Devlog #5: How Snow Works in Froggy Hates Snow

Snow digging is the core mechanic in Froggy Hates Snow - and honestly, I believe it’s what makes the game unique.

There are a lot of games with interactive snow, but in most of them it’s just visual sugar. It looks cool, feels satisfying… but doesn’t really affect gameplay.

I wanted to change that.

Instead of treating snow like just a static surface under your feet, I built the game around it as a fully interactable “material” you constantly shape and fight through. The world is basically one big snow field where every part of it can be removed to clear a path and reveal resources and points of interest.

In fact, there aren’t even real “chunks” under the hood. Technically, it’s one big heightmap texture, where each pixel represents the snow height at a specific point. When you dig, you’re basically “painting” onto that texture and lowering the snow in real time.

That’s what allows the snow to look smooth and natural - not like cubes or blocks, but more like soft, realistic snow hills that you carve through.

Different areas also have different “layers” and density - so sometimes you can quickly carve through soft snow, and other times you hit dense or frozen sections that slow you down and force you to switch tools or approach differently.

Here’s how you can break through snow (and ice) in the game... Steam post image

Hands

The basics. Always available, but slow. You can upgrade them, but they get expensive quickly and the effectiveness is still limited.

Shovel

A must-have. Bigger digging area, faster digging, and you can also hit enemies with it. Simple and reliable.

Pickaxe

Your basic tool for ice. Slow, but it gets the job done.

Drill

A powerful ice-breaking tool. Very fast and extremely satisfying to use.

Salt Sack

A throwable that turns ice into snow. After that, snow is much easier to remove. Also has nice acid-like VFX and SFX.

Dynamite

Very powerful. Removes both snow and ice, but in a limited area.

Air Bomb

Great for clearing large areas of soft snow. Doesn’t work on ice.

Snowblower & Flamethrower

These allow continuous snow removal for some time and are some of the most satisfying tools in the game. The flamethrower is rarer and more powerful - it can also melt ice and set enemies on fire.

Mole

A helper that digs tunnels automatically. You can have several at once, so you can get some nice passive snow removal.

Snowball Roll

Lets you turn into a rolling snowball that grows as it collects snow. With upgrades, it can become huge and clear massive areas.

There are also temporary and permanent boosts like Hot Tea and Gloves, which improve your digging and heat stats and can noticeably enhance other digging tools.

Each skill has its own rarity and use case, so you have to choose wisely during a run. It depends on your character, the location, how much ice there is, a bit of luck and your skill in using these tools effectively.

That’s the idea behind snow in Froggy Hates Snow - not just something that looks good, but something you actively interact with and build your playstyle around.

If you haven't already, be sure to try it out for yourself in the demo - and don't forget to wishlist!

More soon👀

• Serge