Sledding Game, Steam's new friendslop hit, is a much chiller SSX

Sledding Game is a game about sledding

Some video games want to pull you into the ultimate action fantasy. Go to the moon and shoot a bunch of evil robots! Go to Tau Ceti IV and shoot a bunch of evil robots! Go to Carcosa and shoot a bunch of evil robots and aliens! Then there’s Sledding Game, which outdoes all of those games with a far more enticing premise: go to a snowy mountain and sled down it with all your friends. Now that sounds like fun, doesn’t it?

Released into early access on April 30 via Steam and Xbox, Sledding Game is the latest example of an emerging video game trend. It’s a kind-hearted co-op game that trades in stressful action or intentional frustration for an ultra-chill hangout experience, much like Webfishing or the recently-released Flock Around. That idea is resonating with players right now. At the time of writing, Sledding Game has an “Overwhelmingly Positive” rating on Steam based on more than 1,200 reviews and counting. After spending some time with it, I can understand why: Sledding Game wields the power of childhood nostalgia to create the kind of digital escape so many developers dream of making.

Created by a solo developer working under the cheeky moniker The Sledding Corporation, Sledding Game is the kind of project that is very upfront about what it is. Yes, it is indeed a sledding game. You control a roly-poly little animal who is dropped into a ski resort with nothing but a wee plastic sled to your name. You can hop on that sled at any time with the press of a button and slide around to your heart’s content. Chairlifts can take you all around the mountain so you can ride downhill paths and rack up points by performing big-air tricks: flips, spins, and so on. The points you gain can be spent on customizing your little avatar, buying new sleds, and grabbing tickets that can be traded for decorative trinkets.

Think of it as a much more laid-back SSX or Skate. All you’re really doing is carving a path around the mountain and seeing how many tricks you can chain together by launching off jumps and rotating your joystick. If you’re playing with friends, you can show off those skills in races that will test your control over the game’s ragdoll physics, but you don’t even have to get that intense if you don’t want to. You can simply get on a chairlift with a pal and sled together without any goal at all.

Sledding Game is aimless but remarkably soothing. During my sessions so far, I’ve enjoyed simply jumping into a random server filled with a dozen other players. I get on a chairlift, slide down the hill, excitedly emote to another player at the bottom when I see one, and then do it again. I’m not even using proximity chat to talk with my fellow sledders, but I still get the sense that I’m part of something. It feels like going to your town’s biggest hill during a snow day when every other kid has gathered and is partaking in a communal experience.

There’s more to do in Sledding Game if you’re looking for it. The mountain is lined with minigames that you can play with friends, like cornhole and darts. More activities seem to be in the works too; there’s a work-in-progress snowball fight arena in the current early access build. None of this is mechanically complex, and there are a lot of bugs to work out, but it gets across the sensation of playing on a winter day quite well. That childhood appeal is undeniable, and it’s what has kept me playing even though I don’t have any real objective to work toward.

When I recommend Sledding Game, know that I’m not exactly telling you about a great video game you should play. It’s more like I’m telling you about a cool new hangout spot in town — an overlook nestled in the woods, a hidden creek behind the middle school, an abandoned train car-turned-fort. That’s how I’ve come to approach a lot of so-called friendslop games like Sledding Game. They’re digital places to chill with your buds when you can’t get together in real life. I’ll never be able to (nor would I want to) replace the sacred memory of sledding with my elementary school pals, but the older I get, the more I’ve come to appreciate games that can remind me of those special experiences and encourage me not to take them for granted. You can always shoot an evil robot in outer space; you don’t always get a chance to wipe out on a toboggan with your best friend.

Sledding Game is available on Xbox Series X and Windows PC through Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. On Steam, the PC version is discounted to $4.95 (38% off) until May 14.