Snow Kids

This game is an adorable platformer that was certainly challenging at times. I’ll admit, I had to quit a couple times to take a breather. But it was so good! However.. I can’t replay it. It brings me through the tutorial again, and after that gives me the end screen (also cute, lemme add). It would be wonderful if I could choose a level to go back to, and/or go back to the beginning. But since I can’t, it’s a “play once, delete after” kind of thing. Very unfortunate.

I beat the game an hour and 20 minutes after I downloaded it. It’s got cute designs and music and a fun premise! That’s the positives. Otherwise, this game is pretty ridiculously geared towards encouraging ads... here’s why. As a huge fan of platformers, I’m a little disappointed. The level design totally fine at first, but at the later levels it becomes clear that the game wants you to die 100% the first time you come across an obstacle. Spawning enemies behind you when you have cleared the space before, enemies appearing last second only when you’re committed to a dodge, placing 3 enemies in the same pixel position so it looks like 1, etc. These things make sure unless you know the layout beforehand, you’re doomed to watch those ads every level. It’s not even about looking at the level and coming up with a solution anymore. It’s about dying enough times until you memorize what’s coming ahead. The game slowly shifts from a platformer for pure fun into a system that constantly throws what it teaches you against you. You can play 1/4 of the entire game believing that rock throwers run away after they attack, until one runs straight at you before a checkpoint in level 17. I never thought I’d ever say these words, but that is predatory level design. I’ve played platformers for 16 years straight so I didn’t have too much trouble, but I’d imagine that to the average player, the gameplay is either ridiculously easy or ridiculously difficult. Past levels 1-5 and peaking from 16-20, this game is not much more than a flat machine to generate clicks.

I today will show some alternative ways to attack and move around. First, moving around. Squish jump: hold jump while standing still for a bit (you can shuffle slightly after powering up), then release to do a bigger jump. Squish jump xl: jump, then jump again once you hit the ground. Comes out faster and jumps higher, but more unwieldy. Dive: dash in midair. That’s it. Now for attacks. aim: Hold the snowball button to aim. Snow-burst: double tap while in the air to have a burst of snow around you. Snow-bounce: hold down the snowball button in mid-air. In between squish jump and it’s xl version, but has the burst affect around it. Then some tools you unlock. scooper: keep tapping snowball button on ground to launch a barrage of non-bouncing snowballs. Needs cool-down. I hope you also come up with more ideas in the sequel. Still love this game from the start. Bye! Edit: I changed my mind, three stars. Kind of poorly designed, I thought it would be a fun walkthrough, but there’s ads everywhere and nothing unique. Hope you make that sequel better...