| Icebreaker | |
| Developer: | Magnet Interactive Studios |
| Publisher: | Panasonic Fox Interactive (Windows) |
| Director: | Greg Johnson |
| Producer: | Basel Dalloul |
| Designer: | Andrew Looney |
| Programmer: | Andrew Looney Glenn Ortner Mark Emon |
| Artist: | David Bondi |
| Composer: | Marcus Williams |
| Series: | Icebreaker |
| Platforms: | 3DO Interactive Multiplayer Macintosh Microsoft Windows |
| Released: | 3DO Windows |
| Genre: | Action-strategy |
| Modes: | Single-player |
Icebreaker is a 1995 strategy/action video game developed by Magnet Interactive Studios for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer console. Despite the critical acclaim, the game did not sell well (mostly because of 3DO's failure on the 32-bit video game market). Later, the game was also ported to Macintosh and Windows, where it found a similar fate.
Despite the name, ice appears only in a fraction of the game's levels, and cannot be broken by any means. The game was so named because it was thought that its combination of simple objectives, intense action, and intellectually challenging design would make it appeal equally to casual gamers, hardcore gamers, and even non-gamers, and thus serve as a social icebreaker.
Icebreaker 2 was created but never released and, until recently, the only existing copy was in a custom built arcade style machine at creator Andrew Looney's house. Andrew Looney's Icebreaker 2 was made available for the 3DO by Older Games on August 3, 2007. By December 2007, Older Games had been purchased and is no longer selling the game. The game has a "peppy" soundtrack of simple electronic music.
The player controls a sliding white pyramid (called a "Dudemeyer") on an isometric/diametric projection level. The goal is to eliminate all other pyramids (called "dudes"), starting with the stationary pyramids which line the field, and then the mobile pyramids (called "seekers") which move towards the white pyramid. Each kind of pyramid has its own weakness and specific way to be destroyed.
The game consists of 150 levels. A demo version was created which contains five representative levels from various parts of the game.
Features present in the game include:
The game was developed by Magnet Interactive Studios, a company based in Georgetown.[1]
GamePro gave the 3DO version a generally positive review, assessing that "Part puzzler, part shooter, Ice Breaker refreshes both genres. Clunky controls limit the fun, but hundreds of levels offer depth and variety."[2] The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly stated that the game concept is unique but boring to play, and that the game's graphics fail to demonstrate the full capabilities of the 3DO.[3] Next Generation reviewed the 3DO version of the game, and stated that "even though the gameplay quickly gets repetitive, once you get the hang of it, it's sort of compulsive in an odd way, and still worth a look."[4]
Reviewing the Windows version, a Next Generation critic commented that "for a simple little puzzle game, Icebreaker has a lot to offer." He elaborated that the variety of pyramids and other obstacles, the 150 levels, and the level builder combine to make a game with a deep and addictive challenge in spite of its simple and easy-to-learn concept.[5]