This indie game gets cheaper when it’s cold outside dash.wood@futurenet.com (Dashiell Wood) | usagoldmines.com

• Indie puzzle game A Good Snowman is Hard to Build now changes in price depending on the weather in London, England
• It’s tied to OpenWeather data, with the game becoming free when it’s below 0°C (32°F)
• This dynamic pricing is only available on itch.io

Every PC gamer is used to holding off until a seasonal sales event before buying the titles on their wishlist, but now you might have to wait for a chilly day instead.

Indie developer Draknek & Friends has announced a new pricing structure for cute puzzle game A Good Snowman is Hard to Build, which is directly tied to the real-world weather in London, England. As explained by the studio, the price of the game adjusts every hour to match data from the OpenWeather service.

Right now it’s a chilly 5.9°C (42.62°F) in London, which means the game costs $5.90. This is a pretty substantial discount on its usual price of $14.99, so now could be quite a good time to buy. Presumably, when the weather begins to heat up, the game will start to cost more than its original asking price – potentially upwards of $30 in some of the hotter months.

If the temperature drops below 0°C (32°F), which it more than likely will next winter, the game will be available for free.

As its name would suggest, A Good Snowman Is Hard To Build is all about trying to build a snowman. You play as an adorable monster, rolling up snowballs in maze-like environments before combining them together to form a complete snow person. It first released back in February 2015 and has been quite well received, netting ‘Overwhelmingly Positive’ user reviews on Steam in addition to a handful of awards.

One thing to bear in mind, however, is that this dynamic pricing is currently only offered on indie platform itch.io as, according to the developer, it’s not possible to automatically change the cost on Steam, Apple App Store, Google Play Store, or Nintendo Switch eShop.

The move is intended to be a “really stupid way of celebrating the game’s 10 year anniversary” and will be permanent going forward. It also helps draw attention to the studio’s upcoming release, The Electrifying Incident: A Monster Mini-Expedition. This is another puzzle game and is set to launch in April, 2025. If you’re keen to give it a go, a demo is available now on Steam.

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