Lately, if one decided to visit Hellgate during 5th period, they would see the several standard students spread out at solitary tables across the library. However, one would also stumble across a dozen students crowded around two tables pushed together towards the center of the room. These students wouldn’t be like the ones quietly doing their work. They would be shouting, bent at shocking angles over their computers, and one might even catch the occasional slammed fist of rage on a table. These students would be playing Snow Rider 3D.
Each year, around the beginning of winter, high schoolers often search for some form of distraction to get them through the longest time of the semester: the weeks leading up to holiday break. This year it seems that the students of Hellgate High School have unanimously decided on Snow Rider 3D, an endless-runner-style Christmas-themed sledding game where players navigate between trees, rocks, and ravines while collecting presents and increasing a score that goes up by one every second. Snow Rider is increasing in popularity around Hellgate as winter break draws closer, leading to camaraderie among students and mixed reactions among teachers.
According to senior Keegan Losi, whose high score is 119, Snow Rider originated at Hellgate last winter in an anonymous Algebra 2 class. It went through a lull in popularity over the warmer months, but at the first sign of the leaves turning, the student body returned to the game. Losi said he thinks many students use Snow Rider to distract themselves when bored during class.
Senior Leo Westenfelder, whose high score is 137, said he often plays in class but doesn’t see it as a distraction.
“It helps me take a break while also keeping my brain engaged,” he said.
Losi has a more blunt approach: “If a teacher’s yapping, I’m gonna be ripping some Snow Rider,” he said.
When he’s not in class, Losi said he often plays Snow Rider during his fifth-period campus release with an aforementioned group of peers. The group often gets very vocal and wrapped up in the game, sometimes to the detriment of other library users and librarians alike during the post-lunch hour.
“It’s a competitive and unforgiving environment,” Losi said. “No one’s supportive, but it’s super fun.”
Snow Rider has created an exciting competition within the library during fifth period but also throughout the halls and classrooms of the entire building. Students chase a higher score to hold above the heads of their peers. When one plays Snow Rider at Hellgate, not only are they fighting for a higher numerical score, but also bragging rights and social capital.
Senior Jaxon Mund, whose high score is 147, said that the pursuit of a higher score than one’s peer group is what makes the game so exciting. He said that when someone sets a new high score, it seems unbreakable right up until it’s not.
“Getting a new high score is like the moon race,” Mund said. “Nobody thinks it can happen until it’s possible.”
Westenfelder agreed, and said this is what keeps students clicking “play again” repeatedly.
“I think before Christmas break someone’s going to hit 200,” he said.
On the faculty side of things, opinion on Snow Rider is a mixed bag. Understandably, with the games popularity, teachers have heard about and seen students playing Snow Rider in their classes.
“I think there’s pros and cons,” said Jocelyn Robertson, a long-term substitute teacher for English teacher Anna Bacon. “On the positive side, I see you guys building friendships and community through the game. However, it can be a distraction from class.”
Robertson said it’s frustrating as a teacher when students have work they can be doing but choose to play Snow Rider instead, leading to undone or missing work.
“Ultimately it’s student choice that affects learning,” she said. However, Robertson said she sees no problem with Snow Rider during free time, and thinks it can even have a positive social impact.
“I think it helps you guys build friendships and community, and it’s interesting to see the competitions you guys have,” Robertson said. “You guys are so competitive. It’s hilarious.”
Westenfelder agreed that the game has benefits.
“It’s training my forearm for those long history essays,” he said.
While it may lead to frustration among faculty members at Hellgate, Snow Rider is ultimately fostering a positive social environment in the school. The game brings people together, and gets students in the festive winter spirit with its cheerful music and decorations.
Losi said he thinks the game is very seasonally appropriate.
“I think it’s preparing us for ski season while there’s no snow,” he said. “It lets us release some energy that we have when we can’t be skiing.”
