Here are 5 snowy games you can get cheap in the Winter Steam Sale

According to you, Steam sales are no longer the drop-everything-grab-your-wallet events like they used to be. For example, the winter sale that started yesterday is almost identical to the fall sale that ended just two weeks ago. But you can still find one or two gifts if you dig deep enough into the ice. Me? I’m only interested in one thing. How many of these games are snowy and cold enough to induce wonderful hypothermia? I’m on a frozen quest to find out. Here are the most wintry games you can buy cheaply.

There’s some overlap between this and our list of the best snowfalls in games. But unlike this list, which includes games like the oft-abandoned Red Dead Redemption 2, these games are perpetually in the snow. Additionally, they are so heavily encrusted with frost that they are discounted. It’s okay. This is purely cosmetic damage.

Arctic eggs

The disheveled and nervous vector people of Arctic Eggs demand only one thing: a well-fried breakfast of eggs and cigarette butts. Stand in the snow and cook sausage, bacon, sardines, roaches, puffer fish, balls, glass and more. These people are hungry, please don’t disappoint them. It can be difficult to control the delicate frying pan with movements and rotations of the mouse until the physics-based “food” is turned over. Especially in the harsh winter of the pole. But I believe in you. This surreal cooking simulation is now just £6 ($7/€7). Get to work.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure

Set in freezing Vermont on a university campus during winter break, Life Is Strange: Double Exposure sees both blood in the snow and a Krampus celebration. They will also kiss cute people on the mouth, no mistletoe required. There’s a 30% discount on £35/$35/€35. For me, this is the Max Caulfield sequel that finally approaches the realm of affordability (and the lowest price yet). I had mixed feelings about the silly plot, particularly Max’s poor detective skills, but there were enough heartfelt moments and good characterization that it left me feeling pleasantly raw in the classic sentimental Life Is Strange way. If you’re a fan of the series but have been putting off watching it because of its high price, now might be the time to double down on your exposure.

Subnautica: Below Zero

I couldn’t forgive myself if I hadn’t included the icy waters of this excellent survival game. At £12.50 ($15/€15), it’s half price. My main memory of this cold adventure is realizing how much there is to discover above the surface. Subnautica: Below Zero’s map is smaller than the first game’s in terms of depth, but it’s exciting to get out of the water and go on cold expeditions into frosty canyons where icy research stations lie abandoned between long stretches of hoverbike-ready canyons . Ah, so peaceful. Wait, what is that strange rumbling…?

Steep

I didn’t particularly like Steep when it came out in 2016. The controls were similar to the skateboarding games I love, only with the added trigger presses and thumb twists it seemed overly complicated. And, God, the mountains that spoke in purple prose. Yes. But listen, it had excellent snow effects, the environments were often breathtaking, and the wingsuit events that involved breaking as many bones as possible were strangely satisfying. On sale it costs £4 ($4.50/€4.50). To me that’s very fair for a couple of happily broken collarbones.

SnowRunner

I haven’t played this sequel to Stuck in a Van yet, but for driving sim fans it looks to be at least as entertaining as the muddy original. “SnowRunner hasn’t turned its back on temperate climates and mud,” Jeremy said in his review. “But his Alaskan maps are undoubtedly the centerpiece, with their frozen lakes and windswept trees half-buried in white powder.” Currently priced at £12.50 ($15/€15), pretty decent for anyone, who wants to drive onto a frozen river with the cursing nonchalance of an Ice Road Trucker.

So. These are my tips, I want to go now. Honestly, I’m starting to get cold and run out of firewood to burn as I dig through the icy sales debris. But I suspect there are other list goblins lurking out there in the fog of comments. Come here, my friends. Tell me your opinion. What good snow games do you discover on offer?