Project Winter Mobile

In most games, it's important to trust your teammates and to know they've got your back. That's far from the case with Project Winter Mobile. Here, trust is a luxury and the person watching your back might just be waiting to stab you in it. This "survival/betrayal" sort of game isn't necessarily new, but it can be both wildly entertaining and equally frustrating. On the one hand, it's painful to see your hard work go circling down the drain due to a particularly clever saboteur, or worse still, to find yourself exiled to the harsh snow and ice without shelter after being wrongly accused by your teammates. Other the other hand, though, there's little more exhilarating than correctly identifying the rogue troublemaker or even better, pulling off a convincing cover story when you're actually the one creating the chaos. And the game's setting, isolated far from civilization in an extreme winter wilderness, seems like a perfect fit for this sort of experience. It hits closer to home than, say, hopping merrily through an cartoony space station.

As much fun as Project Winter Mobile is, there are still some important things to keep note of. Foremost of these is the fact that the game's biggest strength is also its greatest weakness: Teammates. When you've got a good group that's communicating well, everything runs like a well-oiled machine. But there are also matches that devolve quickly into profanity laced, argumentative, and just plain toxic conversations over voice chat. Thankfully, these seem to be the exception more so than the norm, but when they happen, it can leave a bad taste in your mouth. Still, when you find yourself in the right group, there's an undeniable camaraderie and a sense of real accomplishment when you all take off to warmer climates in the rescue helicopter. And remember, whether you're a survivor or a traitor, the first rule in this snowy survival adventure is always "Play it cool."