Lonely Mountains: Downhill

Lonely Mountains: Downhill is a mountain bike game by Megagon Industries. You ride without opponents on the track from a mountain peak down into the valley, searching for your own route between rocks, forests and rivers. The descents can be explored at a relaxed pace or optimised for the fastest times.

Lonely Mountains: Downhill was released on Oct 22, 2019 on European PlayStation Stores for PS4. The PC version followed on Oct 23, 2019, as did the Xbox One version. The game was released for Nintendo Switch on May 7, 2020.

The base game was released natively for PC, PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. On PC, Windows and macOS are supported. The PS4 version can be played on PS5 via backward compatibility, but it is not a standalone PS5 release. The same applies to existing older console versions on newer systems, where they are compatible.

You control the bike's speed and direction and must match turns, jumps and landings precisely. A physics-based riding model makes the bike react to terrain and obstacles. After a crash, you restart at a checkpoint and can immediately try a different route.

Eldfjall Island is a paid expansion with a volcanic island and new descents. Free track add-ons are called Riley's Return, Rivera's Revenge, Redmoor Falls and Misty Peak. These add-ons extend existing mountains with new paths and their own challenges.

For Windows, Steam lists at least an Intel Core i5-2500 or AMD FX-6300, 4 GB RAM, a GeForce GTX 560 Ti or Radeon HD 7850, and DirectX 11. Recommended are, among others, a Core i5-4690 or FX-8320 and a GeForce GTX 950 or comparable Radeon graphics. One gigabyte of free storage is listed.

Each mountain has several descents through different landscapes. The paved path is not always the fastest route: off the track you will find narrow passages between trees, jumps over rocks and crossings by the water. With repeated runs, you learn where you can save time.

In the game you unlock bikes with different handling characteristics. Some runs benefit from precise control, others from higher speed. Colour variants and clothing items can also be unlocked without changing the track itself.

Best times play a central role alongside free exploration. Harder tasks reward safe rides and discovering short routes. Online leaderboards show how quickly other riders get down the mountains. On the track itself, you are alone.

The landscape is designed in a reduced, colourful polygon style. Mountain lakes, forests, gorges and rocky slopes form the backdrop for the descents. There are no crowds or fenced-off race tracks, so the focus is on the path and the bike.

The base game contains the original mountains and challenges. Eldfjall Island requires the base game and is sold separately. A Complete Bundle on Steam combines the base game with Eldfjall Island and the soundtrack. The free track packs are independent of this.

Lonely Mountains: Downhill is designed as a single-player experience. German on-screen text is offered on PC, PlayStation and Switch. The tracks can be explored at your own pace or played as a time trial.