were detailed ice skating animations, as well as new camera angles to capture all the ice hockey action you could want. There’s even a game mode called “Cinemotion” that uses dramatic camera tricks and background music for a more epic gaming experience.
2SSX Tricky
TheSSXseries is one of the best game series out there for snowboarding fans. Available for the PlayStation 2, Gamecube, and original Xbox, SSX Tricky is the second game in the series, and it improves upon the first in every way. With more courses, the addition of voice acting, and smoother controls, this game is one of the crown jewels of snowboarding games.
It’s hard to overstate how stylish this game is. The environments are colorful, playful snowboarding courses that are mostly based in urban areas. They’re a breath of fresh air compared to the more mundane environments of other sporting titles. Add plenty of unlockables and hours of snowboarding challenges, and you’ve got a game to remember.
1Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Winter Games
The Olympics are a time when athletes from all nations and cultures can come together to bond over their mutual love of sports. It’s only fitting, then, that rival gaming mascots Mario and Sonic put their differences aside to feature in a game series together.
You can participate in the Olympic opening ceremony, or save the games by defeating bosses like Bowser and Dr. Eggman. Pretty much every Olympic winter sport is represented here, even more obscure sports such as skeleton and curling. It’s frankly impossible to overstate how much content was put in this game, available for the Nintendo Wii.
