Alawar Games accumulated quite a following through the success of their first installment in the Arctic Quest series. It was easy to see why – simple, yet compelling gameplay that was easy enough for a novice yet challenging enough for a seasoned gamer to pick up. They’re back with the second installment of their game, Arctic Quest 2 – and this time round, it’s packed with more features.

In Arctic Quest, players encountered the evil Snow King and he was promptly defeated at the end of the game. Peace didn’t reign long, for the spawn of evil decided to take over his father’s throne. Blaming his dysfunctional family, Prince Aurorious decides to throw a hissy fit and freeze everything in sight. It’s up to you then, to stop him before he gets his royal grubs on the Crown of Power (cue thunderclap) and makes frozen desserts out of all of us.

On to gameplay. Thanks to the Prince’s cold spell, all the animals in the land are popsicles that you have to free. You do so by filling out the shape of the animals with different geometric ice crystals. Power ups are placed all over these animal shapes, and they come in various forms of sea creatures. Snail power ups slow the game down; puffer fishes fill up empty gaps and different elements can be clicked on to add bonus points or to stop them from thwarting your puzzle solving attempts. This game’s replay value comes from the many ways you could end up solving the puzzles and setting new high scores.

The sad thing about this game is not much has changed graphically from its first installment. Granted, the developers have packed in quite a number of new upgrades for the game, but the drawback is that the hand-drawn graphics that were used in the first game are recycled here. Apart from that, the background music is slightly repetitive. These 2 aspects marred the game’s presentation, without which Arctic Quest 2 would have been a decently solid game.

Arctic Quest 2 has inherited the fun gameplay features from its predecessor which worked so well. This version of the game feels more like an expansion pack, rather than a whole new game. Fans of the first installment will enjoy all the new levels here, while newer players will find the gameplay quite fascinating at the same time.

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