As Pure As The Driven: SNOW's M3 Alpha Adds Top Hats

Can there be any more fundamental a post to a PC blog - any more pure a post, to justify my headline pun - than writing about the inclusion of hats in a free-to-play game? SNOW, the skiing game currently in Steam Early Access, has long had head-warming beanies and the like, but the latest update introduces the founder set. That's the top hat, moustache and monocle you see in the image above.

If John was here and he was to see this and say "That's all there is," I would respond to him by saying, "You know nothing John, SNOW update M3 also includes engine upgrades, a better sense of speed and more." There's a video detailing all these changes below.

Right now SNOW is a pretty early alpha, but the basic experience of sliding down its single, contiguous mountain is already plenty fun. If ever you loved an SSX game - SSX3 was my poison - there's reason to be hopeful for the game's promised future, which includes proper multiplayer support, snowboards and an expanding set of cliff edges to leap from/tumble over.

I'm also particularly excited that the developers say they've "begun work on a new time of day". They don't say what time it'll be or what it's called, but I'm hoping it's funk o'clock and it falls between 3pm and 4pm in the afternoon.

Buying your way into the alpha - and getting that top hat - will currently set you back £12 on Steam. I have had, oh, maybe 2-3 hours of fun with it at this stage, so it's your call whether you think that's enough to justify entering its alpha this early.