When Webfishing came out in 2024, an itch was scratched for me of cozy games that felt like an interactive PictoChat group from the Nintendo DS era, but it seems I hadn’t quite scratched that itch enough. Recently a new game has hit gamers worldwide being dubbed simply Sledding Game. Available on Xbox Series X|S through Game Pass and on Steam, Sledding Game is the type of game that you don’t sit down trying to get a high score while sweating in your chair, even though I guess you technically could, but instead it’s a cozy relaxation. Before we dive into our review on Sledding Game, let’s allow the solo developer Max to tell you about the game through the game’s trailer:
What Is Sledding Game?
Sledding Game is a multiplayer snow sports hangout game from first-time developer Max, and the best way I can describe it is if Webfishing and a Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater game somehow had a Lovecraftian baby and raised it in a cozy ski lodge. You start off as a frog, but can pick from three customizable animal characters (with secret characters unlockable in game), hop on a sled, and go from there. Whether “from there” means racing down the hill pulling off tricks for points, getting into a snowball fight, roasting s’mores by a fire, playing a round of curling, or sitting on a bench just talking to strangers and friends through proximity chat it’s all entirely up to you. There’s no pressure, no timer, no nothing forcing you into anything, and no wrong way to spend your time in a session.
The tricks system has more depth than the game’s cozy exterior might suggest, and was something I honestly was impressed by. Pulling off flips mid-air earns bonus points in a way that reminds me vividly of old skating games, and there’s real satisfaction in ramping off a snowy cliff, doing a ton of flips, then actually landing it and having the game score my landing. It gives the sledding itself an actual skill ceiling to reach for if you wanted one, without making you feel like you’re missing out if you’d rather just cruise around and chat while listening to music.
The Social Stuff Really Clicks
Proximity voice chat sounds like a small feature until you’re actually joining public lobbies. Being able to have conversations that naturally fade in and out as you move around the map just feels nice. Being able to hear someone laugh from halfway up a hill, hearing the screams of someone flying too fast in a sled, and catching snippets of conversations in the cabin as you walk by create a social atmosphere that text chat games never quite manage to capture. But if you’re someone scared of proximity chat or voice chat in general, the game also features text chat that works for everyone on the map regardless of where you are, including text chat only servers.
Scattered around the map you’ll also find animal statues with three empty dots on them. Finding the nearby targets and hitting them with snowballs fills those dots in and earns you free rewards, which give you a reason to actually explore beyond the main hill. There are Easter eggs hidden around as well, including Bing Bong from PEAK just chilling on the map talking about how he misses his wife Miriam. With secrets to explore and cosmetics you can unlock with that exploration, it helps give a more lasting impression of “leave no stone unturned” in hopes of finding a small reference or unlockable. You can even click here to see a guide on unlocking a secret Seal outfit, one of the easier unlockable cosmetics out there.
The Rough Edges
Due to the nature of this being the first game from a solo developer and being in Early Access, rough edges come with the territory. The most noticeable issue I ran into was controller button prompts occasionally showing up when playing on the keyboard, it’s something that’s not a dealbreaker but can give a small jolt of confusion when happening. There are a few other minor bugs scattered around, but nothing that ever made me feel frustrated or wanting to close the game. For being a debut release, the whole experience holds together surprisingly well.
The one thing that could legitimately test your patience are the optional side objectives for unlocking extra cosmetics. These can including things such as hitting targets with snowballs from specific angles without missing, and the aiming system can feel a little fiddly until you figure out the rhythm of it. Once it clicks, it clicks and feels pretty easy to get the aiming down, but there’s still a brief window where it feels more annoying to aim then I probably would’ve expected. The key word with this system though is that it’s optional. If you’re not feeling up to it, you can ignore it entirely and there won’t be anything that subtracts from the core experience.
Max has been open about the roadmap during the games development, sharing progress online since the very beginning, with TikTok uploads being how I found the games existence. By keeping the community directly involved in the development process and having them influence what gets added next, more cosmetics, minigames, and hangout content are all planned to release within the one year long Early Access window, clearly showing this developer cares about where the game goes and that it’s not a one and done experience.
Should You Play It?
Yes, I strongly believe you should give it a shot. If you’re someone who loved the interesting chatroom nature of Webfishing then this game can be seen as essential. It scratches the exact same itch of wanting a cozy, low-stakes place to just exist by yourself or with other people for a while even if that’s not usually your thing. Sledding Game works as a group hangout game with friends who play completely different things as well. There’s no barrier or ranked system preventing you from hanging out with friends, and I even had one friend playing ranked matches in another game, using the downtime between matches to sled a bit with me while we joke around. There’s honestly always something to do when one activity starts to feel stale and the soundtrack is genuinely super relaxing.
You can pick up Sledding Game for $7.99 when it’s not on sale on Steam and the Xbox Store, or you can play it on Xbox with Game Pass Ultimate.
