Ten games for winter
Snow, ice and frozen lands, for the coldest months
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Frostpunk 2018
A city builder set in an alternate 1886 where a volcanic winter has frozen the world, in which you lead the survivors building New London around a huge coal generator.
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Celeste 2018
Madeline climbs the snow covered Celeste Mountain, dashing in eight directions and gripping walls for as long as her stamina lasts. Every chapter builds its screens around a new idea, and Assist Mode lets anyone set their own difficulty.
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SSX 3 2003
One mountain of several peaks links every course, and freeride mode lets you board it from top to bottom without a loading screen, with some races running past 15 minutes.
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The Banner Saga 2014
A caravan crosses the vast frozen landscape of a Viking inspired world with the Dredge closing in and its rations running low. Choices can kill companions for good, and a lost battle never ends the game, only the journey's prospects.
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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 2011
Skyrim, a cold and mountainous province in the north of Tamriel, opens up after a linear introduction. The story of the dragon Alduin can be put off indefinitely, and side quests run as long as the main one.
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Shenmue 1999
Ryo Hazuki searches Yokosuka for the man who killed his father from the end of November 1986. Shops, bars, buses and every resident keep their own hours, so finding someone is a matter of knowing when they are around.
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Metal Gear Solid 1998
Snake slips into a nuclear weapons facility on Shadow Moses Island, in the Alaskan wilderness. A radar shows where each guard is looking, and being seen sets off an alert you have to hide out until it passes.
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God of War 2018
In a Norse setting, Kratos travels with his son Atreus to scatter his wife's ashes from the highest peak of the nine realms, told as one continuous shot with no camera cuts.
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Icewind Dale 2000
In the frozen north of the Forgotten Realms, a party of up to six adventurers you create yourself signs on as caravan guards and stumbles on a plot against the region.
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South Park: The Stick of Truth 2014
In a little town in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, the New Kid is pulled straight into a make believe war between humans and elves. Every turn asks for a timed press to hit harder or block more, so a fight is never only a list of commands.
