Not getting a ton of snow this winter is a bummer, but we’ll always have video games to scratch the winter sports itch. Shredders is an upcoming snowboarding game from a Swedish studio called FoamPunch, and its virtual snow looks so deliciously powdery, I can just imagine myself falling into it.
There’s fluffy snow and more in Cool WIP, Polygon’s weekly roundup of eye-catching clips and screenshots of works in progress. Each week, the Polygon staff scours the internet for the most interesting games still under construction, to give you a sampler of the coolest up-and-coming projects.
In this week’s Cool WIP, we have two different town-builders, a 3D platformer where you zoom through a futuristic neon world, and the most delightful mushroom you’ll ever meet.
Shred the gnar in this new snowboarding game
2021’s indie skateboarding game craze continues into the new year, except with a slight twist: This game features snowboarding instead. Shredders is being developed by a Belgian and Swedish studio called FoamPunch. The team posted a video showing off a quick shot of a trick where the snowboarder rides up a ramp and flies through a hole in a wall. The game looks smooth as … ice, and like a chill, laid-back time. According to the devs, Shredders will launch sometime in 2022, first on Xbox Series X, where it will also be available on Xbox Game Pass.
An adorable city builder gets a fresh coat of snow
Toukana Interactive released its city builder, Dorfromantik, in March but developers showed a new update recently that adds snow. In this city builder, you place hexagonal tiles to slowly build out a tranquil landscape. Polygon featured it on its list of top games from 2021 and it looks like we’ll be getting a winterized version of the game. You can check out more about it on its Steam page.
A game where you build on the back of a behemoth
We have another city-builder in the mix. This time though, you’ll be dealing with limited resources and space. In The Wandering Village you build on the back of a giant, wandering creature. Developer Stray Fawn Studio posted a TikTok showing just how far the game has come since 2019, offering a rare glimpse into what a few years of development can look like. According to the Steam page, the game doesn’t have a release window yet.
And this year we’ll release #gamedev #beforeandafter #artthenandnow #indiegame #indiestudio #strayfawn #wanderingvillage #gameart #gamedevelopment
Speed along with this neon futuristic world
Tireless takes the effortless gate characteristic of games like Solar Ash or The Pathless and launches players on a fast-paced neon adventure. The development studio, The Cyber Clan, shared a demo of the game way back in July, but it looks worth a revisit if you like fast-paced platformers. A more recent clip shows progress on the game, including gameplay showing one of the cybernetic characters gracefully soaring through a glowing, futuristic world.
Your best mushroom friend
Scrolling down Alex Dixon’s Twitter feed reveals a curation of delightful, Miyazaki-esque game scenes. (One character featured on the feed even looks like it’s straight out of Howl’s Moving Castle.) One clip Dixon posted shows a delightful encounter between a person and a sneaky mushroom character tiptoeing close behind. This clip is from an unnamed work-in-progress, but it sure looks great for a project in its early stages. You can follow Dixon’s work on their Twitter account.
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