Tricky Madness Multiplayer and Endless Jam Mode Update Hits Steam December 17

Tricky Madness is heading into the holiday stretch with its largest Early Access addition yet. Solo developer Nathan Dearth has announced that multiplayer and the new Jam Mode will arrive for the arcade snowboarding game on Steam on December 17. The update will be free for everyone who already owns the game.

The announcement puts a major social feature behind a game built around high-speed descents, score-chasing trick lines, and the exaggerated snowboarding style associated with early-2000s arcade games. Rather than treating multiplayer as a separate, limited feature, the incoming update is designed to support several ways of getting on the mountain together: online play, local split-screen, mixed local and online groups, friend invitations, and matchmaking with other players.

Tricky Madness is currently in Early Access on Steam and has a Very Positive user rating from more than 450 reviews. Its December update is not a full-launch announcement, but it significantly expands the experience available while development continues. A console release remains planned for the eventual full version, although specific console platforms and a release date have not been confirmed.

Up to eight players can share the slopes

The headline feature is multiplayer for as many as eight players. Local play will accommodate up to four people through split-screen, while online functionality broadens those sessions beyond a single room. Crucially, the update will support mixed lobbies, allowing local players and online participants to join the same game.

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That mixed setup is particularly notable for a sports game with an arcade focus. Split-screen multiplayer can make a comeback-style snowboarding game feel immediately social, while online support means a local session does not need to end because one member of a group is playing remotely. Players will be able to queue together, compete with friends, or meet other riders through matchmaking.

The announcement does not detail every competitive rule set, scoring option, or map rotation planned for multiplayer. What it does establish is that the feature is intended to work across the game's existing variety of play styles rather than being restricted to one narrowly defined online race type. That should matter for a game whose appeal rests on both finishing quickly and assembling high-value trick combinations.

Jam Mode aims for uninterrupted arcade sessions

Alongside standard multiplayer support, the December update introduces Jam Mode, an endless arcade-style multiplayer format. Players can enter alone, bring friends, or join strangers, then continue through a sequence of events rather than treating every match as a hard stop.

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In Jam Mode, the group votes on the next event and course to play. The format is intended to keep the session moving as players shift between activities and terrain, with the next selection decided by the people already in the lobby. Steam friend invites, online matchmaking, and local split-screen are all part of the mode's supported ways to play.

For a game inspired by an era when couch competition, score attacks, and repeat runs were central to the genre, an ongoing playlist-style mode is a natural fit. It gives players room to stay in a lobby for an extended session, especially if they want a less formal alternative to manually setting up individual events. The ability to drop in by oneself also suggests Jam Mode could provide a quick route into the multiplayer community without requiring a pre-arranged group.

Whether players approach each course as a race, a freestyle scoring opportunity, or simply a chance to show off difficult maneuvers, the mode's vote-based flow should make variety an important part of its identity. It is a multiplayer structure that appears focused as much on momentum and replayability as it is on declaring a single winner after one run.

An arcade snowboarding throwback with modern considerations

Tricky Madness presents itself as a tribute to the character-driven, trick-heavy snowboarding games that defined much of the early 2000s. Its design includes a recognizable trick system, familiar signature-style moves, and a presentation that updates that formula with contemporary visuals and accessibility options.

The game is built to accommodate different player priorities. Some riders may focus on speed and clean lines through a course, while others will pursue large point totals by linking tricks together. Its broader tricking framework includes speed boosts, Wicked Tricks, and Grinds, giving players multiple tools for building momentum and maximizing a run.

That balance is also why multiplayer has the potential to be more than a simple race addition. Arcade snowboarding games often create memorable rivalry through competing definitions of a great run: one player may win through raw pace, another through a risky aerial sequence, and another through clever use of rails and terrain. Tricky Madness already identifies freestyle, time trials, and races as its three main modes, leaving several possible foundations for group play as development moves forward.

Accessibility is another stated part of the game's approach. The goal is not only to reproduce the feel of older games, but to make that style approachable for players who may be returning to the genre as well as those encountering its conventions for the first time. The multiplayer update's inclusion of local and online options follows the same broad philosophy by making it easier for different kinds of groups to participate.

What is available now and what remains on the road to full release

Early Access currently includes four playable characters: Tess, Maya, Curtis, and Ryan. The full release is planned to expand that roster to eight fully voiced characters. A voiced in-game DJ commentator is also part of the developer's longer-term feature plan.

On the environment side, the completed version is expected to feature eight handcrafted standalone maps. Four of those maps are available during Early Access. The roadmap also calls for a dedicated open-world mountain campaign that moves between maps, which could give the game a larger connective structure beyond individual events and standalone courses.

These planned features indicate that the December multiplayer update is one stage in a wider development effort rather than the final content drop. The current version has only half of the intended standalone-map total, half of the planned character roster, and the campaign structure still ahead of it. Players interested primarily in solo progression may therefore want to view the Early Access build as an evolving version of the full vision, while competitive and co-op-minded players will have substantially more to explore after December 17.

There is also a clear distinction between the upcoming Steam update and the game's eventual console plans. Multiplayer and Jam Mode have been announced specifically for Steam on December 17. Consoles are planned for the full release, but no further platform breakdown, timing, or feature parity details have been provided.

Why the update could be a pivotal Early Access moment

Adding multiplayer can change the rhythm of an arcade sports game in ways that new tracks or cosmetic additions cannot. A strong single-player trick system gives players goals to master, but direct competition and shared sessions create reasons to revisit those mechanics with friends. A difficult line becomes something to demonstrate, a fast route becomes something to defend, and a high score becomes a challenge for the next person in the lobby.

Tricky Madness already has a positive reception on Steam, and the December update gives that existing player base a major new reason to return. The combination of eight-player online capacity, four-player local split-screen, mixed lobbies, and an endless rotating mode is an ambitious feature set for a game developed by one person.

Of course, the practical experience will depend on how matchmaking, connections, split-screen performance, event balance, and lobby population hold up after launch. Those details will only become clear once players get access. Still, the announced structure gives Tricky Madness several ways to support the kind of spontaneous, repeatable sessions that suit its arcade inspiration.

Tricky Madness multiplayer and Jam Mode launch as a free update on Steam on December 17. With the full release and console versions still to come, the update marks a substantial expansion of the game's Early Access offering and moves its snowboarding throwback closer to a full mountain-wide party.