SnowRunner Beginner's Guide - Map Exploration, Vehicles, More (2024)

Saber Interactive has released its next iteration in their hardcore off-road simulator franchise SnowRunner. Compared to its first release in the franchise MudRunner, SnowRunner takes us to even harsher environments and improves upon every major aspect of the original title. Playing this game is no easy feat. unless you are aware of every mechanic in detail which is why we have curated this SnowRunner Beginner’s Guide for you.

Beginner’s Guide – SnowRunner

Our SnowRunner Beginner’s Guide details everything that you need to know if you are just starting playing SnowRunner.

Always Explore New Areas

Each map is SnowRunner is huge offering tons of areas to explore and drive through them. Some of the areas are much easier to navigate as compared to other areas. Your main path is not always the easiest one so it is highly recommended that you always explore and scout new areas. You will need to stop doing missions and jobs for a bit to explore the entire maps so that you have discovered every nook and cranny of the map so that you have more than one possible routes for each location. These multiple routes will come in handy because not every vehicle has the same amount of ground clearance and power to navigate through the toughest of the terrains of the map.

The easiest path could be filled with harsh terrain and big obstacles that might not be possible to traverse for smaller trucks and SUVs in the game hence you will need to find new and easier routes for these vehicles. To make your life easier, there are multiple Watch Towers on each map. Simply find them all and they will quickly reveal large chunks of the maps for you. Finding these watchtowers will also mark special points on your map such as hidden vehicles, upgrades, and contracts. Finding these Watch Towers is your safest bet of uncovering the maps as quickly as possible.

Manage Your Vehicles in the Garage

SnowRunner comes with a large variety of vehicles for you to choose from. These range from full-sized behemoth trucks to small trucks and SUVs. The game allows you to further buy, sell and customize these vehicles according to your will. The options are a lot and you can even find hidden upgrades scattered all around the maps which are really worth the hassle of finding them. Completing jobs and contracts will allow you to earn all the resources that you need to purchase and manage your vehicles in the garage.

Since SnowRunner features a large number of vehicles, I will advise that you find some vehicles that suit your gameplay style and appeal to you visually as well and stick to them. It is wise to have a smaller but useful garage rather than a huge garage with vehicles just sitting there that you are never going to use. You can customize the vehicles that you use the most. Apply visual upgrades as well as performance upgrades which will make them more capable of handling tougher terrains that they were originally intended to tackle. You can switch vehicles between maps with the Vehicle Storage so you can have your favorite vehicles on any map.

Always Keep an Eye Out on Your Fuel

Fuel is one of the most important aspects of SnowRunner that you have to keep in check always. While some vehicles allow you to have really large amounts of fuel on-board, some of the smaller vehicles do not have this luxury and you will need to consider other options of completing tasks and objectives with these vehicles. Even bigger vehicles can run out of fuel if you are not careful. To counter your fuel expenditure and for better fuel management, you must always plot your course according to the fuel in your tank.

Each map has a multitude of fuel stations scattered around but not all of them will fall in your way and some of the jobs in SnowRunner expand over multiple maps. In such scenarios, you must always manage your fuel by plotting the best routes possible. If possible, purchase and use a fuel tanker with you if your objective requires a smaller truck or SUV which does not have large fuel reserve options. Preparing for long hauls is always a good idea and will greatly help you in various situations.

Get Comfortable with Advanced Driving Mechanics

SnowRunner is an off-road simulation game which means that it comes with more advanced controls than just acceleration, braking, and turning. Depending on the terrain, you will need to use some advanced driving mechanics such as the All-Wheel Drive system or the Differential Lock. Both of these driving mechanics are extremely helpful in the game but use them the wrong way and you will end up damaging your truck which is not very ideal when you are high above in the snowy mountains.

All-Wheel Drive system or AWD delivers power to all of the vehicle’s wheels and allows it to move forward even on the steepest of the slopes. If your vehicle is unable to climb a steep slope, switch to AWD and it will have a much better chance of moving up. Also, try to move left and left to give the vehicle a little bit of angle while climbing giving it a better chance with AWD to gain traction. However, it comes with the added consumption of fuel which is something you cannot afford as well so you must rely on AWD when you are completely stuck and unable to climb slopes.

On the other hand, the Differential Lock works in a completely different way. With the Differential Wheel unlocked, each wheel rotates at its own speed which is essential for safer turnings at high speed. However, in certain conditions, this leads to traction loss when you are trying to overcome some obstacles or even climbing steep slopes. With Differential Lock in place, it will lock two wheels sharing the same axle and forces them to rotate at the same speed. This means that even if one of the wheels is gaining traction, the vehicle will force the one losing traction to rotate at the same speed as the one with the traction.

This eliminates extra wheel spin and allows you to overcome obstacles and steep slopes. In extreme conditions, you will need to use both AWD and Diff Lock in unison, and sometimes you will be required to switch back and forth between both of them in order to find the perfect spot to overcome the obstacle. While AWD consumes more speed, having Diff Lock always-on will damage your axles so you must turn it off once you have overcome the problem. Using both of them at all times will not only hinder your handling but will also increase your fuel costs and damage your truck over time so always keep them as a last resort for situations where you are stuck.

The third important mechanic that you should be aware of is your Winch. Nearly all vehicles come equipped with a Winch right from the start. This does not work with your AWD or Diff Lock rather it is a lone wolf and a rather good one at too. The Winch is accessed by the advanced driving menu and is one of the most important mechanics in the game. The winch is the only advanced mechanic in the game which is not always used when your current vehicle is stuck. Although it helps you pull yourself out when you get stuck, you can also use your Winch to pull other vehicles and objects in the game. However, the Winch is powered by your engine so it will consume quite a lot of fuel and it also requires a solid object or base to latch onto to work. You can switch different types of winches in your garage as well.

Take Your Time to Avoid Getting Stuck

SnowRunner is a slow game. While you may have time limits for jobs, you will not be reaching anywhere on time if you are stuck. In extreme conditions such as deep snow, mud or bogs, you must take your time and take it slow because going slow is the fastest way in SnowRunner. If you feel like your wheels are sinking down and you are losing traction. Stop pushing the throttle to the max and instantly switch to low gears and gently push the throttle to give the wheels every chance of finding anything to catch on and give you some traction.

If you are driving smaller SUVs and trucks, if you get stuck you can also rock your way out of the mud and deep snow by accelerating forward and backward in small movements. This allows your vehicle to get free either from the front side or the backside giving you a chance to move back or forward from your current position. Feathering on the throttle will give you a better chance of slowly moving out of deep mud and slow rather than heavy acceleration because that will simply bog down your wheels even deeper making matters worse for you.

Tackle Difficult Contracts Later

Some of the contracts and jobs in SnowRunner are aimed for beginners while some of them are extremely difficult and are best tackled when you have reached a higher Driver Rank. Continue playing the game and aim for easier tasks first to increase your Driver Rank and get access to better upgrades and vehicles which ensure that you are ready to tackle much harder tasks and contracts.

These are all the tips and tricks that we have for you right now for playing SnowRunner and thus concludes our SnowRunner Beginner’s Guide. If you have some tips and tricks for us, make sure to share them with us in the comments section below.