When playing I C E, it’s important to be aware that it’s a very unique game — and so the “playing style” may not be what you first expect! You will soon discover that your initial assumptions may not always translate into winnable strategies.
The following strategies will help you to become a better I C E player!
DON’T ISOLATE YOURSELF!
As this is a competitive game, and the Archaeologists are shared by all players, you might think the “smart” move is to be as far away from other players as possible. Think again!
In actuality…. in I C E players can benefit from being around other player’s Expedition Leaders. You will quickly discover that being near other players, and sharing Archaeologists, will help you to dig through the multiple levels of Snow tiles and Artifacts much faster!
In contrast, if you are always far away on the other side of the board all by yourself, you will excavate a lot more slowly over the course of the game — finding yourself with fewer precious Artifacts than other players. Don’t be afraid to be close to your competitors! The trick is to always try to position yourself perfectly with your last move, so that it could potentially benefit you when it’s your turn again!
For example, don’t worry if your last move is “giving” an opponent a tile to excavate. Not every tile is worthwhile for excavation — and perhaps you need them to clear a path for you to excavate the NEXT tile below that!
AVOID THE FAR EDGES WHEN POSSIBLE
As more and more tiles get removed over the course of the game, you will notice that each deeper layer has fewer tiles. This creates a funneling effect, where the edges of the board now come into play.
These funneled edges are a part of the inner board, but if you excavate the tile above them, you will still need to allocate some of your Explorers on these edges using the Placement Rule.
Sometimes you really need an Artifact that’s on the far extremeties, and if you end up on the board edges, it’s not the end of your game. Just be aware: if you’re allocating Explorers with the Placement Rule, make sure your Expedition Leader is placed on one of the edges, so that their next move is going inwards towards the center.
TIMING IS IMPORTANT: DON’T ALWAYS RUSH
Just because you have 2 actions per turn, you don’t always have to use both of them. And don’t forget the “Plan” action!
Using only one action is mandatory per turn, so make sure to only use the second optional action if you really need it. Sometimes it’s better to slow down and wait see what other players do. In the game of I C E, the board-state can change quite dramatically between your turns. So use this to your advantage when necessary. Other players may clear a patch of tiles for you to then get the Artifacts you really wanted underneath.
And if you really want to halt everything, remember the “Plan” action (ony once a Day). This basically shifts one of your actions to the next Day.
DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF STUDY TOKENS!
Especially early on in the game! Study tokens are basically like permanent 1 Anima Artifacts that cost only 1 EP!
You can only have 1 of each color Study Token, but if you get enough of them early on, you will be able to activate Artifact abilities much faster! And unlike Artifacts (which might get removed from your Guild board when using them to validate Request cards), the Study Tokens stay on your board until the end of the game!
DON’T FORGET TO USE THE SAIL & RECRUIT ACTIONS!
These actions are often under-used in early games, because players focus on just moving and excavating. But both Sail and Recruit help you move and excavate even better!
Sail allows you to basically teleport your Expedition Leader to any other Camp on the board (including other player’s Camps)! Don’t like your current place? Sail to the other side of the board where there’s a Camp, and you might have a better area to work with.
Meanwhile, once you’re on a tile with a Camp, don’t neglect using the Recruit action which brings another Archaeologist to that Camp. The more Archaeologists that are always around you, the better your game will be. Use Recruit early and often in the game whenever possible.
USE SNOW TILES AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME
Snow tiles can be used immediately after excavating them (when applicable), which is great! But sometimes you may want to hold on to them longer…
Just because you have a free action (Snow tile), doesn’t mean you need to always use it right away. Always plan your actions carefully, with the 1-2 actions you have per turn + any Guild ability + any Artifact ability you haven’t used yet that Day + any Snow tiles in hand. Make sure to “finish” a plan that you’ve started in a turn, so that other players don’t take advantage of your plan when it’s their turn.
USE YOUR GUILD’S ABILITY WISELY
All the Guilds have asymmetrical abilities, and some are more difficult to use than others. Here we rank the Guilds from easiest to use to most difficult, and offer some strategies:
— Alchemists (Edifices & Guild expansion): Once per Day, the Alchemist can grap up to two random tiles from the discard bag and choose one to keep. The only thing to remember is to actually do it every Day, and to pay attention when there’s enough (at least 2) to choose from, though you could always use the ability when there’s just 1 in the bag (especially if you know which tile it is and really wnat it). Also remember that once Artifacts start to be discarded, they can potentially be amongst the tiles that you grab!
— Icewalkers: Their ability is quite powerful and easy to understand (after excavating, place Archaeologists first by using the Placement Rule, then flip one of your Grappling Hook tokens to its non-colored side in order to place your Leader on any of the revealed tiles with no restriction). Note: While you start the game with two available Grappling Hooks, only 1 can be refreshed each new Day. This means you can use the Grappling Hook ability a maximum of five times throughout a game (only 0ne of the Days could potentially have Grappling Hooks used twice). Note that this ability works best when your Leader is with 1-2 Archaeologists, or 4 or more. With exactly 3, the placement (even when using a Grappling Hook) won’t be any different than a normal excavation with other Guilds.
— Enlightened (Edifices & Guild expansion): The rule for them is actually quite easy (predict which type of Snow tile or shape of Artifact before you’re about to excavate, and receive 1EP or 2RP respectively if correct, with a 1-in-3 chance for each). This is the only Guild with more “luck” as a factor, and can definitely be played by newcomers if they enjoy more random gameplay (it’s also just fun to play for players who don’t take their games too seriously) — though we also recommend it for players who have played the game a few times at least. If you familiarize yourself with the tiles well enough, and pay enough attention to what’s been excavated/played already, you can start to better increase your odds with the guesses. So expert players will have the best advantage using them!
— Incandescents: The ability is easy enough to understand (when your Leader is on an Artifact tile, even when covered by 1-2 tiles, use the Activation token to use that Artifact’s ability regardless of whether you have excavated that Artifact type yet). But this ability can’t be used until players have started excavating, and you need to keep track of the Artifacts that are nearby you and plan and strategize moves ahead accordingly.
— Nourishers: The easy part: Nourishers begin each Day with 2 Archaeologists on their Guild board. Once per turn, they can bring one of these to any Snow tile as a free action. The hard part: This is limited to Snow tiles ONLY, not Artifact tiles. Nourishers are very powerful early on in the game, and can gain a huge advantage. But their usefulness wanes a bit as more of the Snow tile layers gets removed during the game. That’s why the Nourisher player really needs to take advantage of this as early as possible. Even during the final Days, the Nourisher should ALWAYS play their extra Archaeologists to a Snow Tile, even if it doesn’t necessarily immediately benefit them. As long as they are close by to your Leader, they could come in handy on a later turn.
— Preachers (Relics expansion): Preachers have a great ability (when a Relic shard is fully revealed during their turn, they can excavate it for free). But the timing of this can be tricky. Make sure to allocated your Explorers (using the Placement Rule), with the free excavation in mind. Normally your Leader alone can excavate it for free if placed on the Shard, but this isn’t necessary when the ability is triggered, so make sure to NOT place your Leader on the free shard. (If Archaeologists are placed there instead, they will fall to the spaces below). When playing with Preachers guild, you should lean into obtaining Relic shards, and getting the most complete sets for their maximum value.
— Telepaths (Relics expansion): Whenever the Telepaths are in any game of I C E, a brand-new strategy develops — not just for the Telepath player, but for ALL the other players as well. Telepaths need to always pay attention to what every other player is doing, because on their turn they must decide whether to move their Telepath’s Leader, or another player’s Expedition Leader. Non-Telepath players must be extra careful on their turns, to make sure they leave their Leaders in a spot, where (if taken over by the Telepath), it is not going to mess up their game. (And if you are really clever, you can make an excavation really appealing to a Telepath, so that they clear the way to an Artifact that you wanted even more). Telepaths add lots of mind games and bluffing to the game!
— Navigators: Apart from the normal movement rules (where up to 3 Archaeologists can follow a Leader during a regular Move action), the Navigators can also have 1 Archaeologist follow them on ANY other move action (including the Build a Camp and Sail actions, and the Ice Manta Ray Snow tile). Pay attention to tiles like “Abseiling Rope” which is even more powerful for the Navigator if you have another action left afterwards. Also be aware of moments where you can Build a Camp or Sail yourself to a Camp where other Archaeologists may already be, as bringing along an extra Archaeologist can make a huge difference. It’s especially useful with the Navigators once-a-Day ability of moving to their Camp for free. The Navigator’s camp works differently than all the other Guilds, and can only ever be on the top (Snow tile) layer, and never on any Artifact layers. If the tile where the Navigator’s camp is located becomes excavated or discarded, the Navigator must move their camp onto an adjacent Snow tile, if possible. If there is no Snow tile immediately adjacent, they can then move their camp onto ANY Snow tile. With enough planning ahead, you will soon see how useful this Guild can be.
— CryoArchitects: This guild can be quite powerful when used properly, but most beginning players have trouble using them effectively as they forget to use their ability or don’t quite understand it. CryoArchitect players must build their strategy around using their Camp as often as possible to help with Excavations.
After excavating a tile with a Camp, it’s important to strategize where you place your Camp afterwards. (Remember: It can be placed on any revealed tile, as long as it’s not an edge, and does not need to follow the Placement Rule).