The Snowman/Gameplay

Controls
Note: In the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X remake, you must use the arrow keys to direct the Boy, with the Ctrl key to make him shoot snowballs.
 * Up: To make the Boy climb up a ladder you have to press any key on the second row of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 or MSX keyboard.
 * Down: To make the Boy climb down ladders, you must push any key on the third row of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 or MSX keyboard.
 * Left/Right: To make the Boy walk left and right, you must push alternate keys on the fourth row of the console's keyboard (Caps, Shift, X and V for left and Z, C and B for right); you can also press 1 to pause and resume the game, and any other key while it is paused to restart it.

The Boy
The protagonist of the game; due to technical limitations, he is depicted as blue in the ZX and C64 versions. Placed in a world reminiscent of Data East's BurgerTime, he must first collect six pieces of snow then drop them onto an inaccessible platform in order to build the Snowman (while watching out for gas flames, who will melt the snow pieces if they touch them and cause them to reappear elsewhere on the screen) - but if he collects an ice lolly, a bonus timer will start counting down from 1000, and if he touches a gas flame during this time, he will freeze it and receive the remaining value on the timer as bonus points. He can also collect Christmas crackers, presents, stockings and trees for 220, 230, 240, and 250 extra points respectively; his walking will also drain his food meter (which is displayed at the bottom of the screen), but he can refill it by collecting a turkey or a Christmas pudding (both of which are worth 20 extra points). For the second and third stages he must collect the Snowman's facial features and accessories respectively (while watching out for sleep monsters, who will cost him a life if he touches them!) - however, collecting an alarm clock on these stages will have the same effect as ice lollies have on gas flames. And in the fourth stage he must collect six ice cubes to stop the Snowman from melting (while again avoiding gas flames); once you have cleared this stage, the game will start again, but with different screen layouts.

Note: In the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X remake, the Boy has the added ability to temporarily freeze the enemies by shooting snowballs at them.