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Snowrunner is, on the surface, a driving game where you plough through mud in oversized trucks. You never go fast, the early game does its best to bog you down and teach you the ropes the hard way. The maps in the base game are generally really well designed, and if you play them in order, they do a good job of slowly introducing you to what you need to know to succeed. That said, the game isn't great at explaining itself, so you might spending some tim looking up tips.

It's also really tempting to skip ahead to later areas to grab some powerful trucks, or even buy the DLC vehicles right away, but honestly, I'd recommend against that. The front end of the game feels very deliberate. It gives you specific vehicles that are meant to teach you through your mistakes. That means you're going to tip over. You're going to get stuck. You're going to have a bad time, at least at first. If you're not the type to learn through trial and error, this game might not be for you.

As you progress, you'll unlock new roads, better vehicles, upgrades, and most importantly, map knowledge. And honestly, knowing the map is just as important as the tools you're using. Half the battle is knowing what a route is going to throw at you: deep mud, aggressive camber, running water, rocks, tight turns, steep hills, icy roads, fallen trees, pylons. Knowing what to use, where to use it, and getting the best out of your fleet is the really rewarding part.

Speaking of fleet, let's talk about the vehicles in the base game. Pretty much everything here can be useful in some regard, and each truck is assigned a class.

Scouts are small vehicles used for exploring the map. They're your go-to for finding watchtowers, uncovering the map, and rescuing vehicles that have gotten themselves into trouble. There are some really powerful ones in the base game, a few of which I'm still using deep into the season passes, though the DLCs do offer some better options.

Offroaders are your next class up, and they do exactly what you'd expect. They're more capable than Scouts, but they can't get to the tighter, more nimble spots. Again, there are a few vehicles here that hold up really well into the late game if you choose to go that far.

Next up are the Heavy class. These are everything Offroaders are and more, with specialised equipment for specific tasks, like carrying logs or hauling fuel in larger quantities. Their added weight and strength also make them better at rescuing stuck or overturned vehicles.

Heavy Duty sits somewhere between Offroad and Heavy. It's a bit of a mixed bag, but honestly, just pick the one that feels right to you. It'll get you through the first three scenarios without too much trouble.

And finally, there's Highway. I'm not entirely sure why this class exists in this game, because it's nearly useless. There is one vehicle that can be upgraded to be very good, but that's outside the scope of the vanilla game, so I won't dwell on it too much.

Each vehicle can have attachments and upgrades applied to them, some of which unlock as you earn XP. It's a bit like an RPG, each vehicle becomes something you get really familiar with, learning what it's capable of and what it absolutely won't be able to do.

Missions are broken into a few parts. There are tasks, usually shorter jobs that might take 30 minutes or so and contracts, which provide an overall theme and story for each area. Contracts offer a bigger goal to work toward before moving on to the next region. It could be anything from setting up sawmills, installing oil rigs, or searching for oil deposits. It's not exactly Shakespeare, but it doesn't need to be.

Gameplay is essentially everything I've just described, all rolled together. Sometimes it's easier to describe this as a puzzle game that happens to be about driving, because you're often faced with dilemmas that have no easy answer. Sometimes the solution is simple, sometimes it's hard, but there are usually multiple ways to get the job done. Different players will approach things differently, and there's really no single right answer.