Wouter & Ymke 
Snowp is one of those games where you look at the table and think, ok… what exactly is going on here? You’re sliding metal rings across what looks like a frozen field, trying to scoop up little bells. It feels a bit like a winter sport that probably doesn’t exist, but also somehow should. I mean, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone somewhere actually plays this.
At first it looks like pure chaos. Flick, hit something, hope for the best. But after a few turns, you start to notice there’s a bit more going on. Not a lot, but enough to keep you paying attention.
👥 2-6 players, ages 8+
⌛ Playing time: 20-30 minutes
📝 Designers: Eisuke Fujinawa & Kazunori Hori
🎨 Artwork: Mizuki Toyama
🏢 Publisher: SzpiLAB (review copy provided)
Gameplay Overview
The idea is simple. You want to score the most points over three rounds by collecting bells.
On your turn, you flick or slide your ring from one of the starting circles on the board. You’re not allowed to cover that circle when you take your shot, which feels like a small thing, but it actually matters more than you’d expect. Then you let go and hope your aim was better than it felt. If your ring stops with bells inside it, you take them and put them on your sled board. That’s your turn done, and play continues clockwise.
A round keeps going until a turn leaves only one colour of bells on the board, or none at all. As soon as that happens, the round stops and you score. Scoring is based on sets. The more bells of one colour you have, the more points you get. It scales up nicely, so you’re always tempted to go for bigger sets. But the colour that’s left on the board at the end scores zero, which means a good-looking collection can suddenly become worthless.
Between rounds, you don’t start from scratch. After round one you can keep up to two bells, and after round two up to four, with a limit of two per colour. The player in the lead chooses first what to keep, which makes sense, but also gives them a bit of control going into the next round. The next round starts with the player who’s behind, and you repeat this for three rounds.
There are a few extra rules, but nothing too heavy. If you remove all bells of one colour, you get a bonus bell from another colour, as long as the round isn’t ending right there. Bells that leave the board are returned to the centre at the end of the turn. There’s also an optional retry if you completely miss once per round, which… let’s be honest, will happen.
After three rounds, whoever has the most points wins.
Artwork, Components, and Visual Design
The look of Snowp is very simple. Lots of light blues and whites, like a frozen lake on a quiet day. It’s easy to read and doesn’t get in the way of the game.
The bells are the highlight. They’re small, metallic, and colourful, and they just feel nice to handle. There’s something satisfying about collecting them, even if you’re not doing particularly well. I guess shiny things still work on us.
Each player has a sled board to keep their bells, which works exactly as you’d expect. Everything is visible, nothing gets confusing. The rings are plain, but that’s probably the right choice. You don’t really want anything getting in the way of the flicking.
There’s also a basic scoreboard and a fabric bag. Nothing special, but everything fits together and does what it needs to do.
Our Experience
Snowp starts off feeling very straightforward. Flick a ring, collect some bells, move on. It’s easy to explain, and within a round everyone understands what they’re doing. The table is also very clear, so you’re never really confused about the state of the game.
But after a few turns, it shifts a bit. You start noticing that not every good shot is about getting the most bells. Sometimes it’s about taking the right ones at the right moment, not just the most, or leaving the board in a way that makes things harder for the next player. That just kind of happens while you play, the game doesn’t really need to explain it.
During the round, you’re constantly looking at what’s still on the board. You get this feeling of ok… this could end soon, and if it does, I’m either in a good spot or I’m not. That changes how you approach your turn. You’re not just reacting, you’re also trying to read where things are heading.
The three rounds give the game a bit of a progression. The first round feels like getting a sense of how things move. The second is where you start trying to steer things a bit more. By the third, you’re mostly hoping that what you kept earlier actually helps.
For us, a lot of this game comes down to how it feels on the table. When the ring slides well and the bells react in a predictable way, everything feels smooth. When it doesn’t, you get small moments where you’re checking if something counts or not. We had a few of those, especially with bells sitting right on the edge of the ring. It’s not constant, but it does happen.
Player count also changes the experience quite a bit. With fewer players, you have more time to look at the board and think about what you want to do. With more players, the situation changes so much between turns that you’re mostly reacting. It doesn’t feel like the same game, just a different pace of it.
One thing we did like is how players affect each other without directly targeting anyone. You’re not attacking someone, but your move can still make things worse for them. That happens quite naturally.
Our Thoughts
Snowp works best when you don’t treat it as just a dexterity game. The flicking is the hook, but what keeps it interesting is how your decisions shape what comes next. It’s not only about what you take, but also about what you leave behind and when you decide to act.
The strongest part of the design is the rule where the last remaining colour scores nothing. That one rule carries a lot of weight. It forces players to pay attention to the full board and not just their own collection. It also creates moments where ending the round at the right time can be just as important as collecting efficiently.
The bonus for removing a colour supports that nicely. It gives you a reason to think about the board as a whole instead of just chasing whatever is closest. In some cases, one move can improve your position while also making things less appealing for others, which is where the game starts to feel a bit more interesting.
The carryover system is more mixed. It gives the three rounds a sense of progression, which is good, but it also seems to favour the player who is already ahead. Getting first choice on what to keep can help maintain that position. It might balance out over multiple plays, but it’s something we noticed.
There’s also a noticeable skill gap. Players who are better at controlling the ring will have an advantage, not just in what they collect, but also in how they influence the board. That can be a positive for groups who enjoy improving over time, but less so if the group is more casual.
Snowp works best for people who enjoy dexterity games but want just a little bit more to think about. It works well for mixed groups, and it’s easy to explain, which helps a lot. If you want something tactile, a bit interactive, and not too chaotic, this will probably land well.
And honestly… flicking rings at bells and calling it a sport is already kind of funny. I guess we’ll take it.
📝 We received a copy of the game from SzpiLAB.
