Most people may recognize Dennis Mengelt for his ever popular Boxed in series. Well, he's back again, this time with a different puzzle approach: Iced in. Upon entering the game, one is bound to see many differences from Dennis' usual Boxed in games.

Iced in Review

Ice Ice Baby!

Most people may recognize Dennis Mengelt for his ever popular Boxed in series. Well, he’s back again, this time with a different puzzle approach: Iced in. Upon entering the game, one is bound to see many differences from Dennis’ usual Boxed in games. One thing doesn’t change: Newton’s theories still prove to be a douchebag when dealing with difficult puzzles bound to leave you scratching your head.

Iced in has you controlling a little Eskimo, who has to free trapped penguins from their cages by activating switches. For whatever reason, these switches have to be activated simultaneously, and the Eskimo’s body weight isn’t enough to account for one of them. The solution: Push ice blocks onto them, of course! The concept is simple enough, but a few twists make it a surprisingly addicting challenge.

The game has one of two control methods: Swipe and a Virtual D-Pad. Swipe mode I find to be an unnecessarily complicated control method, and constantly moving your finger to control the eskimo becomes tedious rather quickly. D-pad works much better, and though the Eskimo occasionally seems to move more then you designate him to,  it works rather well.

Peta would be Proud

Pushing ice blocks in this game is pretty different from pushing wooden crates in Boxed in. Ice blocks are only found and can stay on the frozen part of each level, while the Eskimo can move on both the snowy and frozen canvasses. When being pushed, instead of dragging it across the floor, the ice block hurdles towards the opposite direction it was pushed, and continues moving until hitting an obstacle or the other side of the rink. Reminds one greatly of those slider puzzles such as Blockoban, another fun title on the app store. However, unlike Blockoban, players also have to deal with ice cracks in the rink that cause blocks and even your player and blocks to fall in. Cold water has never been more daunting.

One of the more noticeable differences between this game and Boxed in is the presentation. Iced in takes on a more cartoony look, and given the game’s premise, it works rather well. The whole game takes place in an icy winter wonderland,  and lively animation only adds to the fun. In game music is an extremely peppy loop that becomes grating to the ears, but fortunately, you can turn it off.

One thing to note is the game’s difficulty. It’s EXTREMELY difficult. Players who found Boxed in easy (like me) will have find this game a lot more difficult in terms of its puzzles. And with 50 levels, it is bound to keep you snowed in for a while.


iFanzine Verdict: Overall, Iced In is a fun and addicting puzzle game with difficult head-scratching challenges bound to have you ripping your iPhone in half due to the sheer difficulty…But that’s a good thing. Cute presentation and easy controls further make this game a must-have for the puzzle game lover.

[xrr rating=4/5]