SNØ: Ultimate Freeriding arrived on PS5, Xbox Series and Switch 2 on 28 October, after first launching on PC in February 2025. This arcade ski game was made in Norway by a team of two at Studio Gauntlet, and Japanese publisher AMATA Games brought it to consoles. The idea fits in a single line: you race down snowy mountains as fast as you can while chaining tricks. The visuals genuinely floored me the first time I booted it up, and it quickly became my evening game, the one I load for a run or two before bed. It’s missing a couple of things that would help it last, but the core is there, and it’s very well made.
At a glance
SNØ is all about the ride: endlessly generated mountains, total freedom and controls you’ll understand within a single run.
Its biomes, weather and night descents deliver a striking visual punch for such a stripped-back game.
The lack of proper races and of an online mode on fixed courses holds it back in the long run.
Easy to pick up, if a little too keen on control reminders
You’re at the top of a mountain, and your only goal is to get to the bottom. Everything else flows from that. SNØ’s controls are accessible and easy to grasp, and I had them down within the first few minutes, with the game dropping you onto the slope almost straight away. You turn, you jump, you throw a trick, and it lets you get on with it.
One small thing did wear on me over time. At the start of every run, the game shows the control reminder again. That’s handy the first time and a chore by the twentieth run, especially in a game you keep relaunching precisely so you can jump straight into another descent.
Studio Gauntlet is upfront about that minimalism. On the SNØ store page on Steam, the team says it tried to capture the essence of freeriding in a minimalist, no-frills way, focusing on rewarding systems, smooth controls and stylish visuals. It even lists what you won’t find in the game: online multiplayer, groomed slopes and loading times.
Endless mountains that change with every run
SNØ builds its mountains procedurally. Put simply, every run drops you onto a slope you’ve never seen, and you have to adapt to the terrain, the trees and the rocks on the fly. That generation keeps the runs fresh, and it’s what gives SNØ its sense of total freedom, since the mountain opens up in front of you and you pick your own line.
You also pass through several biomes, each with its own obstacles and weather conditions. And the weather matters. A blizzard cuts your visibility right down and makes progress far trickier, while a night run through the trees takes real focus if you want to avoid the trunks.
That’s where the wow factor really lands. With its bold colours and skies that shift completely from one mountain to the next, SNØ manages to surprise you with very little on screen. I didn’t expect that from such a bare-bones game.
A scoring system that rewards every risk you take
The gameplay is smooth and pushes you to string together turns, jumps and tricks while dodging obstacles. You score points for tricks, and also for skimming past trees and rocks. The system directly rewards risk-taking, and I caught myself cutting closer and closer to obstacles just to push the counter up.
Watch your combos, though. A chain’s points only lock in at the end, and one bad fall just before that can wipe out a particularly good run. It’s frustrating in the moment, but it’s also what makes you hit restart right away.
The game throws in a parachute as well. When things get tricky, you can pop it open to glide above the snow, which adds a genuinely useful option to your runs, whether that’s clearing a nasty patch or stretching out a jump.
Game modes that are fun but feel quite alike
SNØ offers Infinite Run, where you go as far as you can, Score Dash, where you rack up as many points as possible over a set distance, and Zen, for skiing with no pressure at all. Zen is perfect for a late-night session, pad in hand and brain switched off. The modes are enjoyable, but they stay fairly similar in what they ask of you.
SNØ’s online leaderboards help keep you coming back. Seeing my score next to everyone else’s made me want to replay the same mountain to scrape a few more points. You can also replay a mountain and save it, so you can work on your lines on familiar ground.
Still, two things are missing. There’s no proper race system, and above all there’s no interactive online mode on predefined maps where you could go head to head with other players on the same course. The leaderboards do the job at a distance, but more direct competition would have given SNØ much longer legs.
Cosmetics you earn by catching hidden rabbits
You get to choose between three riding styles: classic skis, a snowboard and a sit-ski. The sit-ski is a welcome option, even if I didn’t notice any major difference in handling compared with the skis.
Cosmetic items unlock by completing certain challenges. The most fun of these is spotting and catching the little rabbits hidden along the runs, which gives you a good excuse to leave your ideal line and poke around the mountain a bit.
SNØ is a clean arcade ski game for winding down
What stays with me is a pleasant, clean arcade ski experience with no filler, ideal for quick sessions. The game does a handful of things, and it does them very well, with smooth riding and landscapes that are a treat to look at. Its simplicity may limit how long it holds your attention, though, especially if you’re after head-to-head competition.
On the Switch 2 eShop, SNØ costs £10.33, or £8.26 until 11 November thanks to the 20% launch discount mentioned in Studio Gauntlet’s console launch announcement. As a chilled game to fire up in the evening, it’s an excellent surprise.
| What we like | What we like a lot less |
|---|---|
| A striking visual punch, by day and by night | Control reminders at the start of every run |
| Total freedom on endlessly generated mountains | Game modes that feel quite alike |
| Instant controls and smooth riding | No proper race system |
| A scoring system that rewards risk-taking | No interactive online mode on predefined maps |
| What might make you buy itA chilled game that’s perfect for one last run before bed | What might put you offA simplicity that may wear thin over time |
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