Introduction
I was given a review copy of this game and I really enjoyed playing it. It can be played solo or cooperatively, with players taking turns to direct the action.
Back Stories is a series of games with the same mechanics and Alone Under the Ice is the first one. The name is a play on words – the information needed to solve the puzzle is the back story to the characters, but it’s also written on the back of the cards. The game is a choose-your-own-adventure in card game format. It’s reminiscent of the Fighting Fantasy books from Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone or of point-and-click video games such as Broken Sword.
You start the game by pulling the first card from the box, which sets the scene and then instructs you to draw further cards. There are several different kinds of cards and they are laid out in three areas – the Panorama, the Player area, and the Objective area. Every card has a number in the top left corner
The panorama area is an arrangement of situation cards with their number in white on a dark blue background. They each show a picture of your location and a tableau diagram, indicating where the card fits in the panorama area. Together they build a view of the scene in front of you. As the game progresses, player actions may cause situation cards to be replaced by others from the deck, with the original card being discarded.
The player area contains action cards and clue cards. Action cards have their number in white on a light blue background and also have either a window or notches cut out of them. Action cards can be used to interact with the available situation cards by putting the action card on the back of a situation card and then turning both over at once. This ensures that only the text on the back of the situation card that lines up with the window on the action card is revealed. You read the text and progress the game – you may have a choice to make, you may need to draw further cards from the box. Windows reveal text, notches reveal a number, which refers to another card from the box.
Clue cards are kept in the player area and provide information, such as hints to puzzle solutions.
Finally, there is the objective area with your current objective card, which has its number in white on purple and your player card, Sophie, who is also numbered white on purple. Objective cards are purple across the top too, but player cards, such as Sophie and any status cards she may acquire during the game, are red across the top.
Gameplay
Gameplay is simply a case of choosing an available action card from the player area and a situation card from the panorama area, then putting the action card on the back of the situation card and flipping both cards together to read the revealed portion of the back of the situation card. This may be some text or, in the case of a notch action, a number. Follow the instructions, drawing and discarding as directed. The panorama may change, you may pick up new action cards, you may pick up clue cards. If you complete your current objective, you will be told how to proceed and be given a new objective. I found Alone Under the Ice very quick to learn and the game runs very smoothly once you’ve played a few turns.
Artwork
Very nice artwork on the box, on the cards, and on the rules sheet. It has a style reminiscent of Broken Sword and other point-and-click video games as I mentioned earlier. I also like the way the art spreads across several situation cards to produce a panoramic view of the scene before you. I love the artwork and graphic design generally. I say this is a 5/5 for artwork.
Replayability
There is some, limited, replayability. Each time round you will know more about the puzzles and how to approach them, so probably two or three times through. Maybe more if you die / fail on your first time through. The card numbers make it very easy to do a “factory reset” on the deck. I would give this a 2/5 for replayability.
Player interaction
The box says Alone Under the Ice is a 1-6 player game. I’m not sure I would play in such a large group. Essentially this is a solo game, but it can be played cooperatively with a group. I think a small group of two or three would be perfect and the recommendation is that players take turns doing actions, so it ends up with lots of discussion about the best way to proceed. I’ll score it 4/5 for player interaction.
Component quality
Good thick card stock with a gloss finish in a good, solid box. The box is dual-layered, with the back demonstrating how to apply an action card and the front having a cut out of Sophie’s head that acts as a window into an icy cave. It’s simple and effective and for the price and size of the game, it’s very good quality, so I’ll give it a 4/5 for component quality.
Complexity
The mechanics are simple to pick up and I get the impression that this game system is going to see more episodes, like the EXIT puzzle games. The puzzles are more cerebral, so it’s more similar to a video game than an EXIT puzzle. I liked the puzzles and I thought they were the right level of complexity. I think this is a 3/5 for complexity.
Conclusion
Alone Under the Ice was a lot of fun to play solo and I’ll play again with other members of my family. We do the EXIT Advent Calendar each year and other EXIT games, so if you like those, take a look at this. Also, if you’re a fan of the point-and-click hidden object video games, this should appeal to you too. Great design and I’ll definitely be picking up the others in the series as they become available. Overall, it’s a 70% from me.
