Cold and the big storm in Mountain Shadow: get ready

In the cold seasons of Mountain Shadow, your home keeps a warm circle around it. People who work far outside it slowly get cold and turn tired. From the first dark winter on, a big storm comes once every winter. Get ready with the checklist: fill the woodpile to the storm line, close the barn door and bring everyone home. During the storm, tap the fire button to make the wood last longer.

How does the cold work?

Cold only matters in the three cold seasons: Late winter, First snow and The dark. The weather box shows the temperature with 0 to 3 snowflakes, from Mild to Freezing!. The seasons page has the table.

• Around your home there is a warm circle. Before you have a home, the campfire makes a small one. A lean-to makes it bigger, a cabin bigger again and a big cabin bigger still. A Stone stove makes it bigger on top of that.
• Someone working outside the circle slowly gets cold. Their card says Cold. After about 15 seconds in the coldest weather (longer on milder days), a person who was well turns Tired.
• Inside the circle, a cold person warms up again in about 10 seconds.
• Cold never makes anyone worse than tired.

So in the cold seasons, keep most people on jobs near home, like Animals, Rest or Ice fish on the lake. A tired person works at 60 % speed. See your family.

When does the big storm come?

Once every winter, starting with the first dark winter (chapter 3). It comes in First snow or The dark. You always get a warning:

1. The report before says: "A big storm is coming next season! Fill the woodpile."
2. In that season, a storm chip counts down: "Storm in 5 days!", "Storm tomorrow!", "The storm comes today!" and then Storm!.
3. The checklist "Get ready for the storm" opens by itself when the storm is first warned. Tap the storm chip to open it again.

A day in the game is less than two seconds, so the storm starts early in the season. It blows for about 17 to 20 seconds at normal speed.

The storm checklist

Remember that nobody can gather Wood in First snow or The dark. Fill the woodpile in Autumn, or have someone 13 or older Fell trees.

What happens during the storm?

• It is 12 °C colder than it would be.
• All work outside stops. Only Rest and Animals go on, indoors.
• The fire burns extra wood, but never more than half of the woodpile.
• If the barn door is open, the wind takes a quarter of the hay. Shut it during the storm and you lose only half of that.

Keep the fire going!

While the storm blows, a big fire button says Keep the fire going! and "Tap to add logs", with the seconds left. Press H, A on a controller, or tap it. Each tap makes the fire burn only half as much wood for 2 seconds. Taps add up to 6 seconds, so keep tapping. If the woodpile is empty, it says "No logs left to put on."

After the storm

"The storm is over! The sun is out." The report tells you what happened, for example:

• "The stove used 30 % of the woodpile."
• "You put logs on the fire 12 times."
• "The full woodpile kept everyone warm." / "The closed barn kept the animals safe." / "Everyone was home and cosy."
• "The wind blew away a little hay."
• "The wood ran out, so everyone is tired. Help is on the way!"

Even when the wood runs out, nobody is hurt. The help chain fills the gap at the end of the season. See the winter piles.

Quick storm plan

1. In Autumn, fill the woodpile well past its line.
2. When the report warns of the storm, put someone on Animals and tap Close the barn door.
3. Just before the storm, give everyone Rest or Animals at home.
4. When it blows, tap the fire button again and again.

See also

• The eight seasons: when the cold comes.
• Buildings: homes, the stone stove and the woodshed.
• Advanced tips: how much wood to keep.
• More snow and storms: the Nordic Recovery guide and the Timber Haul guide.
• Brave the storm: play Mountain Shadow.

• About Mountain Shadow
• All game guides