When an extreme snow day freezes the entire town over, the kids come out to battle over territory. Cartman rallies the New Kid in South Park: Snow Day! for another “mystical” battle against the South Park cast. As Cartman’s dragon-in-chief, it’s your job to defeat waves of enemies and claim territory to find out what’s causing the endless winter. But most of your time is spent enjoying the classic South Park humour while engaging in enjoyable multiplayer combat.

South Park: Snow Day! throws chaotic action at you, sending swarms of children at you in real-time. You must work together with other players or reliable AI bots to survive and progress through new lands. The upgrade system helps you mould your playstyle by letting you focus on certain aspects. The option to choose your weapons and experiment encourages you to try new things. While the frantic nature of combat can be overwhelming and difficult, this is a great game to play with others if you don’t mind things getting too offensive.

The premise of the game is an unnatural winter bringing lots of snow to the town of South Park. Once school is officially canceled, all the children come out to play in one of the best unexpected holidays of the year. Cartman contacts your character and recruits them into his army. As the all-powerful wizard, Cartman wants control over the town, battling others for territory. But as the game goes on, the quest eventually investigates the cause of the unnatural winter and how to stop it.

There’s nothing special about the story except for its South Park humour and approach. Taking its cue from previous games in the series, ordinary situations are turned into intense, “mystical” adventures. Everything is silly, crude, and unreasonable which comes together for a humorous combination. You can’t help but laugh at Cartman’s unreasonable demands, Kyle’s belief in elves, or Stan’s amazing power axe.

If you aren’t a fan of South Park’s humour, the game might seem offensive. It is unapologetic, poking fun at major events and fearlessly rude. But that charm also makes the adventure shine because of how the kids take it seriously. Everyone is invested in the snow day and it’s refreshing to see them treat it as important. While the story isn’t ground-breaking, the humour makes it fun to follow along if you accept the cursing and inappropriate jokes.

The humour extends into the combat system, with various skills that help you survive against enemies. South Park: Snow Day! is filled with dangerous abilities like fart jumping or barfing kids that are hilarious to watch. But it doesn’t play down the danger and you must react quickly. Combat consists of progressing through areas and fighting waves of enemies with a small amount of exploration.

Fighting hordes of children is tough for an individual, which is why Cartman recruits three other New Kids to assist you. These New Kids are other players or AI bots depending on availability. Combat occurs in real time, forcing players to coordinate with each other or get swarmed by attacks. The AI bots are reliable for those who don’t have good access to multiplayer options. While they are generic combatants, they know how to assist teammates, especially when they need reviving.

You only get two abilities, one melee weapon, and one ranged weapon. Upgrades take the form of cards, which enhance your weapons or abilities, giving them new effects for better performance. Like a trading card game, the better the rarity, the better the effect. Several effects let you customise your playstyle or look for combinations. It borrows the upgrade system from rogue-like games but it works with the game’s setting.

You are encouraged to actively explore and find breakable items that provide healing or in-game currency. Exploration also helps you exploit height advantages, find environmental interactions, or get some breathing room. Everything comes together to provide a robust system that helps you survive against the fast-paced combat. Even if you don’t succeed, you still get rewards that help you prepare for your next adventure.

By collecting Dark Matter items, you can upgrade your character to suit a playstyle you want. Do you want to be an active warrior or a speedy fighter? You can always refund your upgrades if you want a different approach or make a mistake, encouraging you to experiment. This also gives you motivation to keep playing and explore, because Dark Matter isn’t easy to find.

The only downside to combat is that it can get hectic and special effects start clashing with each other. It’s fine when you throw some ranged attacks and dodge a few puking kids. But when bullies start appearing and the weather changes, things quickly get out of hand. While it does lend itself to the chaotic nature of children’s combat, it makes it hard to see and respond. This can result in unfortunate defeats without you being able to react in time, but it is somewhat mitigated by practice.

The world of South Park in 3D is enjoyable but not ground-breaking in terms of graphics. But the cast of South Park returns to voice the characters and the visualisations are on point. A fart jump is exactly what you think it would be, while catapults made by kids are nowhere near medieval quality. It actually feels like you are meeting the residents of South Park and exploring a town hit by a bad snow day.

This is a brand new adventure and all of the kids are treating it reasonably. Little children cry out when they are hurt. Bullies are aggressive and mean, yet still childish. Butters is the proud neutral party who organises everything but he still retains his meek attitude. While your character has no speaking lines, you never feel like you are out of the loop. Everyone addresses your presence, makes you feel welcome, and relies on you for everything.

South Park: Snow Day! is not a game you take seriously. Satire is everywhere, the humour is rude, and combat is disgusting. But that’s all part of the game’s charm and it adds to the gameplay. Combat is solid and great to play with friends or bots, with lots of customisation options to explore. If you need a quick laugh with friends or something ridiculous, you can’t go wrong with South Park: Snow Day!