I C E (2023)

About this game

Ice as far as the eye can see ... In this frozen world, swept by blizzards, a lone city clings to life. Every year during the summer season, the city's guilds organise expeditions. Their destination: the valley of the ancient ones, where vestiges of an antediluvian civilization might be buried. Looking for answers, prestige or riches, every guild has its own motivations. Players are archeologists exploring tiles they can remove. There are 5 levels of tiles in the game. The first one corresponds to the ice sheet level. The second, third and fourth represent surface, intermediate and deep artifacts levels. the last one is the edifice level. Archeologists dig these tiles in order to collect artifacts which gave them reputation points. The ice sheet tiles removed by a player can be played as a helping action for him. The edifice tiles are game changing rules and represent legacy material to discover as we go along. The game stops when a first edifice tile is fully discovered. Then players count their reputation points, which determine the winner. —description from the publisher

Does it fit your group?

• Group size. Works with 1 to 5. It has a designed solo mode.
• Rules load. At 2.6/5 this is a mid-weight game — expect a proper rules explanation before you start.
• Age. The publisher suggests 14 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.