Snowboarding Games

Snowboarding games put you on a board on snowy slopes to race downhill, jump and pull off tricks. There are around 40, all free and with nothing to download, from simulators to versions with cartoon and video game characters.

Three different goals

Almost all of them fall into three ideas. The first is the race, where whoever gets down fastest wins: Snowboard Rush, Down Hill Snowboard and Snowboard Slope. The second is style, where the challenge is stringing together jumps and tricks for points: Snowboard Hero, Snowboard King 2024, Snowboard Kings 2022 and Snowboarding Supreme 2. And the third is the obstacle course with bonuses, with flags or coins to collect along the way.

The character games add another starting point. Sonic Snowboarding and its sequels (there's a 3D version too), Scooby Doo Big Air Snow Show and Sponge Bob Boarding keep the ride-down-and-jump mechanic with a familiar cast. Extreme Snow Boarding and Pgx Snowboarding go for more intense runs.

A few games from other board sports have also turned up in this section, like Wakeboarding XS and Skateboard Challenge html5.

How to ride better

• Prepare for the landing before you touch down. A good landing keeps your speed; a bad one loses it or knocks you over.
• In the scoring games, one clean jump is worth more than several sloppy tricks.
• If there are flags or bonuses, it sometimes pays to slow down a bit so you don't miss any.
• Look far ahead, not just at the tip of the board. Obstacles show up fast.

To get started, Snowboard Hero or Snowboard Rush are a good way in, and if you want characters, Sonic Snowboarding. Once you get the hang of it, try a title that scores tricks, like Snowboarding Supreme 2.

If it's your first time, spend one run doing nothing special: learn how much the board turns with each press and how long it takes to jump. In the scoring games, linking tricks without falling usually works better than going for one huge trick and wiping out. And in the races, don't try to win back all your time in a single turn.