A snowball fight is a physical game played mostly by young people in which snowballs are thrown with the intention of hitting somebody else. Obviously, this activity can only be played during months when there is sufficient snowfall.

The game is loosely regulated, if regulated at all, and can therefore only loosely be referred to as a game. However, when a snowball fight breaks out, it has several characteristics that separate it from situations where there is an intention of harming somebody or someone's property. These usually include:

• The formation of crudely established teams
• The often unspoken "rule" that snowballs should be directed towards the body, rather than the face
• A limit reached wherein a target has fire ceased against it after it has been hit enough times
• The fact that there is minimal physical contact, aside from perhaps wrestling
• The understanding that the purpose of the game is to humiliate your target rather than to physically harm them
• The construction and use of snow forts.