Winter Games

A classic sports simulation video game series focused on winter sports, most notably developed by Epyx in 1985.

Sports

17

Games

1980–2022

Years

16

Platforms

$22.00

Ø CIB

-3.9%

24M change

About

The Winter Games series includes the highly popular 1985 release by Epyx, which was ported to numerous platforms including the Commodore 64, Apple II, and Atari ST. It features various winter sports events such as alpine skiing, ski jumping, figure skating, and bobsledding. The series also encompasses various re-releases, budget editions like Winter Games [Kixx], and platform-specific versions like Winter Games 128.

The lineage of these titles traces back to early microcomputer sports simulations. The 1978 and 1980 iterations of Winter Games established early text-based and rudimentary graphical representations of cold-weather athletics. By 1982, developers expanded the concept with Winter Games and the specialized Winter Games 128, which optimized performance for early 8-bit architectures. The budget re-release Winter Games [Kixx] later brought these experiences to a wider audience.

The landmark 1985 releases, including the standard Winter Games and the Winter Games [Cassette] edition, introduced advanced multi-event structures, allowing players to compete sequentially or practice individual disciplines. These versions utilized competitive hot-seat multiplayer modes, enabling up to eight players to log their scores and represent different nations. This competitive format influenced subsequent sports titles, establishing a template for multi-event athletic simulations throughout the late 1980s.