Waddle Peaks

Waddle Peaks is a cozy 3D downhill game in which you are a small penguin on skis. There are six mountains, each with its own look: Sunny Slopes with gentle bunny hills, Pinewood Run with logs to hop and foxes on the run, Glacier Glide with frozen ponds and icy crevasses, Lantern Night under the stars and the aurora, Snowbell Village with cobbled streets beneath the chairlift, and Blizzard Summit with whiteout wind, rocks and yetis.

The career has 126 events, 21 on each mountain, built from eight kinds of run. In a Race you beat three rival penguins to the bottom. Slalom asks you to ski between every pair of flags, and a missed gate adds three seconds. Trick Runs score jumps, spins, flips and grabs, Fish Feasts are about scooping up as many fish as you can, and Time Trials pit you against a golden ghost. In Avalanche and Yeti Chase you simply have to reach the bottom before you are caught. Every mountain ends with a one-on-one Boss Race, and each boss gives up a prize that cannot be bought. Stars from events open the next mountain.

Carving leaves tracks in the snow and a tuck buys speed. Rollers and kickers launch you into the air, where you can spin, flip and grab, but you have to finish the rotation before you land or you wipe out. Frozen ponds turn you into a belly-sliding penguin, teal pads give a boost, and chaining tricks builds a combo. Fish buy coats, hats, scarves, goggles, trails, skis and snowboards, plus four upgrades with five levels each: glide wax for top speed, sharp edges for tighter turns, air control for faster spins and flips, and boost power.

Some tips from the way the game works: snowboards spin faster and score more for tricks, while skis carve and glide more steadily, so pick your gear for the event. Only start a spin when you have the height to finish it. A tuck cuts drag but also steering, and holding it at speed flops you onto your belly for more speed and half the steering, so tuck on straights and let go before turns. Upgrades carry over to every event, so replaying an earlier run for fish is a fair way past a tough boss.

Big Mountain is one endless run through every mountain with an avalanche that never stops, and a new Daily Run arrives each day; your first finish there pays double fish. Events are short, and the game works with keyboard, mouse, touch or gamepad, with optional tilt steering on phones.

The career opens event by event. Each event has three stars: place in the top three of a race, beat the target time in slalom and time trials, score points in trick runs or scoop up fish in fish feasts. In avalanche and yeti events, reaching the bottom earns one star and the fish you collect earn the rest. Every missed slalom gate adds 3 seconds.

Stars open new mountains, and you earn fish on the way down and as star rewards. Boss prizes can't be bought, only won. On Big Mountain the avalanche never stops, so see how far you can go. Your first finish on each Daily Run pays double fish.