Snowball fight game: how to play and win more rounds

How to play

Press the start button and the snowy yard appears. The clock does not run until your first touch, so take a second to look at the five forts: two far away near the trees and three closer to you. Kids and snowmen rise from behind these forts at random. Tap or click one of them and a snowball leaves your hand and flies toward that spot. It takes a fraction of a second to arrive, and it only counts if the target is still standing when it lands.

To protect yourself, press and hold the Duck button under the yard, or hold anywhere on your own snow wall at the bottom of the picture. Your character drops behind the wall and stays there as long as you hold. You cannot throw while ducking, so hiding all the time keeps you safe but earns nothing. On a computer, the arrow keys pick a fort, the up arrow or F throws, and holding Space or the down arrow ducks.

• A round lasts 60 seconds, or ends early if you are hit three times.
• Each hit scores points, and snowmen are worth a little more than kids.
• A rare golden snowman appears for a moment and is worth the most.
• The dog and the kid waving a white flag are friends; hitting them costs points.
• Switching tabs or locking your phone pauses the round and the clock.

Reading the warning signs

Not every opponent fights back, but many do, and they always give you a moment of warning. A kid or snowman who is about to throw lifts an arm with a snowball and a red exclamation mark appears above their head. This is your best chance: hit them during the wind-up and the throw is cancelled completely.

If you miss that window, the snowball is released and flies toward you, growing bigger as it gets closer. A large exclamation mark appears above your wall and the Duck button turns red. Hold Duck until the snowball splats against the wall, then let go and get back to throwing. Ducking too early is fine; letting go too soon is what costs hearts.

Tips for a higher score

The biggest scores come from combos. Every hit in a row raises the value of the next one, while a miss, a hit on a friend or a snowball to the face resets the streak. That means accuracy matters more than speed. A calm player who throws only at clear targets usually beats someone who taps everywhere.

• Aim at targets that have just appeared; they will still be up when your snowball arrives.
• Far forts need a slightly longer flight, so avoid throwing at a far kid who is already sinking.
• Deal with anyone raising an arm first; stopping a throw protects both your hearts and your combo.
• Look before you tap. The dog and the white flag pop up in the same places as everyone else.
• The yard gets busier as the clock runs down, so keep a heart or two in reserve for the final seconds.

Snowball fights through history

Throwing snow at friends is probably as old as winter itself, and it has been painted and written about for centuries. One of the best known early pictures is a medieval fresco from around 1400 in the Eagle Tower of the Buonconsiglio Castle in Trento, northern Italy, where a group of nobles playfully pelt each other with snowballs in a January landscape.

In Japan, the schoolyard game grew into an organised sport called yukigassen, with teams, flags to capture and a fixed supply of snowballs made before each set. Tournaments are held in snowy regions of Japan and in several other countries. Many towns also stage huge friendly snowball fights during winter festivals, and people regularly try to set records for the largest one.

Fair play in a real snowball fight

The game lets you play a snowball fight without cold fingers, but the real thing is even more fun when everyone agrees on a few simple rules before the first throw. The same ideas also make the game a good challenge to share: take turns on one phone, compare scores and best combos, or send your result to a friend and see who lasts the full minute.

• Use soft, freshly packed snow and never squeeze snowballs into ice or add stones.
• Aim at bodies, not faces, and leave alone anyone who has not joined in.
• Agree on a safe zone where people can rest or fix their gloves.
• Stay away from roads, cars and windows, and stop when someone says enough.