Snow Plowing Simulator

EA SCOUT the last line of defense for buying on Steam's Early Access
by Howie Howard
previewed on PC
It's snowing out and time to warm up the snow blower!
Snow Plowing Simulator is the new simulation game from indie developer Freemind. The game is presently in Early Access with an unknown full release date, but we were lucky enough to be able to receive a preview code to see what the game currently has to offer. If you have played any job simulator games in the past, the basic layout and gameplay will feel very similar. You are head of a snow removal business and tasked with servicing the citizens of a small mountain town. The setup is simple actually in that it's snowing, it snows a whole lot and it's your job to find and then service customers snow removal needs.
For anyone that has experienced life in a cold snowy environment, cold grey days come one after the other until spring finally comes and the flowers bloom. In the gloomy setting of Snow Plowing Simulator, flowers never bloom and it snows all the time, with the sun making an appearance only occasionally. Just because the sun is out it doesn't mean that your work is finished and you can take a break. When I was a kid many years ago we always loved snow days because that meant school would be cancelled for the day. In Snow Plowing Simulator you love the snow as well because the endless calls from customers means there's a lot of money to be earned and that's what the snow removal game, both real and simulated is all about!
Snow removal has difficulties but it can be fun too
There are three modes of play in Snow Plowing Simulator with the first one being Fun mode. Then there's Realistic mode and then what the developers call the Extreme mode. All of the modes seem to basically be of the open world variety where you can drive around, or walk around in the beginning, picking and choosing which snow removal job(s) to take. Perhaps the only difference as far as difficulty is concerned is when snow removal tools become available and maybe with how difficult driving is (more on driving later). You start the game with a basic shovel and as you gain money and experience new equipment becomes available as do the difficulties of the various jobs. If you only have a basic shovel, taking on one of the bigger jobs, although possible, it will require a lot of time and tedious work. And as such you will be tempted to acquire advanced plowing tools as soon as possible.
The Fun mode is described as having "all difficulties in the game turned off" and, "all that remains is to travel around completing orders and having fun." The Realistic mode on the other hand is referred to as being "the most frequently chosen mode" and "this is where the most difficulties appear." That, "driving is not so easy and you have to make an effort to find all of the collectibles." Last but not least is the Extreme mode. It's description is: "Extreme mode is for experts," "everywhere is slippery, the (game character) is very sickly and the (snow removal) orders are rare and difficult." That is what it says when starting a new game as far as game difficulty goes.
Taking this snow plow out for a test drive, how difficult can it be?
I chose to try out the Realistic mode pretty much because it is “the most frequently chosen mode.” Since I didn't play the Fun mode or the Extreme mode I can't speak directly towards those modes specifically but they can't be all that different from each other. The Realistic mode has plenty of available snow removal jobs and when you first start out you are required to walk around with your removal tools such as the shovel and the various hand operated push plows and a snow blower. Then when you find the keys to the pick-up truck it becomes available to use after a plow is purchased. The push plows are rated by the max weight that can be pushed while the snow blower is a constant removal tool which I'm sure you know how snow blowers work. There is a back story that concerns a big foot creature lurking around and I'm assuming it is present in all of the modes.
I mentioned earlier about driving a vehicle in the game. Since the game is named Snow Plowing Simulator, you would be correct in assuming that gameplay will consist of driving some kind of snow plow in order to accomplish the task of snow removal. With that said, I hate to have to say this because I really love the concept of this game; but actually driving the snow plow is an act of frustration. The level difficulty description says that the driving surface is slippery. It in fact is so slippery that it's like driving on sheer ice, and even if you are using tyre chains, it's still basically an uncontrollable affair. If you have ever driven on ice - which I have - it is not a pleasant thing and near impossible to keep control of the vehicle! The plow vehicles in the game are constantly fish tailing and the steep and curvy mountain roads are extremely difficult to plow because you can not keep a controlled straight line of travel. The keyboard controls when driving are so unwieldy that it seems impossible if the road is not perfectly straight. Unfortunately, they aren't. Game controllers will be available for usage in the future but I still can't see how it will help if the driving mechanics remain the same.
Stop griping already, it's still early in this snow removal project
Another gripe that I have and one that I hope the developers will correct in the full release is the property borders that are present that constantly interrupt work while plowing snow on a sidewalk or driveway around a customers house. The job is to push or blow snow and presently if you get too close to a border - which you can't even see because they are covered with snow - it interrupts the shovelling process. Also, it seems like you need to be very precise in your work in order to be able to get to the 100% snow removed mark which finishes the job. So maybe that should be adjusted a bit as well while allowing a certain small percentage of area to be missed.
Since there is virtually an endless amount of snow removal work available it would be logical to think that taking time to rest up and sleep in order to recover from the hard work would be necessary. Sleep isn't needed and you have to work day and night. You do get tired and cold though while working and you can catch a cold or fever if exposed too long to the cold harsh environment. Luckily there are quick remedies available to cure both tiredness and illness. There's an online store where you can purchase various food items that will replenish the energy bar. Since this is a very cold environment there are increasingly expensive and warmer work clothing that your hard earned money can be spent on. Clothing is where energy replenishment items are stored, so take plenty of energy items with you because it can be a rather long walk or drive back to the office.
Just pop a few aspirin and swig some cough medicine
When exposed to cold temps for too long the game will indicate that your character has become ill with a cough or fever. When this happens players will simply need to go to the online store via the office computer and purchase cough syrup or aspirin. After purchase, these items are stored in the medicine chest at the office. The cold weather garb comes with an increasing number of storage spots with each upgrade and this is where you carry a thermos to warm you up with and energy food items to recharge energy. The food items are different each day. The more expensive the outfit the more storage spots and the lower the temperatures can be that you will be able to endure. In the beginning of the game the constant need to return to the office to get warm and have energy restored can become fatiguing. When the pick-up truck plow becomes available then you can drive and that takes less time. Just don't go too fast because you will find yourself calling highway assistance a lot. You can also warm up in the truck or take a drink of coffee from the thermos.
Folks, Snow Plowing Simulator has just been released in to early access and I in reality played a beta version where bugs and inconsistencies are often present in early versions. However, I have played other sim games by this developer and publisher with Forest Ranger Simulator being one of them and it functioned perfectly. So I fully expect that Snow Plowing Simulator will turn out to be just as good when it is finally released. It looks very good visually right now. The developer has a screen at login that indicates how far along they are towards completion of various game elements. So I am confident that the final product will be a top notch snow removal simulation. I will definitely keep an eye on this one and I look forward to seeing and hopefully reviewing the full version. Stay tuned.
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The game has potential, but we're not ready to jump in with both feet. If the game interests you, look, but don't touch - yet.