There is a big difference between having a good idea and landing it successfully. The first is difficult, but the second is sand from another coast. In case of Snowtopia (Steam) is the perfect example of how something very promising can see smiles begin to fade as the hours go by.
With the intention of bringing the Tycoon genre to a more relaxed and relaxing experience, The peculiarity of this management game is that it does not require any management. Well, at least not in the terms we’re used to.
Without money you live better
Do not expect balances at the end of the month or limits when building because you have run out of money. Don’t even think about the employees, who are all volunteers here. The only limit is your imagination and the game’s pejiguero building system. In Snowtopia you can ride the ski resort crazier than it comes to your head without worrying if the income of the game allows it.
In its short collection of levels with different difficulties – more on that later – the first step is to create a builders’ cabin that begins to shape your ideas. From here the game sets a certain rhythm in the form of tutorial.
First there are the basic cable-chairlifts or chairlifts that move skiers to a more or less nearby area, then it’s time to shape your first slopes by choosing which path they will follow, after that create slopes cleaning and first aid cabins, and finally give shape to the network of restaurants that the toothpick makers can visit at the foot of the slopes or on the highest peaks.
In the middle of that path of shaping tracks and placing endearing low poly houses, a tech tree that will allow you to unlock new options aimed at improving the perception of your resort.
You can improve the gears to cause less wear and tear and avoid having to repair the chairlifts every two by three, get cable cars that can transport more skiers further, new restaurants … Added that they are unblocking like churros without any challenge and that, at least for now, do not seem to have too much impact on the game.
The idea is undeniably good, but there’s not much more to scratch in a world where people keep coming to your park even if it’s a mess and they have to eat long lines. In fact, they seem more focused on the quality of the tracks than anything else, and that’s exactly where Snowtopia find part of your redemption.
Good idea, but shallow
Because yes, it really does deliver on its promise, and when it comes to creating tracks that go down the slope to the nerve center of the resort, and have no limits to shape them, there is a certain vibe relaxing.
A situation that would be even more comfortable if the end of the chair lifts that goes high in the mountains did not give so many problems to allow its placement – you have to find the exact point where the building turns yellow to be able to place it – but which in any case ends up being entertaining.
The key is that the park grows based on how happy each group of skiers are. The more happiness, more skiers of that type and more volunteers to continue building buildings.
There are the beginners who demand green slopes, those with blue, orange and black. For all of them, you must build tracks that take into account their experience by playing with the unevenness of the terrain.
Thus, a straight that falls vertically can be a claim for fans of risk, but you can also circumvent that altitude by creating different terraces through which beginner stick players can calmly descend by wedging. It all depends on how you want to take advantage of space limitations of the game.
Right there is where Snowtopia It plays with a certain feeling of difficulty, in the gap that some mountains give way that you cannot terraform in view of the need for the slopes to reach the central area so that skiers can go back up or go to another area of the park.
Starting from the basics, the game expands the scenarios with mountains with more or less rocks, or with different centers away between mountains that you can end up connecting, but never goes much further and in no case is it a challenge.
It remains to be seen how they continue to shape the idea after launching in Early Access and if at some point they hit the click that allows more depth. Right now it doesn’t take long for the initial excitement to start to deflate, and by the time you’ve completed a tech tree once, the urge to keep going begins to wane.
Until that happens you should approach him with no pretensions other than having a good time. Whether as a relaxing therapy, for survive the nostalgia for the snow season, or simply to have fun creating tracks in which to see how virtual dolls enjoy your tracks.
