"A Good Snowman is Hard to Build" is a puzzle game for the PC and has you playing as a character that looks like a huge chocolate chip.  The character you play walks into a park only to get locked in.  The way the giant choc chip man/woman/other has to get out is by building snowmen (I'M NOT DOING THE REFFERENCE!) and the way you build snowmen is by putting together a small snowball, a medium snowball, and a large snowball by pushing them into each other.  Sometimes it is not as simple as that as not all snowballs start off the right size and you'll need to push them across patches of now to make them the right size and sometimes you'll have to find clever ways to avoid snow patches otherwise your balls will get too big and you can't connect them together.  Very simple stuff indeed but will there be any complications that will ruin the experience?  Or will this game be a winter wonderland?  (Click "Read More" to read the full review).


There is no story in this game but this is a game where it is easy to make a story up in your head.  Story I came up with is that this game is about a very lonely person that decides to go into an empty park to build snowmen to make the place look more lively.  Why so lonely?  Simply because his family is sick with a winter flu and so they can't go out and play with him, seeing how excited this young person is to build snowmen we see that they sneak out.  This person sneaks out on an early morning and must build all the snowpeople before his family wakes up and tells him/her off for sneaking out.  Well that's what I interpreted but it is all up to you.  I am also not very bothered about a lack of story in this game as it's just a simple puzzle game and doesn't need one and it uses that element well as while playing this you'll be too focused on the puzzles to care.

The concept of this game is very simple as I said in the opening paragraph and it does play very well.  The puzzles start off very easy and does grow in difficulty but it doesn't get too hard and it won't take very long to figure out all of the puzzles.  I ended up beating the game a lot quicker than planned as I beat it in around thirty to forty minutes.  Most of the puzzles I solved right away but there were some tricky ones towards the end but I managed to figure them out after a few tries.  Once you have beaten the game you will be blessed with bonus puzzles and that does help add a reason to keep playing after the main mission has been done.


You can also find park benches that you can sit down in and once you are in one you will be sent to a warp zone where you can walk across a version of the map that has no hedges.  On this warp zone map you can walk to other benches you have visited  before and they will warp you back to the main map.  I like that option as it makes for a good shortcut to get to other areas as you won't need to go around the long way around all those hedges.  There is also a deeper reason for why the warp zone is around and you will find out in the bonus levels.  You can also find a telescope and all that does is zoom out the camera so you can see what puzzles you still need to complete.

If you do get stuck on the puzzles then you can hit the R key to reset the puzzle.  If you manage to slip up a single move from doing something like holding down a direction key for too long then you can hit the Z key and it will undo that move.  Moving around is quite simple as all you have to do is press the arrow keys.  You can also use the arrow keys to interact with the environment and it was a very charming and simple feature and I found it to be very cute.  The controls are very smooth and really responsive and you will not have any problems with them.


Graphics in this game have a very cute look to them and even though the main character is just a faceless chocolate chip, you'll also find that character quite charming and adorable.  The snowmen all look very cool (ba dum tish) as when you build them you will see that they all have unique hats and names and that just adds more charm to the style.  The graphics are also very simple as there isn't much detailing and looks like a children's storybook and that's not a problem at all as it was done really well and ends up looking really good.  Music in this game is very beautiful and works really well with the atmosphere and it will keep you relaxed but not distracted from your goal.

One major complaint I have about this game is that the price is very, very steep for a game where you can beat the core game in under fifty minutes (not including bonus levels).  The price is also very steep for the reason that once you beat the main and bonus modes you won't find any replay value.  I suppose this is a game you will play once every six months but even then the price is still very steep.  Not saying to avoid this game because of the price but I will recommend to get this game when it is on sale for around half price as it is a very well made game.


Overall this is a pretty swell puzzle game that will use your time in a pretty swell way.  I do recommend picking up this game but just make sure that it is on sale first.  Fun puzzle game.

Game: A Good Snowman is Hard to Build
System: PC (Reviewing Steam version)
Developer: Alan Hazelden, Benjamin Davis
Publisher: Draknek
Genre: Puzzle
Price: $11.99 (Steam)
Recommended: Yes