Yearning to chill in the snow but don’t want to deal with, you know, the chill? Try these wintry games. Glide a snowboard over serene slopes, haul precariously stacked logs through Alaskan mountain passes, build a Viking-themed hideout amid polar wastes – there’s an avalanche of options!

Easy choices are scarce in the icebound world of Frostpunk 2. Set 30 years after the original, this post-apocalyptic city-builder puts you in charge of New London, one of the last bastions of civilisation in an alternate 1900s gripped by a global ice age.

Plunder scarce coal and oil deposits to heat neighbourhoods. Build factories and research institutes to drive progress. More than anything, just try to keep your people safe and alive. Do you pass laws to placate influential factions or prioritise the needs of your townsfolk? Angering the wrong people could lead to strikes, riots and even your removal from office. A fate worse than death!

Can’t get enough frozen-city-building? In the original Frostpunk, you’re the leader of a ragtag settlement out to transform a collection of grubby tents into a sprawling steampunk city, one furnace at a time. Grow food, manufacture goods and send expeditions into the perilous outside world. Who knows what riches – and dangers – hide beneath the snow?

Well met, warrior! You’ve just arrived in Valheim’s vast realm; now prove to Odin you’ve got what it takes to survive. Craft axes, slay trolls and build shelters as you explore a procedurally generated wilderness inspired by Norse mythology. To please the All-Father and punch your ticket to Valhalla, you’ll need to defeat a host of powerful monsters – but only after a journey worthy of a Viking saga.

Whether you play solo or cooperatively with up to nine friends, each foray introduces new landscapes, crafting materials and enemies. For especially wintry adventures, head high into the mountains and test your mettle against the elements (as well as stone golems and frosty-breathed drakes). Or build a ship, sail to remote polar regions and marvel at the gorgeous auroras.

Where you’re going, you don’t need roads – because SnowRunner puts you behind the wheel of some of the biggest, meanest all-terrain vehicles on the planet. Drive lumbering logging trucks, zippy 4x4s and other tough rides across snow-slicked mountains and boggy forests, completing tricky missions (such as pulling an overturned pick-up out of a raging river) to earn funds and rebuild communities.

Thanks to authentic physics, your vehicles handle like the real thing – which means helplessly spinning your tyres as you hit a patch of ice or sink deeper into merciless muck. (Time to break out the winch!) With massive maps to explore in dozens of unlockable vehicles, a new challenge awaits around each precarious bend.

Though it’s centred around the typically extreme sport of snowboarding, Alto’s Adventure is surprisingly mellow. No hand plants or cross rockets here: in this gorgeous twist on the infinite runner, you simply slide down a never-ending mountain, jumping and gliding to high scores.

Simple one-button controls make this adventure instantly accessible; in just a few runs you’ll be pulling off backflips over icy chasms and grinding along rooftops in sleepy villages. Tackling each level’s trio of challenges requires deft reflexes, but with beautiful visuals and soothing music, Alto’s Adventure is as smooth as it is serene.

Available on Apple Arcade, home to 200+ amazing games with no ads or in-app purchases, Alto’s Adventure – Remastered is playable across Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple TV:

Or play the standalone version of Alto’s Adventure:

The crumbling, post-apocalyptic open world of Metro Exodus is stunning – and dreadfully dangerous. Among the hazards you’ll encounter while traversing a nuclear-war-ravaged Russia: mutant spiders, ruthless bandits and a savage bear the size of a minivan.

As you and your allies board a ramshackle locomotive in search of a safer home, you’ll cross breathtaking landscapes – from the frigid wastelands outside Moscow to the lush forests of Eastern Siberia – and do whatever it takes to ensure the train’s safety... and your own survival. That includes scavenging for new weapons and equipment, such as a motion sensor for pinpointing danger. Safe travels!

Few 3D action games embrace snow as enthusiastically as Rise of the Tomb Raider, which takes hero Lara Croft through Siberian snowfields, blizzards and glaciers – plus a few lootable tombs, of course – in search of the fabled city of Kitezh.

The second game in Tomb Raider’s reboot trilogy – and our favourite of the three – Rise is also the perfect entry point for franchise newcomers. Filled with both intense combat and creative puzzles that send Lara diving deep underwater and careening on mine carts, it’s a truly dizzying action romp – especially when you’re traversing its countless snowy cliffs.

Snowboard or ski? On the peaceful open-world slopes of Grand Mountain Adventure, you can do both! Ride a lift in the sleepy town of Hirschalm, slap on your boots and cruise back down the mountain. Like visiting a real resort, how you tackle this game – a standout example of a controller-optimised iPad game on Mac – is up to you.

The mountain offers endless possibilities, such as slaloming and competing for better scores or calmly skimming around hills. Venture deep into the backcountry to find hidden challenges – along with bears, cliffs, trees and avalanches. The danger is worth it!