Chilla's Art has revealed Snowed Under | 雪葬, a new first-person game built around the seemingly ordinary task of shoveling snow in the mountains.
Players must physically clear a path toward a distant steel tower, uncovering buried structures and materials while gradually learning what happened in the area.
Quick Summary
- Official title: Snowed Under | 雪葬
- Developer: Chilla's Art
- Publisher: Chilla's Art
- Platform: PC via Steam
- Release date: not announced
- Steam status as of August 11, 2026: Coming soon
- Genres: first-person horror and indie
- Perspective: first-person
- Mode: single-player
- Estimated playtime: 2–4 hours
- Core activity: shoveling and digging through snow
- Initial objective: reach a steel tower in the mountains
- Progression: scrap materials improve the shovel
- Important character: Kai, the protagonist's friend
- Exploration: buried buildings and landmarks
- Engine: Unreal Engine
- Steam Achievements: supported
- Family Sharing: supported
- Supported languages: eight
- Full audio: Japanese
- Indonesian language: not supported
- Mature content: killing and blood
- Price: not announced
- Console versions: not announced
- Minimum OS: Windows 10 x64
- Minimum memory: 4 GB RAM
- Storage: 3 GB
Steam, Official Announcement, and Gameplay Screenshots

Digging a Path Toward a Steel Tower
Snowed Under takes place in a mountainous area buried beneath deep snow. There is no clear road carrying the player directly toward the destination.
Instead, the player must use a shovel to create a path and keep moving toward a steel tower visible in the distance.
Digging can reveal food, buildings, and other objects hidden below the surface. Those discoveries gradually transform the snowfield from a simple obstacle into the game's primary means of exploration.
Buried buildings act as landmarks along the route. Chilla's Art deliberately leaves their contents unexplained, tying them to questions about what happened in the area and what may be about to happen.
It follows a familiar Chilla's Art approach: an ordinary job establishes the routine before increasingly uncomfortable discoveries begin to disrupt it.
Scrap Materials Improve the Shovel
The snow is also hiding resources.
Players can collect scrap materials and spend them on shovel upgrades, improving digging efficiency as the journey continues.
This gives excavation a second purpose. Digging is both the way forward and the method used to obtain resources needed to make future excavation easier.
The early screenshots show structures nearly swallowed by snow, abandoned facilities, and large outdoor spaces that must be gradually exposed.
Chilla's Art has not yet detailed the complete upgrade tree, inventory rules, or the number of shovel improvements.
Kai Becomes Part of the Mystery
The protagonist is not completely alone.
Kai, described as a friend, becomes an important conversational partner throughout the journey. Dialogue between the two continues to develop as the days pass.
Steam specifically raises questions about what Kai is thinking and what the protagonist begins to feel, suggesting that the mystery is tied to their relationship rather than only to the environment.
The protagonist's identity, the reason the pair are in the mountains, and their connection to the steel tower remain unknown.
That uncertainty gives Snowed Under a more personal thread alongside the gradual uncovering of buried locations.
A 2–4 Hour Game with No Release Date Yet
Chilla's Art estimates a playtime of approximately two to four hours.
As of August 11, 2026, Steam still lists Snowed Under as Coming soon. Pricing and an exact release date have not been announced.
The game supports eight interface and subtitle languages: English, Japanese, French, Hungarian, Korean, Vietnamese, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese.
Japanese is currently the only language with full voice audio.
Its minimum PC requirements list an Intel Core i5-6200, 4 GB RAM, Intel HD Graphics 630, DirectX 11, and 3 GB of available storage.
Chilla's Art Discloses Pre-production AI Use
The Steam page also includes an AI-generated-content disclosure.
According to Chilla's Art, AI tools were used to generate concept ideas and assist with tedious work during pre-production.
The studio separately states that all final assets, including store images and promotional thumbnails, are not AI-generated.
The disclosure is available directly on the Steam product page before release.
Why This Matters
1) A mundane task becomes the horror mechanic
The game does not begin with a haunted mansion or supernatural investigation. Its central action is simply shoveling snow and seeing what the next layer exposes.
2) The environment must actually be uncovered
Snow is more than scenery. Digging reveals paths, resources, buildings, and potential clues.
3) Kai introduces a relationship-driven mystery
Evolving conversations add a human element alongside the buried locations and unexplained events.
4) It is designed as a compact experience
The estimated two-to-four-hour length keeps Snowed Under within the shorter horror format associated with much of Chilla's Art's catalog.
Game Information
The important details currently known are:
- Snowed Under | 雪葬 is a new Chilla's Art game
- it can currently be wishlisted on Steam
- its release date and price remain unannounced
- players shovel through snow in the mountains
- the initial destination is a steel tower
- buried buildings and landmarks can be uncovered
- scrap materials are used to upgrade the shovel
- Kai is the protagonist's friend
- conversations with Kai develop over multiple days
- estimated playtime is 2–4 hours
- the game uses Unreal Engine
- single-player is confirmed
- Steam Achievements and Family Sharing are supported
- eight languages are supported
- full voice audio is currently Japanese only
- Indonesian is not supported
- mature content includes killing and blood
- minimum memory is 4 GB RAM
- approximately 3 GB of storage is required
- Chilla's Art says the final game assets are not AI-generated
- current information is available on the official Snowed Under Steam page
- development updates are published through the official Chilla's Art X account
Closing
Snowed Under applies Chilla's Art's horror formula to a mountain covered in snow, asking players to keep digging toward a steel tower while exposing whatever has been buried underneath.
Steam currently reveals its core excavation loop, upgrade mechanic, relationship with Kai, and estimated length, while its exact launch date and price remain unannounced.
- Steam — Official Store Page, Gameplay Systems, Languages, Requirements, AI Disclosure, and Release Status
- Chilla's Art X — Official Snowed Under Announcement and Steam Wishlist Link
- Chilla's Art X — Snowed Under Beta Availability for Patreon Supporters
- AUTOMATON WEST — First-Person Horror Overview, Kai, Landmarks, and Development Details
- Chilla's Art — Official Studio Website