Icebreaker: A Viking Voyage

For the subpage containing most images related to Icebreaker iOS, please see Ice Breaker: A Viking Voyage/Gallery

Ice Breaker: A Viking Voyage, alternatively known as Ice Breaker iOS, is a puzzle physics game to be released for iOS devices in 2013 and to be published by Rovio. The game will also be the fourth installment of the Ice Breaker series, retaining its core gameplay.

Despite high demand for its release to Android devices, Ice Breaker: A Viking Voyage is to be exclusively developed for iOS devices at the moment. Developing the game for other devices may be considered after its planned release.

On May 14th 2013, Nitrome published an article, where Rovio, a Finnish entertainment company, announced that they were going to help Nitrome publish their iOS game, Ice Breaker: A Viking Voyage by featuring it in their new mobile game publishing initiative, Rovio Stars.

Controls
Drag Finger - Slice

Double finger tap - Zoom in on screen. Tapping again while zoomed in zooms the screen out. Zooming in allows for more precise cuts to be made.

When dragging a finger to create a line the second finger can be used to adjust the starting point of the line.

Tilt iPhone Tilts level (when Gravity of the Gods God Power is active)

Specifications
Bigger and Smaller in the In-level sprites scaling section refer to the sprites seen during each level of Ice Breaker iOS. For an explanation on these sprites, please see Ice Breaker: A Viking Voyage/Gallery.

For more information regarding the differences between the resolutions of the game when played on a different Apple tablet, please see the resolutions section of this article.

Plot
Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage begins with the player taking part in the annual Hammerfest competition, when a cold icy wind blows all the Vikings away , save for the player and the viking chief. What is possibly the intro is seen at the start of the Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage trailer.

Map
Ice Breaker iOS will feature an explorable map, where levels will be accessed from. Also available on the map are side quests, and found at places where the map ends are bosses. The exploration map would be based off of ones found in 16-bit platformer games such as the Super Mario Series.

Navigation of the map is simple: the player taps the location they want to go to, and then tap it again to play the level or they can tap the "play" button to play the level.

Level screen
When a level is accessed, the name of the level is displayed along with a few indicators below. As seen on a screenshot from Ice Breaker iOS.com, three indicators are revealed: a sword, a mast, and a coin holder.

Buttons
Placed at the bottom-left of the screen is an image of a black rectangle on a yellowish box, this black box having an arrow pointing towards it. It is quite likely this button when pressed will take the player back to Icebreaker A Viking Voyage's menu, as buttons with a very similar appearance have appeared in many other Nitrome games with the same occupation.

Placed at the bottom-right of the screen is a semi-rectangular button with a ninety degrees flipped isosceles triangle, this button in whole likely being the button that when clicked would begin the level.

Navigation of the map


Navigating through the exploration map is designed to be simple yet add more of a sense of adventure to the game's experience. Upon tapping a particular level, the longboat on the map moves to the selection. Tapping it again once the player's longboat is over the level will initiate the start of the level. Alternatively, the play button at the lower left side of the screen can be clicked to begin playing the current level.

Completion of a level unlocks the level on the current path that comes after the completed level. Some paths of the map split, with one path having one set of levels and another path having another set of levels. When there are forks in the path like this, completing a level that branches into two separate paths will unlock the level that is at the start of each of the separate paths.

Completing the second objective of a sidequest (the one that does not involve rescuing vikings) will grant the player a golden puzzle piece, this puzzle piece granting access to another part of the map that is attached to that level, this "part of the map" only accessible through completion of this part of the sidequest.

Unlocked and locked levels
Levels the player can play are seen in full colour, while levels that are yet to be unlocked are the same colour as the map, and appear as drawings. Unlocking the necessary levels to get to an un-unlocked level will add colour to that level's icon, with the path to that level being filled in.

Materials in levels
Although unconfirmed, it is quite possible that the icon of each level would have objects in the icon that would appear in the level. For example, a level icon that has a crow on it would have crows in the level; a level that had green moss on it will have slime in level; a level that has a part of the icon made up of black blocks featuring skulls on them will feature runes; etc..

Gates
As seen in level pack 2's map, some maps have gates on them that appear as a gate keeper over two grey brick like structures. These gates block the player's path, the Gate Keeper only letting the player through if they give him a certain amount of coins, which can be collected in levels. As seen on level pack 2's map, the wall of the gate extends vertically off the map, but will not continue over a path (for some gates), as seen on level pack 2's first gate.

Level entry
Levels of Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage are almost always entered through use of the map, however, on the Ice Breaker iOS website, in Update #2 "The Map", Nitrome stated that some levels will have secret entrances to other levels

Level completion
Levels in Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage are completed the same as in all games of the Ice Breaker series - the player has to get all vikings back to the viking longboat. No viking can be lost, all must be returned back. Some vikings are frozen in ice, these vikings having to be brought back to the longboat, and having to be in a small enough piece of ice.

Some vikings are not encased in ice, but rather, are placed in high up areas. Since vikings cannot move by themself, the player has to slice ice and manipulate the environment in order to get the vikings back to there longboat. Positioned on the longboat is a viking Icebreaker, this viking holding a giant hammer, a hammer used to destroy ice.

If a frozen viking is brought to the longboat, the viking Icebreaker will hammer the ice with his hammer. If the ice is small enough, one hammer with the hammer will destroy the ice. If the ice is too big, the Icebreaker will hammer endlessly at it. In cases such as these, the player has to cut ice off the ice to make the ice smaller. Getting all vikings back to the longboat will complete the level, an open up new part of the map.

Scattered throughout levels are coins, coins that can be collected and used in other non-level places. Treasure chests are also found in some levels. The player can use God Powers to more easily get through hard levels.

Level creation
Nitrome revealed in Update 6 on the Ice Breaker iOS website that levels for the game were created in three steps. Step 1: Nitrome first thinks of a puzzle for the level. After that, they make the necessary parts of the level using the only the objects necessary for the puzzle ("bare minimum of purely functional objects and elements" ) Step 2: Nitrome adds the coins and treasure chests in the level, adding them in challenging spots. This step sometimes involves changing certain parts of the level or adding new sections Step 3: Nitrome adds decorations and non-interactive art to the level, ranging from simply buildings in the background to enormous trees

Indicators
When the player goes to a certain level while on the map, displayed on the screen will be the name of the level and a few indicators. One of these indicators is a sword, which will be featured for every level, as the sword is necessary for every level. Likely indicated by the sword is how many cuts the player made to complete the level.

It is still uncertain what the mast indicator is for, although the number on it increases by one for every cut the player makes in certain levels. It is possible that if the player completes the level without depleting the number on the mast to zero, they will gain some sort of reward.

The circle-like objects are coins, this indicator likely indicating how many coins the player has collected in the level.

Placed at the top-right side of the screen is a giant Ice Breaker coin, this likely indicating how much coins the player currently has at the time.

Sidequests
Some levels have multiple objectives, called sidequests. These levels will not only have the objective of getting the Vikings back to a longboat, but secondary objectives, such as also getting a Shepard's lost goats back to the Shepard's longboat.

Completing the level with just getting the vikings back to the longboat advances the player farther down the path they are currently on. However, if the player manages to complete the alternate objective of the level - such as returning all the present goats to the Shepard - the player will be granted a golden puzzle piece, an object that allows the player to advance further down another path connecting to that level.

Some levels are in fact sidequests, but, they are not actually titled as a sidequest; the only way the player being capable of completing this "sidequest" being to experiment with the environment and given tools and "solving puzzles that might not initially be apparent"

Genres
Branches in paths have levels which usually are of different genres, but all revolve around a type of element. This is so that if the player finds one path difficult, they can take another, easier path. This has been done to give players freedom so that if one player is stuck on one path they can play the level of another path. Nitrome has stated that by diversifying the map, they could "cater to as wide an audience as possible".

Known levels
Since Ice Breaker iOS's reveal, Nitrome has revealed several levels of the game. Although most of the levels have not been shown where to be found on the map, the basic appearance of the level and its interactive objects have been shown.

Revealed

 * See also: Ice Breaker: A Viking Voyage/Beta elements

This section lists several levels that were first revealed in still images on the Ice Breaker iOS website. It should be noted that as of Version 3.0, several level photos have been modified, thus, the early photos fall under beta elements. The first below image is a beta version of the level
 * A very simple level that is probably the first level. There is a wooden structure with a large chunk of ice in the middle, this level having a sign that explains how to cut. The ice is placed in such a way that it, when cut, falls into the Longboat.

First trailer

 * For a full list of rooms, please see: Ice Breaker: A Viking Voyage/Gallery

These levels have been first seen in the first Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage Trailer. Thus, listed may be fragments of other levels.
 * A level that consists of a large stone at the top and bottom of the level. At the far left of the stone is a large piece of ice, which that player has to make gradual cuts at (shortening the ice) and try to slide it into the Longboat - found at the right of the corridor.

Level objects
Throughout the level of Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage, a large amount of content is used in levels. Some of this content appears rarely, or even once, while other content appears in every level or frequently appears.

Collectibles in levels
Coins will be a collectible object in levels, scattered throughout levels. When a viking impacts a coin, it will flash and disappear. It is not known that if a coin is permanently collected when it is immediately touched, or if the collector of the coin has to collect a coin or coins then reach the longboat in order to record the collected coins.

Also placed around levels are treasure chests. Not much is known about these objects, however, it is hinted that they contain coins ; what is known is that they are used for paying the Gate Keeper. Due to their enormous size of a treasure chest, it is likely that touching them is not enough to claim them, rather, the player has to skillfully manage to get them into the longboat.

Set Pieces
Set Pieces is a term Nitrome uses to describe "graphics and events coded and/or produced for a single level of the game". These are essentially a type of interactive objects designed for use in a single level.

Due to the word choice, originally some fans did not know what Nitrome meant by "Set Pieces" Nitrome said in the fourth update that there were lots of examples of it in the game, and sometimes the set piece is crucial to the gameplay of the level.

Nitrome showed an example of a viking in a Norse hot air balloon. The balloon had thrusters on each side of it, which would allow the player to steer the balloon through the obstacles in the level. Set pieces are used to give more individuality to levels in Icebreaker iOS.

Bosses

 * See also: Ice Breaker: A Viking Voyage

Despite being a puzzle based game with very little killing in it, Ice Breaker: A Viking Voyage will feature bosses found at the end of each map pack (also called "lands"). It is currently not known how these bosses will be defeated, or if they can be defeated (as the Ice Breaker series is generally non violent).

Currently, only one boss is known, this boss being the Mountain Troll.

God Powers
When the Ice Breaker iOS website was updated on May 14th 2013, the description on the homepage was update also. One change was how the game would support "god powers". Nitrome later revealed on May 30th 2013 that God Powers are a premium feature of Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage that allows the player to manipulate levels in unnatural way.

God Powers can be bought as an in-app purchase (referred to as IAP by Nitrome) from in-game shops with real money. Currently, three gods powers are known: Finger of the Gods, Magnet of the Gods, and Gravity of the Gods.

Free use
Although God Powers are meant to be premium, at certain points in Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage, players will be able to use a God Power for free. It is quite likely that this free usage of a God Power does not mean the player can keep this God Power in supply and use it when they want, rather, this God Power is likely placed in a level and can optionally be used for free or the level is completed through usage of the God Power (since Nitrome's mention of not rigging levels in order to cause the purchase of a God Power likely only applied to levels that did not have non-free God Powers in them).

Although Nitrome did not state how many uses of the God Power the player has, in order to introduce them to the power, the level will likely allow infinite use of the God Power, or at least one use of it. All God Powers will be able to be used at least once in Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage for free, through this in-game introduction.

Implementation
God Powers were implemented as an alternative completion method for levels players may find hard, thus, instead of completing the level its regular way, player's can take an easy way through the level with a God Power. God Powers still force players to manually complete the level by getting all the Vikings safely to the longboat, only the level is made much easier.

Nitrome has also highlighted that Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage will not aggressively advertise or constantly require the use use God Powers.

Known God Powers
Below lists the currently known God Powers.

Finger of the Gods
Finger of the Gods allows the player to drag a Viking with their finger, and drag this Viking around the level and drop it wherever they can drag him to, even into the longboat.

The selected Viking can be dragged through any regularly passable area, however, although this God Power allows the player to unnaturally drag the Viking around the level, the Viking is not impervious to damage (it can be killed by regularly dangerous objects and enemies) and cannot be dragged through walls.

It is currently not known how many uses of the Finger of the Gods God Power is supplied when the Finger of the Gods God Power is used.

Magnet of the Gods
Activating Magnet of the Gods causes coins to float towards a nearby Viking, and treasure chests to float around the Viking until the Viking reaches the longboat.

Gravity of the Gods
The most physical of all the known God Powers, Gravity of the Gods encases important elements of a level - such as enemies and Vikings - in a bubble.

The movement of the bubbles is affected by the tilting of the iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch.

Activation
It is quite likely that God Powers are activated by pressing the lightning bolt icon at the top-right side of the screen, as this icon was seen in images provided by Nitrome once the site was updated. This icon is also present in images that use God Powers.

Interactive objects
This is a list of all the currently known interactive objects in Icebreaker: A Viking Voyage.
 * Green slime - an object that debuts in Ice Breaker iOS. Green slime is a slimy object that attaches itself to ice. Ice that passes this will cause a gooey strand of the slime to attach to the ice, this strand being able to be cut
 * Cannons - objects that fire spherical objects that come in contact with it - including Vikings. Two types of cannons exist, although it isn't apparent what is different between the two
 * Chains - holds on to objects
 * Goats - does absolutely nothing, but can probably die if exposed to hazardous objects. Goats can be returned to Sheppard' Longboats
 * Hot Air balloon - a giant Hot Air balloon that holds a Viking in its gondola. With thrusters below its head on either side, cutting one will cause the balloon to move in the opposite direction the thruster is thrusting
 * Crows - holds up objects
 * Gondolas - objects for a Viking to sit in. These structures are sometimes used by the player for traversal, and sometimes held up by crows
 * Ice bombs - explode when cut, can kill Trolls and destroy some structures
 * Coins - can be collected in levels and exchanged wit the Gate Keeper for passage through certain parts of the map
 * Pressurized stone - causes actions proportional to how much weight is on the stone
 * Chicken eggs - although probably no use to the player, chicken eggs will kill Trolls upon impacting them
 * Treasure chests - Uncertain what they do, as one is never seen used

Hazards
This is a list of known hazards in Ice Breaker: A Viking Voyage.
 * Fist blocks - spiked blocks that punch down and can kill Vikings via this move. Fist blocks are operated by chains
 * Runes - deadly ground that kills the player on contact
 * Giant faces - giant faces cut out of rocks that are capable of opening their mouths.
 * Spiked slabs - spiked beams that rotate, kill the player on contact
 * Spiked spears - spears with a spike ball on the end, kill the player on contact
 * Spike sphere - an enormous spiked ball that rolls down one level

Enemies

 * Trolls - stationary enemies that kill Vikings on contact. Trolls can be killed via being caught in the blast of an ice bomb, crushed to death, or bye chicken eggs
 * Skull demons - flying, skull-headed enemies that kill Vikings on contact

Bosses
Likely being similar to Skywire 2's bosses, Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage will feature bosses situated at the end of the level. Currently, only one boss has been silently revealed and seen, this boss mentioned a lot for not being officially revealed.

Mountain Troll
The Mountain Troll is a boss in Ice Breaker: A Viking Voyage. It is not known what map pack it is going to appear in.

The Mountain Troll appears as a giant rock sticking out of the water, this rock appearing similar to an Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage Troll. This rock has a giant ear on the far left of the rock, to the right of this rock being two eyes; the left eye being more visible than the right.

Between both eyes is a giant nose; under the bottom end of the nose is the upper lip of the troll, a bit low below this mouth being the Mountain Troll's lower lip, which is attached to its enormous chin. Sticking up the lips are teeth. The Mountain Troll is apparently very old, and possible at one point submerged, due to the moss on its face and the considerable amount of moss on its head.

Placed on the head of the Mountain Troll is the longboat of the level. The Mountain Troll apparently attacks by vomiting out a green liquid that kills vikings on contact. It is not known how the boss will be killed (or if it can be killed), but it seems as though it may have something to do with dropping eggs into the Troll's mouth.

Characters
Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage contains a large roster of characters, this Icebreaker game featuring the most non-enemy characters of any Nitrome game. Characters are important to Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage, as they help liven up the gameplay and also allow for dialogue.

The importance of characters has also been seen by Nitrome, as an entire page on the Ice Breaker A viking Voyage website has been devoted to just characters of the game.

Below, all reviewed characters of Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage have been sorted into one of four sections.

The Shopkeeper
The Shopkeeper is an interactive character who appears as an old, tall viking with a long beard, cloak, and hood. The shopkeeper is encountered throughout the game, found in levels running a a shop. His shop appears as a boat with a shelf that have the symbols that represent a God Power, this shelf having a upwards slanted roof and a sign titled "SHOPPE" on the front of the boards of this roof. The Shopkeeper sells God Powers in-game for real money. In terms of use, The Shopkeeper is not known to perform any other useful service other than the sale of God Powers, although it is likely he is the only character in the game that sells God Powers, and the only way they can be obtained.

Description
''Throughout the game you will come across the Shopkeeper. He is a businessman…you can think of him as a cross between a used car salesman and a self-help guru….erm nice…yeah he is the sort of businessman you might not always want cold calling you at 7.30 when you’re eating your dinner!''

He has his uses though he is able to sell you some pretty nifty ‘god powers’ that will help you in the game…can you resist his ‘amazing’ offers and his compelling sales banter?

Features
Ice Breaker iOS will presumably have much of the features the previous Ice Breaker game had.
 * From the site and seen from the images, much like how Cave Chaos 2's art was greater than the original Cave Chaos's art, Ice Breaker iOS's art is much more detailed and contains more colour than art from the previous games.
 * The game will have "Beautiful Water Physics" (named on the site). This indicates that water will no longer act as a .gif (as seen in previous games), but will may ripple, splash, bend, or act differently depending on other objects.
 * Also featured in the game is a "Custom Rope Engine" (as named on the game's website). From this, it is possible that ropes will be given more freedom with their actions, such as being able to bend and stretch.
 * The game will incorporate Box 2D physics into levels.
 * Side quests - Relating to a The Legend of Zelda side quest where the player can collect chickens to for helpless villagers, Viking Voyage will have side quests which have two objectives. Side quests will have the player's vikings and some sort of other mechanic in the level. One outcome will be to only get the vikings back to the boat, while the other will be to get the vikings back to the boat and (with the provided tools) also perform another task. For example, one side quest has an objective where the player has to cut ice so that they can get the vikings back to the longboat and the goats also placed on the ice back to a longboat commanded by a Shepard. By just saving the vikings and leaving the goats stranded, the player will advance in the level but fail to complete the secondary task. Through getting the vikings and goats to their specific longboats, they will unlock a new route on the map to explore. Many levels have two objectives, some not at first apparent.
 * Found in some levels (and first silently revealed in the goat side quest mentioned above) are coins. Coins can be collected in levels, and can be exchanged on the map with the Gate Keeper in order to pass through the gate.
 * Nitrome plans to include level packs with the purchase of Ice Breaker iOS. They also hope to release purchasable level packs after the release of the game.
 * The game's resolution will differ between iPhone that the game is played on.

Rovio as publisher
Nitrome was working with Rovio on Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage since January 2013. In a blog post talking about why Nitrome picked Rovio as the publisher of Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage, Nitrome highlighted how, although several other publishers were interested in publishing Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage, Nitrome did not wish to have a publisher of the game (at the time).

Nitrome highlighted how on the App store, being noticed by people other than the developer's fanbase is hard due to recognition on the App store being mainly through getting up on "charts". Due to games on the App store being generally very cheap, a profit is made once a considerable amount of copies of the game being sold are sold.

Nitrome being apart of Rovio Stars, and thus, Rovio being the publisher of the game, allows Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage to have a considerable amount of exposure to the media. Rovio was also selected as the publisher of Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage for several reasons, one of them being Rovio's "vast audience", marketing , and management of the Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage project , without making major changes to the game.

In app purchases
The only known in-app Purchases (referred to as IAP by Nitrome) are God Powers, each God Power purchasable from in-game shops with real money.

Nitrome has highlighted that fact that, although God Powers are premium, Nitrome has not toyed with levels in order to cause players to buy a God Power. Methods of causing a purchase of a God Power, such as making overly difficult levels, were not used in order to exact money from the player, as all levels had been "balanced" (made so that they were not too easy or too hard for that point in the game).

God Powers were implemented as an alternative completion method for levels players may find hard, thus, instead of completing the level its regular way, player's can take an easy way through the level with a God Power. God Powers still force players to manually complete the level by getting all the Vikings safely to the longboat, only the level is made much easier.

Furthermore, no aggressive advertizing of God Powers will be used in Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage. Although God Powers are mainly meant for easier completion of a level, Nitrome has also mentioned that God Powers can be used for playing around with levels.

Trial usage

 * Main section: Ice Breaker: A Viking Voyage

In order to all Nitrome fans to test out God Powers, Nitrome has created a level for each God Power in Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage, with the option of testing out the given God Power in that level.

Free DLC (Downloadable Content)
Nitrome has stated that they will be able to release free content for players of Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage, if they get enough money from sales of the game. Nitrome has stated that this "free content" will be extra level packs, more achievements (which have not yet been revealed), and "any other cool stuff we [Nitrome] can think of".

Resolution
As covered in update 3, the resolution of the game differs from Apple tablet used. iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod Touch 4th Generation, iPad 1, iPad 2, and iPad 3 all have retina display.

Older iPhones will not support retina display, and neither will the older iPhone 3s and iPhone 3rd Generation.

The iPhone's with retina display (iPhone 4, iPhone 4s, iPod Touch 4th Generation, iPod Touch 5th Generation, iPad 1, iPad 2, and iPad 3 ) will display detailed sprites for characters and images, and shows sprites at 1 to 1 pixel ratio. The iPad's considerably larger screen allows for more of the screen to be seen.

The game's levels are viewed in landscape mode when played on the iPhone 5 and iPod Touch 5.

The iPhone's lacking retina display (older iPhones, iPhone 3s and iPhone 3rd Generation) will show the game with the less detailed sprites than the retina supporting versions (sprites such as scenery, characters, etc.). These sprites will be scaled down for the non-retina iPhones. As some sprites did not look very good scaled, Nitrome has "purposely redrawn" some of the sprites for the scaled down tablets.

The sprites used for the "scale down" tablets are used on the map of the game, regardless of what Apple tablet is is played on. This is because smaller sprites are needed for the map icons.

Previews

 * Main article: Ice Breaker: A Viking Voyage/Gallery

Since its revealing in 2012, Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage has been extensively covered by Nitrome. Upon first being revealed, Nitrome soon put up an "iPhone" tab on the current version of their site, this tab having a link to the Ice Breaker iOS website - a website for the game that was hosted on Nitrome.com, but since May 14th 2013, is its own independent site.

Updates

 * See also: Ice Breaker iOS website, Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage website - Update page

Nitrome has constantly covered various features of Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage on the Ice Breaker iOS website - the place where mostly all Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage content is covered. Around once every week, Nitrome would post a blog post in the "Updates" part of the site, talking about certain feature of Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage.

In order to alert fans of a new update, Nitrome would post an update on the Nitrome blog that the Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage website has been updated with a new update, generally including a short snippet of the update, the entire update, or just explaining the update in the Nitrome blog blog post.

Although most of the content covered was about the in-game elements of Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage, on some occasions non in-game content has been talked about, such as the difference in the game's resolution when the game is played on another iPhone, how much of the Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage project is complete, along with other non in-game content; content such as this is regularly contained in a Developer Diary instead of an Update.

Two types of namespaces are used on the Updates section of the Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage website: Updates and Developer Diaries. Updates (generally) cover content relating to the gameplay of Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage, while Developer Diaries (hence there name) cover the development aspects of Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage.

Often, an image from one level of Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage is included in updates. In updates, Nitrome may sometimes return to a previously discussed topic and discuss that topic more, this sometimes coming about due to changes in a certain part of development that are of high importance and need to be announced (such as the unveiling of the iPhone 5, which caused Nitrome to put out Update 3.1 to cover what Icebreaker would look like on that version of iPhone) or Nitrome is constantly revealing new content for a previously discussed topic (such as characters, three updates have been completely devoted to this topic, each update revealing new characters).

List of updates
Below lists all the updates on the update page of the Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage website. A short summary of the update is also provided.
 * Update #1 "Sidequests" - The first update of the site talks in-depth about sidequests in Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage
 * Developer Diary #1 - This update explains developer diaries, and talks about the overall progress of Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage
 * Update #2 "The Map" - This update explains the various functions of the in-game map
 * Update #3 "Resolutions" - This update covers how Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage will look on the various versions of iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.
 * Update #3.1 "Resolutions" - A further update about the resolutions of the game, this update mainly about how Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage will look on iPad 5
 * Update #4 "Set Pieces" - Set Pieces are explained in this update
 * Update #5 "Characters" - The main characters of the game are revealed, with a short description about them
 * Developer Diary #2 - This short Developer Diary is mostly an update on how Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage is now ninety percent complete, and how the first boss is done, a trailer is in the works, and a edition of Ice Breaker iOS for review sites is being made
 * Update #6 "Evolution" - This update covers the transitions Nitrome had to make when taking a Flash game series to iPhone
 * Developer Diary #3 - Nitrome tells fans that the "January release date" for Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage was actually meant to mean that the Touch Arcade article on Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage would be out "by January".
 * Developer Diary #4 - Nitrome updates fans on the situation with Ice Breaker iOS, and also say how they will reveal something very exciting "tomorrow" (May 14th 2013)
 * Rovio StarsTM - This update explains a bit about Rovio Stars
 * New Trailer! - This post is mostly to remind fans about the Rovio made Ice Breaker iOS trailer
 * Update #7 "Rovio Stars?" - A post explaining why Nitrome decided to be apart of Rovio Stars
 * Update #8 "Characters" - An update that reveals more characters that are to appear in Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage
 * Update #9 New logo! - This update covers the transition between the previous Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage logo and the current one
 * Update #10 Swanky website - Nitrome covers the change in the Ice Breaker iOS website to make it look better on iPhones
 * Update #11 God Powers - Nitrome reveals and explains God Powers
 * Update #12 Even more characters! - Nitrome reveals more characters

Trailer
On December 12th 2012, Nitrome released a trailer for Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage.

Rovio Stars trailer
On May 14th 2013, Rovio, a Finnish entertainment company, announced that they were launching a "new mobile game publishing initiative, Rovio Stars, which would feature the best new games from talented and innovative developers", as stated on the Nitrome blog. The first game to be featured in the Rovio Stars series was Ice Breaker: A Viking Voyage. Rovio also released a new trailer of the game to accompany the featuring.



Website

 * Main article: Ice Breaker iOS website

Level packs
Nitrome revealed in their first Developer Diary that Ice Breaker iOS will consists of level packs, each pack containing levels for the player to play. Three packs are planned to be included with the first release of the game, with Nitrome hoping to release other packs after the release of the game.

Level pack 1
Level pack 1 is the first level pack to be included in Ice Breaker iOS, being included with the purchase of the game (along with level pack 2 and 3). Level pack 1 serves as a tutorial to the game, and consisting initially' of 5 levels. Nitrome has stated that "more will be added soon, but we [Nitrome] don't want to split how", indicating that this level pack will have levels that can be unlocked. Completion of the initial five levels brings the player to a "story" (likely consisting completely of text and image) that leads them into the "main adventure".

As only level pack 2 is mentioned to have a map, it is possible level pack 1 will lack a map entirely.

Level pack 2
Level pack 2 is the second Ice Breaker iOS level pack, being included with the purchase of the game (along with level pack 1 and 3). Level pack 2 consists of 36 levels that are spread across a map.

Level pack 3
Level pack 3 is the third Ice Breaker iOS level pack, being included with the purchase of the game (along with level pack 1 and 2). This level pack's levels have not been revealed yet, but it has been revealed that it will have a "similar number of levels as the second pack". As Nitrome has also revealed in their first Developer Diary, "It's looking like there will be 80+ levels for launch", level pack 3 will probably have more than 36 levels.

Differences from the flash series
Nitrome revealed in Update 6 on the Ice Breaker iOS website the transitions they had to make from the flash series to the iOS Ice Breaker game. Changes include:
 * The ice breaker in the iOS Ice Breaker holding the hammer end in his left hand instead of in his right hand
 * The noticeable difference in graphics, mainly due to Martin Wörister handling the game's graphics instead of Markus Heinel
 * Sprites given more detail, such as the helmet of certain Vikings appearing more shiny
 * The classic Rat being replaced with a Troll.
 * The addition of more background objects in the iOS Ice Breaker
 * The game's levels navigated via a map instead of a level select screen
 * The iOS Ice Breaker features green water instead of the blue water found in the flash Ice Breaker series

Art
Ice Breaker iOS features much greater art than the previous three games in the series. The art is noticeably more detailed and shaded, and introduces elements such as shiny helmets. Update 6 on the Ice Breaker iOS website was about the transition Nitrome made. Nitrome talked about they first tried to develop an art style that was based off the existing Ice Breaker game (Ice Breaker, Red Clan, Gathering).

Nitromes early on aimed at trying to make characters and objects a certain size as to not affect the gameplay and environment, as these sprites would eventually make it into the game, where they may be go through tight areas. Along with this, they tried to keep the sprites interesting without becoming distracting.

As seen from the provided concept art, some objects went through many iterations, while others only a few. Notably the skull bird creature went through many different designs, evolving from a horned rock shaped beast to a black coloured bird wearing a skull.

Despite Nitrome's attempt to use all the characters they converted from their flash version to the iOS Ice Breaker version, some characters that were converted were not able to make it into the game. An example is the Valkyrie, who, although being given a new look, was cut from the game.

Updates

 * Main article: Ice Breaker iOS website


 * Update #1 "Sidequests" - The first update of the site talks in-depth about sidequests in Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage
 * Developer Diary #1 - This update explains developer diaries, and talks about the overall progress of Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage
 * Update #2 "The Map" - This update explains the various functions of the in-game map
 * Update #3 "Resolutions" - This update covers how Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage will look on the various versions of iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.
 * Update #3.1 "Resolutions" - A further update about the resolutions of the game, this update mainly about how Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage will look on iPad 5
 * Update #4 "Set Pieces" - Set Pieces are explained in this update
 * Update #5 "Characters" - The main characters of the game are revealed, with a short description about them
 * Developer Diary #2 - This short Developer Diary is mostly an update on how Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage is now ninety percent complete, and how the first boss is done, a trailer is in the works, and a edition of Ice Breaker iOS for review sites is being made
 * Update #6 "Evolution" - This update covers the transitions Nitrome had to make when taking a Flash game series to iPhone
 * Developer Diary #3 - Nitrome tells fans that the "January release date" for Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage was actually meant to mean that the Touch Arcade article on Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage would be out "by January".
 * Developer Diary #4 - Nitrome updates fans on the situation with Ice Breaker iOS, and also say how they will reveal something very exciting "tomorrow" (May 14th 2013)
 * Rovio StarsTM - This update explains a bit about Rovio Stars
 * New Trailer! - This post is mostly to remind fans about the Rovio made Ice Breaker iOS trailer
 * Update #7 "Rovio Stars?" - A post explaining why Nitrome decided to be apart of Rovio Stars
 * Update #8 "Characters" - An update that reveals more characters that are to appear in Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage

Descriptions
On the homepage of the Ice Breaker iOS website, one box always displays the description for Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage. Unusually, this description was changed version Version 3.0 of the site.

Version 1.0 - 2.0 description
''A icy wind has swept the Vikings away. They have been spread throughout the lands and it is your task to get them back! Can you prove yourself to be the hero of the village and become the new ice slicing champion?''

''Use your ice slicing ability to carve up the environment. Cut your way through ice, rope, cannons, explosives, slime and err.. chicken to get your clan back safely to the longboat!''

''Based on the award winning flash games that have had over 100 million plays online. This new version has been developed from the ground up specially for iOS devices, taking things to a whole new level!'' Game Features
 * Unique Game World Cutting Mechanic
 * Beautiful Water Physics
 * Custom Rope Engine
 * Incorporating Box 2d Physics
 * Stunningly Detailed Pixel Graphics (supporting retina display)
 * Tons of Variety (unlike most physics puzzle games!)
 * Stuffed with Characters, Enemies and Traps.
 * Explorable Map
 * Side Quests
 * Unlockable Secrets
 * Set Pieces
 * End of Map Bosses
 * ...A proper adventure!

Version 3.0 description
An epic adventure based on the award-winning flash game!

An icy wind has swept the Vikings away, leaving them stranded throughout the land and surrounded by trolls, deadly traps, dangerous enemies, and worst of all… troll snot!

Now it’s up to you to save them!

Use your icebreaking skills to solve puzzles and cut your way through ice, rope, cannons, explosives, slime and… err… chickens to get your clan back safely to the Viking longboat!
 * Based on the award-winning flash game by Nitrome, now expanded, updated, and optimized for iPhone and iPad!
 * 95 action-packed levels in three different lands!
 * Beautifully immersive world filled with vikings, trolls, deadly theme park rides, and looooots of ice!
 * Use special god powers to speed through tricky levels!
 * Side quests!
 * Unlockable secrets!
 * Epic final bosses, including the gigantic Mountain Troll and his legendary indigestion!

Beta elements

 * Main article: Beta elements (Ice Breaker: A Viking Voyage)

Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage contains an enormous amount of content that did not make it into the final game. Most of this is usually content relating to early images of a level, although sometimes complete characters were renamed, unused, or taken out of the game.

Logo
Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage had the logo for the game changed. The new logo was created after a few weeks of experimenting between Nitrome and Rovio, this logo launched with Version 3.0 of the Ice Breaker iOS website.

The first logo - used for all Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage content prior to the second logo - showed a map with a hammer on it, to the sides of these hammers being diamond like object. Below the head of the hammer is the word "Icebreaker", which below it has gusts of wind that have the words "A Viking Voyage" on it.

The second logo is more simple, have a viking helmet with the same diamonds, only the viking helmet and the diamonds are shiny and gold coloured. Below this is big text that reads (in red) "Icebreaker", below this being smaller white text that reads "A Viking Voyage".

The logo was changed in an attempt to make the new logo easier to read "at a glance" and at a smaller size with less colour, along with being "more usable across all the marketing that was needed" for Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage , without disrupting the feel of the logo.

Reason for transition
The problem with the first Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage logo was its symbolism, its inability to work with two colours , and the unnecessary content in the logo that cluttered the image.

The hammer present in the first logo was not carried over to the second logo, as, although the hammer was a key element of the Ice Breaker series, it "did little for someone unfamiliar with the [Icebreaker] world", whereby the Icebreaker Viking helmet implied the presence of Vikings - the main people of the game, and thus, implied the type of world that would be encountered. As shown in the bottom-right side of the third image in the below gallery, the first Icebreaker image looked poorly in two colours, as much of the logo looks as though there is a flash around it. Along with this, it is rather evident that there is a large amount of unnecessary content around the logo; although it does make the logo better in all its colours, at a smaller size, much of the logo is harder to see due to the large amount of unnecessary content, notably the spherical wind currents.

Another change in the logo was increasing the size of the words "A Viking Voyage", as compared to the larger text in the first logo, the "A Viking Voyage" words are rather small and hard to see when the logo is shrunk.

Nitrome has also stated how the new logo allows them to more easier modify it to their liking.

Trivia

 * Although not named directly, the maps in Ice Breaker iOS are possibly heavily based off the Grand World Map in Super Mario Galaxy 2, as both maps have designs in the background, a level icon that shows some of the elements in that galaxy, and also separate maps of differing lengths (being the Super Mario Galaxy 2 version of Ice Breaker iOS level packs).
 * Despite the Troll seeming reminiscent of the Trolls drawn by Rien Poortvliet, the artist for this game - Martin Worister - did not base the Ice Breaker iOS troll off the Rien Poortvliet one, despite both looking similar.
 * According to Dave Cowen's website, Ice Breaker: A Viking Voyage was supposed to be released in January 2013. However, the game was not released then, perhaps due to bugs or unfinished work on the game that took longer than expected to complete, or that Dave Cowen misinterpreted what Nitrome said by the game being released "in January" (as Nitrome only intended to get the Touch Arcade Ice Breaker iOS article up by January).
 * Later in 2013, Dave Cowen's website was updated. The front page now states that Ice Breaker: A Viking Voyage is due to be published by Rovio in May 2013.