A mama polar bear and her cub are exploring the ice, but it starts to melt and break up and separates them!  Help the mama polar bear reach her cub by hopping on constantly melting icebergs in this very “chill” puzzle platformer.  It’s available on Switch, PC, and mobile devices, but reviewed on Switch here.

Each stage is a single screen and you can move the mama bear up, down, left, or right.  When you land on floating ice, you can move in one direction until you hit an obstacle.  But be careful because each move will melt the iceberg a bit, and when it’s completely gone you’ll fall into the water and have to start the level over.  You can see how many moves you have by little ice notches on the platform you are standing on.  You’ll complete the level when you reach the island where the cub is waiting.  The puzzles kind of remind me of Zelda dungeons where you push ice blocks around that slide until they hit something.

Some levels have other arctic friends, like a seal and/or a bird, and you can try to collect them before reaching the cub for an extra challenge.  Watch out for other obstacles, too, like water currents or orcas that can get in the way.  No real problems with this game other than that the puzzles can get tricky, but you can push a button for some vague hints at least.  If you like puzzle games, you may want to check this one out.

Kid Factor:

Nothing violent or objectionable here.  If you fall into the water, the mama polar bear just floats on her back and waits for you to restart the level.  Reading skill is helpful for the text, and younger gamers may need help with the trickier puzzles.  Arctictopia is rated E for Everyone.

Tags: Game Reviews