Game Review: Ice Cool 2

It’s time for classes to start again, and you don’t want to stay. All you want is to get out of school. Anytime you can dart through the halls to get fish then escape through the doors, you do. However, there is an enemy. The penguin that was your best friend, you can now never see again. The hall monitor. He catches you, he takes your I.D., and gives to the principal who rewards him with fresh fish. Does this sound like a scenario you would like to play out? Then Ice Cool 2 may be the game for you!

Components:

  • 4 plastic penguins;
  • 5 cardboard boxes — rooms
  • 16 wooden Fish tokens (12 fish in 4 player colors and 4 fish in white color
  • 45 Fish cards (each showing 1, 2 or 3 victory points)
  • 4 color reminder cards
  • 4 penguin ID cards
  • Rules

Gameplay:

The game is played in 3-4 rounds.  Each round one person will be the catcher and the other three will be Attempting to find fish.  When you play the game you each take turns flicking your penguin starting left from the catcher through the gates, attempting to go through the gate with fish on them.

There’s three ways you can flick your penguin. You can flick it straight on to have it go straight forward, you can flick it on the side to spin it through a gate, or you can jump it by flicking the top of his head.

Each time you go through a gate with a fish, you take the fish token off and draw card from the pile. The round ends when either someone has gotten all three of their fish or when the catcher manages to hit everyone and takes everyone’s IDs. The 1 cards have ice skates on them. If you have two ones with ice skates on them, you can reveal them and take an extra flick. You do not lose the points by revealing the fish.

The ones also have challenges. There are three challenges. There is also a special aspect to the board. At the beginning of your turn, you can slide one of the boxes. You do not lose the points by revealing the fish. After you finish playing every round, scoring is simple. You simply add up all the numbers on your fish cards and the person with the highest total wins.

There is a second mode, the race mode. You play in two different teams, with two penguins per team. You take turns flicking penguins. One person flicks from one team, then one from the other team. Your goal is to get all of the fish off of the walls, then get both of your team’s penguins into the finishing box. The first person to accomplish this wins!

 

Things that could be better:


-The colors of the penguins. The colors were rather strange, considering the first games simple colors. The colors could have been slightly more natural colors that dark orange, teal, Lilac, and brown. Perhaps maybe black and white could have been better colors.

-The sliding board’s tightness. There were some times in our game when the sliding board was a pain to slide and keep in place. Maybe making it smaller could make the sliding easier. 

Things I liked:

-The plastic penguins and fish. I have always liked plastic game pieces the most. They seem easier to use and play with, and are so much nicer looking than their wooden counterparts.

-Race mode. The new race mode is such a great idea. The unique way the teams function along with the fact that you have to have both penguins in the box makes the mode seem well thought out and planned.

Overall:

Ice cool is a wonderful time that fans of casual games will love! I would recommend this game especially with kids or with younger people, but anybody can enjoy flicking penguins around the board to watch them jump and fly all over. I would recommend this for your next big gaming night to have a really fun time around the table. Make sure to check out Ice Cool 2 today!

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