We played Skier’s Landing at PAX in 2022, and it has undergone significant changes since then. The game has now gone from this more isometric-styled ski game to something more in line with a classic third-person sports board game. The speed and challenge are still here, which were the big highlights back when we first played it, but now it looks and feels even better.
There’s something great about being able to play a game years ago, and see where it’s come to on its journey, and that’s Skier’s Landing, which now looks and feels more like a classic Tony Hawk game, but with a focus only on going as fast as possible.
The core gameplay we saw three years ago remains, featuring you racing down a mountain with checkpoint flags. Even the slightest bumps or incorrect positioning off a jump can send you flying back to the start, forcing you to restart from your last checkpoint. Mastering these tracks and getting the fastest times among friends is going to be the buzz among players.
You can do these fancy flips now off jumps, of which there are many opportunities; however, as mentioned above, landing correctly is important and not something I could learn quickly enough on the show floor, so I chose to finish the track and take that as a win. However, compared to how you initiated tricks three years ago, it all feels good, with certain buttons dedicated to hand tricks, another letting you change stance now, and the right analog stick letting you rotate in the air.
You can now also play the game as a snowboarder, not just a skier, as we had the option of three years ago, so this addition to build upon the community of skiers and snowboarders will only get more eyes on the game.
[Explosion Network attended PAX Australia 2025 with a provided Media Pass.]