Icebreaker: A Viking Voyage

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

Icebreaker: A Viking Voyage, alternatively known as Ice Breaker iOS, is a puzzle physics game released for iOS devices on June 20, 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 14, 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.

Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage was released a day early in the Finish app store (June 19th), for the purpose of checking for bugs. Upon the worldwide release of Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage, the site was updated with a new skin - Icebreaker.

Controls
Drag Finger - Slice/Drag a viking (when "Finger of the Gods" God Power is active)

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)

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.

Gameplay
Gameplay of Icebreaker iOS is similar to that of its predecessors. The player is tasked with the goal of returning all loose Vikings to their ship. Scattered throughout levels are coins that can be collected and used in an in-game shop. Some coins may also be found in treasure chests.

Some vikings are not encased in ice, but rather, are placed in high up areas. Since vikings cannot move by themselves, the player has to slice ice and manipulate the environment in order to get the vikings back to their longboat, where the Chief Viking will smash any small portion of ice and free any frozen Viking.

Level navigation
Level selection will be done on an explorable map, with a boat icon as a marker for the player's selection. Tapping a location on the map causes the boat to make its way towards the selected location. Tapping the same area or the "Play" button initiates the start of the level. When a level is accessed, the name of the level is displayed along with a few indicators below.

The map is designed to be integrated into the Icebreaker gaming experience, based off map systems from 16-bit platformers such as the Super Mario Games.

Completion
If a level is locked, its icon blends in with the background of the map as a drawing. It is coloured in only when the player completes the level corresponding to that icon.

Completion of a level unlocks the level on the current path that comes after the completed level. Some paths of the map split into two separate paths that will unlock two levels simultaneously. . In other cases, levels may have secret entrances leading to other levels.

Completing sidequests gives a golden puzzle piece, granting access to another part of the map that is attached to that level. This part of the map is only accessible through the completion of this part of the sidequest.

At some points in level pack 2, gates, guarded by a gate keeper, may block the longboat's path, preventing it from immediately passing through. A certain quantity of coins must be given to the gatekeeper before the longboat can pass through.

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, the first being a tutorial with around five levels. Nitrome may release other level packs after the the game's launch.

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 It is known that the game will have 95 levels.

When a level is selected, the screen will transition to show the name of the level and its "indicators". A sword has been confirmed to be one of the indicators, as it is necessary for every level's completion.

There are currently three available level packs, these being:
 * Hammerfest
 * Troll Marsh
 * Under-Dwell
 * An upcoming map pack

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 also secondary objectives, such as also getting a Shepard's lost goats back to the Shepard's longboat. Completing the sidequest is not necessary to proceed to the next level, however, a golden puzzle piece will be awarded.

Some levels themselves are sidequests, though they are not presented on the map with this title. The only way the player would be able to complete the "sidequest" is to experiment with the game's given environment and "[solve] puzzles that might not initially be apparent"

Known levels
"See also: Ice Breaker: A Viking Voyage/Beta elements" Since the game's reveal, Nitrome has revealed several screenshots of levels within Icebreaker iOS. Although most of the levels have not been shown where to be found on the map, the basic appearance of the level and the appearance of some interactive objects have been made known. Throughout each 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.

Set Pieces
Set Pieces are placed within levels as a sometimes crucial part of the game. . These are essentially a type of interactive object designed for use in a single level.

Due to the word choice, there was some misunderstanding of the words' definition. Nitrome said that in the fourth update, set pieces demonstrate their ability to make puzzles more engaging to players with the use of graphics designed specifically for each stage.

Bosses
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.

Currently, only one boss is known: the Mountain Troll.

God Powers
God Powers are a premium feature of Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage that allows the player to manipulate levels in unnatural way. They can be bought as an in-app purchase (referred to as IAP by Nitrome) from in-game shops with monetary value. Currently, three gods powers are known: Finger of the Gods, Magnet of the Gods and Gravity of the Gods.

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
 * 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
 * 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

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 a Viking 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

 * Icebreaker_Troll.gifTrolls - 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 by chicken eggs
 * Cave Trolls - Enemies with the ability to move and fly

Publishing opportunities
Nitrome was working with Rovio on Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage since January 2013. Although several other publishers were previously interested in publishing, Nitrome did not wish to have a publisher of the game at the time. They later settled on Rovio because of Rovio's already widespread audience.

Nitrome later highlighted on their May 15 blog post that 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 considerably cheap, a profit is made once a substantial amount of copies of the game being sold are sold. At the same time this was announced, the Rovio trailer for Icebreaker iOS was released.

In app purchases
The only known in-app purchases are God Powers, which cost money outside of the game. They can either be bought in a single pack with a certain number of one type of God Power to use, or in a pack with a certain number of all three god powers.

In order for all Nitromians to test out the God Powers, a level for each God Power has been created, with the option of testing out the given power for free.

Free 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".

Release
On June 20th, Icebreaker A Viking Voyage was released. When players first went onto the Nitrome site that day, a message would pop up in the middle of the screen and turn the rest of the site dark. The message was labeled "Special Announcement." In the announcement was a picture of many of the game characters, and then the Icebreaker iOS logo above them. On the top-left corner of the announcement was a golden ribbon with a seal that said "Out Now!". On the right side were two buttons, made to look like wood. One button said "Watch the Trailer," and would transform the announcement box into a Youtube video player when clicked. The video player would play the. The second button read "Visit the Website," and when clicked on, would take the player to the Icebreaker iOS website.

Below the picture were three more golden/golden-brown buttons in a row. The first button said "No Thanks," and would close the special announcement permanently. The second button said "Remind me later," and would close the special announcement, but would have it pop back up later. The third button, which read "Get it Now!", would make the three buttons disappear, and replace them with two options to download the iPhone/iPod Touch version, or the HD iPad version. Both choices showed the Icebreaker iOS logo, and a list of which iOS devices would be compatible to download. Clicking on wither choice would link the clicker to the iTunes site for purchase and download.

Underneath the buttons, in fine print, were the words 'Unless you click "remind me", we will not show you this message again."

Previews
"Main article: Ice Breaker iOS website" Throughout the course of Icebreaker iOS' development, Nitrome has revealed various features as well as screenshots through entries on their site specifically created for A Viking Voyage. Each of these are logged in two categories: Developer Diaries and Updates.

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

Graphics
In terms of graphics, Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage features graphics superior to that of regular Nitrome games.

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.

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.

Unique features
Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage will presumably have much of the features the previous Ice Breaker game had.
 * The game will have "Beautiful Water Physics" (named on the site in the first description). 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 incorporates Box 2D physics into levels.'
 * Icebreaker A Viking Voyage is the first Nitrome game to be localized, the game available in French, German, Spanish and Italian at launch. It is possible the game will be localized into other languages after launch.
 * Icebreaker A Viking Voyage is sold in two forms: a version available for all iPhones (except 2nd generation) and a version available for all iPads, this iPad version containing Retina character sprites and costs more than the iPhone version.

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.

Reviews
Icebreaker A Viking Voyage has received universal acclaim, reviewers praising the game's graphics, humour, diversity, and level design. John Bardinelli of Jay is Games described the game as "polished and easy to play" and "an absolute juggernaut of a game", praising the game's dialogue, art, and level diversity.

Rob Rich of 148 Apps awarded the game an "Editor's Choice" award, also praising the game's humour and art, along with the diverse gameplay and clever level design, awarding the game an overall score of 4.5 out of 5, concluding his review stating "I’m not entirely sure that I could be any happier with Icebreaker. It’s an incredibly fun, incredibly diverse, and incredibly clever physics puzzler."
 * Jay is Games review
 * 148 Apps review
 * Pocketgamer Review
 * Appgoer review

Sales
Ice Breaker A Viking Voyage was ranked number three on the paid app store on June 20th.

Trivia

 * 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.