IceTowers (1999)

About this game

Icetowers is a real-time simultaneous play game for 2-5 players involving stacking smaller pyramids on top of larger ones to control them. With the Icetowers set, you can play nearly any of the Icehouse games. (The color scheme of the Icetowers set -- purple, white, clear, and pale blue -- may cause some mild confusion for players reading rules that refer to red, yellow, and green pyramids.) Icetowers is an actual boxed game using Icehouse Pieces. It was sold for a while by Looney Labs but is currently discontinued. Rules for IceTowers were included in Icehouse: The Martian Chess Set, in a shared booklet with Ice Traders (a predecessor to Homeworlds). It is also included in Pyramid Arcade. It was listed for 3-5 players earlier (e.g. in Playing With Pyramids) but now seems officially for 2-5 (e.g at http://www.looneylabs.com/rules/icetowers )

Does it fit your group?

• Group size. Works with 2 to 5.
• Rules load. At 1.9/5 this is a light game — explain it in a few minutes, good for a table that has not played much.
• Age. The publisher suggests 10 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.