A Video Game Winter Wonderland

A snow-filled holiday season is impossible for many of you warm-location dwellers. Here is a list to let you live out your coldest of dreams.

Batman: Arkham City

Platform: PC, Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, PS3

Gotham and Arkham City are decked out for the winter and have as much holiday cheer as physically possible for places like these. What’s better than kicking villain butt, living out your hero fantasies, and snow? Not much. You can get the original on last generation consoles or PC. Even better, Batman: Return to Arkham gives you remastered versions of Arkham City and Arkham Asylum for current-gen consoles.

Overwatch

Platform: PC, Xbox One, PS4

On December 13 last year, Overwatch players were blessed with the “Winter Wonderland” event. There were unique holiday-themed skins for many of the heroes and holiday-themed sprays, emotes, and more. The game maps were also decked out for the season. Blizzard gave us Mei’s Snowball Offensive, an arcade game where you shoot snowballs at your opponents!

Keep an eye out for Overwatch’s next winter event coming this December.

Until Dawn

Platform: PS4

It’s November, the month squished between spooky October and festive December. What better way to get the best of both in Until Dawn, a horror game that takes place in beautiful ski mountains? You’ll play as each of eight friends who have reunited at the Blackwood Pines Lodge. There, just a year before, two of their friends had mysteriously disappeared. What should have been a time of emotional healing and friendship quickly turns horrifying as the friends are hunted down by something sinister. The goal is simply to survive and, along the way, solve the mystery of who or what is the murderer.

Steep

Platform: PC, Xbox One, PS4

It’s all your favorite winter sports in an open world with the option of a multiplayer experience. The crisp graphics of Steep will bring you that immersive winter experience you want at this time of year.

Keep an eye out Nintendo gamers, Steep may be coming soon to the Nintendo Switch!

Rise of the Tomb Raider

Platform: PC, Xbox One, PS4

An expertly made sequel to the critically acclaimed Tomb Raider, you’ll follow Lara Croft as she explores the snow-filled mountains of Siberia to find answers to the mysteries of the previous game. I suggest playing through the prequel, which also has a variety of winter-esque scenery, before picking this one up. However, it isn’t that difficult to pick up on the story. Overall, Rise of the Tomb Raider is an excellent game with beautiful graphics, a solid plot, and an excellent crafting system. It’s a good play, regardless of the season.

Metro 2033

Platform: PC, Xbox One, PS4

Metro 2033 is a post-apocalyptic horror game set in Moscow. The game follows Artyom, who has been born and raised in an underground metro station following a nuclear war. You’ll fight your way through the dark metro tunnels, but, don’t worry, it isn’t all tunnel-based. You’ll get a breath of fresh nuclear air out in the streets of a ruined Moscow. 

Although it can be played like a traditional first-person shooter, stealth is also a valid play style. Metro 2033 has been remastered in the Metro Redux Bundle, but the original game is also available on last generation consoles.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf

Platform: Nintendo 3DS

It’s a lovable Nintendo classic that follows real time and the seasons. Come December, you might be the proud mayor of a snow-covered town that you may decorate festively to your heart’s content.

Want a free Snowman model? Find character Tortimer on December 1! Animal Crossing also has its own version of Christmas, Toy Day, on December 24.

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games

Platform: Wii, Wii U, Nintendo DS

Sure, this was for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, and is a little outdated, but it’s very fun to play. I love all the Mario and Sonic Olympic Games – you get to play as your favorite Mario and Sonic characters.