Developer: Toppluva AB
Publisher: Microids
Platform: PC, Switch
Tested on: PC
Grand Mountain Adventure: Wonderlands – Review
Only two people make up the team of Toppluva, an indie developer that came out with a surprise debut game this year. That game is Grand Mountain Adventure: Wonderland. Quite a wordy title, but what we have here is a very simple open-world adventure focussed entirely on skiing and snowboarding to your heart’s content. The game had a release as a phone app before, but today we’re looking at the proper release which made its way to Switch and PC.
Story
Grand Mountain Adventure doesn’t really have any plot. There isn’t a cutscene, dialogue box, or written note in sight. All you got to do is ski or snowboard around the mountain and explore nature, unlocking more as you progress.
Graphics
There’s actually a fair bit to say about the visuals of this game. Let’s start with the good things: the mountains look lovely. They have a grand, expansive feeling to them, which makes exploring a blast, and what’s more, is that there’ll constantly be NPCs moving around, also skiing or snowboarding down the mountains. This combined with the wildlife moving around adds a touch of realism, making the slopes feel alive. Things get even better since the maps are based on actual real-life places! You might not be able to zoom in that far and get a detailed look, but the animations aren’t half bad either. However, the camera controls are rather annoying and take some getting used to. Especially during the first part of the game, you’ll probably be cursing the awkward top-down view more often than not.
Sound
Compared to its mobile app, the soundtrack of Grand Mountain Adventure got a complete revamp for its PC and console release. The music is very calm and relaxing, which fits the game’s intention of being more about leisure and exploration at your own pace, rather than time limits or goal completion. The game also has some unexpectedly funny sound effects for when you bump into trees or the deer that roam the resorts. There is no voice acting, though that’s to be expected.
Gameplay
Grand Mountain Adventure: Wonderlands is an open-world adventure game set in several big mountain ranges for you to explore. You start the game by picking whether you prefer to snowboard or ski, though this can be switched around whenever you want and as often as you want later. So there’s no reason for you not to experiment and find out which fits you better. After you have made your initial choice, it’s off to your first ski lift, which will take you some ways up the mountain to the first slope. This is just a small one and making it down is easy. This first slope serves as a tutorial, teaching you all the necessary mechanics such as gaining speed, braking, jumping, and keeping within the slope’s intended track. Once you make it down safely, you’re rewarded with a ski pass for your troubles.
With this, you’ve basically already discovered the meat of the game. Completing challenges will earn you more passes, and those passes unlock more lifts that you can ride to explore new parts of the mountains. Challenges are usually either timed – so for example, getting down a slope in a certain time frame – or require you to collect things on your way down the track. You’re not forced to do these challenges and stick to the slopes though. The game doesn’t have invisible walls and nothing stops you from skiing off into the woods if you want. There’s no real punishment for collisions either. At most, a bad landing will force you to insta respawn higher up the slope. Later on, some slopes have obstacles, such as avalanches or rolling boulders, but the game never gets hard.
There are some fun items to collect if you want. These items don’t have a function in the game, but they do add some depth. For example, there’s a telescope you can use to view the mountain range from a sort of first-person perspective. If you want to get fancy, you can practice your jumps to do tricks, though it’s not like they award points. There’s also a zen mode, which is basically the exact same as the normal mode except all the challenges, collectibles, and even NPCs have been removed. This means you can be even more relaxed while exploring the mountain. And if you have friends, feel free to travel the mountain together, since the game can be played in a local co-op with up to four people.
Conclusion
Grand Mountain Adventure is a simple yet fun adventure game that lets you live out your dream to become a casual skier or snowboarder. There are no competitions to win or there is no pressure to succeed. The game offers an amusing setting to explore, and there will be optional challenges to clear when you unlock more of the game’s content. Before we knew it we found ourselves making our way down the mountains over and over again. This is the perfect game to beat the summer heat with, as it allows you to dream of snowy mountaintops instead.
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