What's more, a couple of the complaints made have been addressed: Millidge has added checkpoints to the last three levels to mitigate the difficulty, and there is now a self-destruct button in case you get stuck somewhere.īy far, the most captivating part of Icycle is the atmosphere. The response from the JIG community was so overwhelmingly positive that we knew we had overlooked a gem.

You might suffer a few unavoidable deaths, but with careful observation you can learn to make them, um, un-unavoidable.Īnalysis: Many of you may recognize Icycle from when we featured it on Link Dump Friday. Icycle should be viewed first as a platformer, but also as a light exercise in memory ‒ something along the lines of an unfair platformer, but thankfully much milder. The planet may be frozen, but it certainly is not dead! Be prepared for falling rocks, floors that crumble beneath your wheels, gigantic growing ice crystals and other unpleasant surprises.

You'll find yourself carving up chilly caves, flying through frozen forests, wending your way among wintry war zones, and maneuvering through moribund metropolises.Īlthough many of the landscapes look ready to be leaped and bounded across, you'll end up an irritated gamer if you adopt a blitzkrieg strategy.

You wouldn't think there would be a lot of variety in the way of frozen wasteland tableaux, but Millidge puts his immense animation talents to work, supplying themes for all eight levels. Be sure to avoid all the sharp things, and mind the bottomless pits from which escape the wind's mighty howl! Nab as many bubbles as you can for a better score at the end.Įach level consists of several screens, which must all be navigated flawlessly, or else it's back to the beginning of the level. Pedal your way across eight treacherous landscapes, following the trail of frozen bubbles in hopes of catching up to your quarry. Use the keys to accelerate and brake with the bicycle (there's no going backwards) and to jump. This is the premise of Icycle, the hauntingly gorgeous platformer from UK animator-turned-gamemaker Reece Millidge. But how does one navigate a world frozen solid by an apocalyptic catastrophe? On a squeaky bicycle, of course! But wait! What's that over there? Why it's a bubble, frozen in midair! Someone else must have survived! He'd better try to find them.

When he woke up, the whole earth was frozen, and he thought he must be the only human left alive on the whole planet. Some very bad people put this man to sleep for a long time. Gather 'round, children, and let me tell you the story of a naked man and his bicycle.

Icycle game