A new game called Freeze is coming out at Oak Games. This is exciting news, in a boardgame kind of way.

The snow player has the snow pieces and the ice player has the ice pieces.

The game starts off by switching the positions of a snow piece and an ice piece, for two pairs of pieces, by mutual agreement. This is known as “antifreeze”, and it promotes “flow”.

Two pieces of each type are removed from the board by mutual agreement.

Then the players take turns moving one of their pieces from one position to an adjacent position, along the axis of the line it is on. The last player to be able to move wins.
 

It is original, in the sense that someone else did not invent it, and the gameplay is unique. The rules are very simple and the gameplay is casual. The board is small. It has a lot of personality: the look, the gameplay and name all work together with a theme. The pieces and board have good “clack”.

It’s not a perfect game. Sometimes it will have good flow, while other times it will freeze up too quickly, so it’s frustratingly undependable.

This is a prototype.  The board will be 30 x 18 cm. rather than 30 x 15 cm.(12 inch x 6 inch) shown here.  Or does the 1:2 ratio give it character?  It should be be coated with sealant, which should make things slide better, give it a bit of a shine, and seal it. However, this is not so straightforward because using polyurethane typically makes the white colour turn a bit amber over time.

Here is a semi-relevant link to a design contest for abstract strategy games.

NESTORGAMES continuous abstract game design contest

Welcome to the world of game design. It’s a uniquely fun and challenging activity where you create something new and exciting. It’s better than sex. In a boardgame kind of way.