SnowRunner: Beginner's Guide SnowRunner guide, tips

In this chapter of the SnowRunner game guide, you will learn how to cope at the beginning of the game, so as not to lose too much time. We suggest which car to pick for the start, where to start exploring the map, and how to navigate through particularly difficult sections of the road.

Remember that SnowRunner is an extremely slow game where nothing happens quickly. Completing tasks and making decent money in the game will take time. The gameplay here is so calm that it is worth listening to your favorite album or even an audiobook in the background!

Snowrunner gameplay can be very slow.

• Choose the right car - Fleetstar 2070a
• Carefully assess the terrain ahead
• Exploration first, then earning money
• Search for new vehicles and parts on the map
• Use the winch
• Use the Recover option
• Plan your route on the map
• Remember about the 4x4 drive and differential lock
• Change the time of day
• Stay in Michigan for longer
• Transport cargo in the right order

Choose the right car - Fleetstar 2070a

At first you don't have much choice. Your first car will be Chevrolet CK1500 - a pickup truck, which will come in handy to unlock more powerful trucks. This is a Scout car good for exploring the map, but certainly not in its basic configuration. Later, it becomes more useful when you install a higher suspension and mud-driving tires on it.

With this Chevrolet, you will quickly unlock the GMC MH900 motorway truck, and, as you'd guess, it won't do well in the field either. Use it to complete the mission involving rebuilding the bridge to get to your garage - your first base. You will find the Fleetstar F2070A truck, which should become your primary vehicle at the beginning of the game.

Don't sell your first car - the Chevrolet! After some time, when you level up your driver, you will be able to significantly modify it. With improved parts, especially a winch and mud tires, it will be a great scout vehicle for exploring maps.

That's where the Fleetstar truck is located. All you have to do is pull up to unlock it.

Fleetstar 2070A is a Heavy Duty vehicle. It has a powerful engine to pull trailers and other vehicles, and a four-wheel drive and differential lock, which allows it to get out of many mud traps.

Once unlocked, enter the garage and make the necessary purchases: Frame Addon and better terrain tires. See garage and warehouse sections for more information.

Fleetstar 2070A is a great choice for start.

Carefully assess the terrain ahead

Learn to assess the terrain in front of you and use it to your advantage. On the maps, you will find quite obvious detours of some of the more submerged parts of the terrain, and then it is not difficult to take a marked path.

In many other cases, it is enough to head to the side of the road to save yourself the arduous crossing of mud or puddles. If the terrain looks wide and hard enough to drive over, always avoid the mud traps. However, you always have to be careful of any tilting of the terrain, trees, stones, and other traps that may impede your travel.

Driving on grass should be more efficient than on mud - especially when you don't have the right tires.

A mud pit is a trap for road tires. It's better to go sideways.

Exploration first, then earning money

Your first tasks are to unlock the observation tower and rebuild the bridge to get to the garage. Repeat this pattern with each new location and region of the map. Always try to unlock the road at the beginning - it can be a wooden bridge, a steel bridge or a tame made of rocks. Then, choose the observation towers.

Rebuilding bridges and crossings them should be your priority.

Completing observation towers will reveal the location of improved vehicle parts, new cars that can be quickly added to the garage and sold, and new missions to complete. Unlocking the road, in turn, can significantly shorten the time to travel to a destination required for a given mission.

Completing the towers reveals important points on the map.

Search for new vehicles and parts on the map

After towers and bridges you should focus on reaching upgrade parts and new vehicles that are also hidden in different locations. All you need to do is reach them and use the function menu to quickly switch and send them to the garage. If you don't want to use it, you can always sell it for some cash.

Wrecks with a sprocket icon in the box are improved vehicle parts.

Note - in addition to the new vehicles to be discovered on the map, there are also cars assigned to the mission that have to be towed to a given location. For them, you only get a small amount included in the contract and you'll have to work hard to get them out of various off-field pitfalls. Leave such missions and vehicles for later.

Cars hidden on the map are easy money.

Use the winch

Winch is one of the most useful gadgets in your car. Use it whenever there's a hitch and the car is moving too slowly. Remember that you can attach it to the rear and side parts of the car as well, and the environmental objects you can use your winch on can be hidden, e.g. in grass. See the Winch section for details.

Use the Recover option

After doing a long and hard task, you don't have to go to the garage or look for a gas station. Use the function menu and Recover option to move straight to the garage. Your vehicle will be fixed and refueled right away. Recovering to the garage is free in the game. Use this option also if you are completely stuck somewhere on the road.

However, by using the recover option you will lose the cargo you are currently transporting. If you don't want to repeat your route to the warehouse and your car gets stuck or runs out of fuel, instead of recovering, you should consider using a second vehicle with a repair kit.

Plan your route on the map

With longer travels, it's easy to get lost in the field. If you don't want to look at the map all the time, plan the route with blue navigation points, taking into account, for example, as many asphalt roads as possible and avoiding particularly difficult sections of the route. For long journeys to another part of the map, consider refueling at gas stations.

Remember about the 4x4 drive and differential lock

When driving off-road, always use AWD four-wheel drive, and in special cases, low gear and differential lock. Remember that getting out of a mud trap often forces you to move millimeter by millimeter and takes a long time.

It is often helpful to turn the wheels one way or the other, to withdraw slightly, or to try to move on high gear.

Change the time of day

Driving at night is very atmospheric, but if you don't like to keep your eyes peeled, you can quickly jump to the next time of day on the map menu. This does not involve any financial penalty. You also don't have to turn off the engine - your vehicle won't run out of fuel.

Stay in Michigan for longer

At the beginning of the game, you'll be taken to atmospheric Alaska, but it's worth to quickly return Michigan. Driving in the snow is very difficult and requires a pretty good vehicle. Unlock what you can in the first location, collect a few good vehicles with the right upgrades, and just go on a winter trip.

Transport cargo in the right order

Some missions in the game require the transport of several types of resources and components. Deliver them in the order you see in the job description, otherwise, the game will not accept your cargo and you will have to repeat the course. This can be seen in the first mission involving rebuilding, where first the metal parts of the base of the structure are needed and then the planks to create the bed. There will be a lot more situations like this in the game.