Favorite Winter Games

It's snowing so I'm just thinking about good Winter-y games. There's a different vibe that comes with playing games in the winter, at least for me. One is vibes, which will make sense in a second. The other is that I find myself able to just snuggle in and really devour some of the chunkier games on my backlog. I feel a lot less guilty about dungeon crawling for 5 hours in a day when it's dark and dreary outside.

Some examples:

Kirby's Epic Yarn

The definitive winter game. So eepy and cozy you'll be lucky you can play through without falling asleep. The entirely piano-based OST helps give the winter vibes, and the simple platforming means you can play it when winter makes you depressed, like it does for me, every single year lol. And if you've got a friend, romantic or otherwise, you can co-op it!

Arkham Origins

Also falls in the vibes category, but spookier. It's very streamlined, so you can beat it in a weekend, and it literally takes place in the winter.

Ocarina of Time

Another aspect of winter games are the ones that I'm familiar with, so I can just zone out and play them when, again, I'm in deep depress-o mode. I can and have literally played sections of OOT blinded-folded, so this falls in that category.

Max Payne

It's set during a winter snowstorm, it's a single player game that doesn't overstay its welcome, the combat is fantastic, and the story is classic dark noir. Made for winter.

Rune Factory / HARVESTELLA (2022), Farming Sims in General

Farming sims are great for the winter. I know this is true because Loz is playing Stardew Valley for hours at a time again^[1]. The satisfying loop of planting and selling crops can help you zone out when you can't go outside.

Eastward

I beat Eastward around this time last winter. Normally I can't handle games that are more dialogue than gameplay, but when I'm freezing, that actually changes. Eastward's sense of progression is very one-track-minded^[2]. So it's easy to just focus on that, and then cry at the ending.

Skyrim

Maybe too obvious? But I mean, it takes place in a region that's like 80% snow. Stay warm using your dragon breath abilities and low-level RPG mechanics. Hell, maybe this winter you won't default to a stealth-based bow-and-arrow playthrough style!^[3]

I Am Setsuna

Hey, all I said was winter games, not good winter games.