Ice and Idols Board Game Review
If you’ve never heard of Inside Up Games you definitely are familiar with some of their games, most notably Perch and Earth. I’ve come to enjoy many of their games, despite not all of these game mechanics being my favourite. Perch, specifically, was really surprising to me! Ice and Idols was something I was VERY intrigued by when I saw it setup at a convention, and about 2 months ago Inside Up Game sent over a copy for us to look at. Despite not having a grand time getting the game prepared to be played, I think the work put in was ultimately worth it!
In Ice and Idols, players are scurrying around a ancient frozen temple collecting idols and looking to bring them to their appropriate pedestals. Collected idols can either provide you ongoing benefits to help in your search of the ruined temple, or can provide you end game victory points; the choice is yours. That all sounds pretty straightforward except for one little minor thing I’ve left out: paths in the temple change, and the entire board can rotate, meaning getting from A to B is never as simple as following a few paths.
Each turn, players have five action points to spend, which can be used for a variety of purposes. Perhaps you need to move along a route, pick up and idol, place and idol and unlock benefits, use a power of an idol you’ve collected, or use your own special player power. I found most of the time you’ll spend your points trying to maneuver the temple, but when you have a really strong turn where you aren’t just moving around all the time, it feels really good. There is a buildup to these moments, but they are rewarding when you achieve them!
There is a quite a bit going on in Ice and Idols and I won’t attempt to explain it all here, but check out this How to Play video for a more in-depth look at what you’ll do!
So why do I like this one so much? I think it’s probably all the moving parts you need to think about as you play. Researching idols is great, and placing your cubes in the research column is a good way to earn some big points. But placing cubes will have consequences, sometimes good and sometimes random when event cards need to be drawn. There is a balance here as well, because if you research too much for future powers, you won’t be placing cubes to earn points; and if you place cubes too often to earn points, you won’t be getting those powers that will help you do more in the temple. These decisions, and balancing them to your advantage, is really engaging. Add these various powers to your character power, and you can do some really cool things.
But I get the most fun out of this experience because of the changing game board. So often, game boards are static things that you move through almost like a robot. That isn’t the case here, as paths will change, the board will rotate, and something that was almost in grasp, suddenly vanishes. It can feel incredibly unlucky at times, although we felt this ultimately balanced out across and entire game. The thing is, everyone is dealing with constant changes to the gameplay area; those who can adapt quickly to a strategy gone wrong will ultimately excel in this experience. Those who get to wrapped up in one specific idea will struggle.
That is ultimately what will decide whether you enjoy this experience or not. There are basic elements here that people love in games. Unlocking idol powers is a form of engine building, providing you more options to use your action points on. And researching is pretty standard fair as well – place cubes, attempt to earn points. But it’s that central board that people are either going to love our hate. Don’t be confused by this: this isn’t a situation where you wonder IF the board is going to change, but rather WHEN it’s going to change. It will change, again and again and again. And if you hate having to adapt strategies to maximize your end-game points, this will not be an experience you enjoy. On the flipside, if you enjoy ever changing dynamics and love the idea of switching strategies on the fly, this will be something you will get a lot of enjoyment out of.
Ice and Idols does enough interesting things to keep it around in my collection for a good long while. This is not a game I’ll pull out with every game group, but groups that enjoy a good amount of player interaction – and therefore a good amount of board changes – have really enjoyed this experience. And the production, which we wrote about in a previous article, is fantastic. In my opinion, this is another hit from Inside Up Games; just make sure you are the targeted audience before playing!
Article By Adam
