Starting out in Sledding Game the first thing to do is select a character, the default is a Frog, but find one of the many 'Customise' chests with X over the top and you can swap to a penguin or bear (at least I think that’s what they are) and add a hat, scarves, goggles or a custom sled. You'll soon realise that Sledding Game is as much about exploring the relatively small world and socialising as actual sledding.
Clicking the left stick deploys your sled (which initially looks like a tea tray). You can get up a good speed if you take one of the ski lifts to the top of the slopes. Cannons will fire you to even higher points on the mountain, and one even fires you "out of bounds" over the mountains, from where you will eventually be kicked back to the central ski lodge by a huge Yeti! (Without doubt the most exciting part of the game.) The fun doesn't last long as the physics are bizarre, the sleds are rather unstable and not easy to control. I presume more expensive sleds will have better handling, but going by the prices you're going to have to endure a lot of unsatisfying, crash-filled runs in order to buy one.
The big problem is that virtually all of the games and pastimes lack any subtlety in the controls and require more players, and the game seems to be populated by mute sociopaths. The most fun I had with company was attempting the seemingly impossible curling game, but getting fired out of a cannon over the mountains and booted back by a yeti was definitely the highlight.
All sorts of games from darts, curling, archery, fishing, basketball shootout, cornhole and various races are all pointless without a lobby with cooperative, communicative players, and Sledding Game doesn't seem to have any at the time of writing. I also experienced a lot of disconnection problems, either that or the hosts just got bored and quit–possibly because they couldn't find where to mute the terrible music.
Other technical issues include, given the type of graphics, inexplicable frame rate jitters and horizontal tearing, which spoils the look of the game.
Termed a ‘Work in Progress’ in the game description, Sledding Game feels like a beta at this point, mostly made by a solo developer, so I won't be too hard on it. The crossplay seems limited to Xbox & Xbox on PC–So no PC/Steam or PlayStation players, which is obviously a shame as an installed community like the PC one (Sledding Game came out some time ago on PC) would have made the game much more attractive. It could have been a right little charmer and had wide appeal being on Game Pass, but fails for many reasons, even at a price of only £6.39.
If you check the screenshots or the trailer you’ll know what to expect, but anyone hoping for a game as immediate and fun as Sled Surfers or as fast & furious as Snow Rider 3D will be disappointed, as will anyone who's played the more realistic Sledders or Steep, which are both cracking alpine sports games.
Thanks to PressEngine