if no image, probably out of availability
Spotlight on Games > Thematic Ludographies

Arctic Frieze
January 9, 2009

As cold weather devours the Northern Hemisphere and we await the Vancouver Winter Olympics, let us build here, a display, as if in a museum, of all of the games about the Arctic Wastes. Let us keep it to just the Great White North, so polar bears, not penguins.

sorted by reverse year of first publication
  1. Arctic Scavengers
    Robert K. Gabhart; Driftwood Games/Rio Grande Games; 2-5
    A card game of a future in which the world undergoes a new ice age. By drafting and building your hand, build up your tribe as much as possible in order to survive. Expanded by Arctic Scavengers - Deception (2009) and Arctic Scavengers - HQ (2009). Shop
    if no image, probably out of availability
  2. Arctic Survival
    Grant & Mike Wylie; Worthington Games; 2-4
    Tile-laying game of the Inuit attempting to survive on the ice. Threatening are ice floes, thin ice, bears, wolves and even orcas. Dice play a role. Unfortunately, penguins are also present. Shop
  3. Polar Derby
    Reiner Knizia; Gamewright; 2-4; 8+
    A press-your-luck game using dice. These silly bears are on roller skates. Can they stop in time?! Shop
    if no image, probably out of availability
  4. Ice Flow
    Dean Conrad & John Streets; JKLM/Heidelberger/Ludorum; 2-4
    A logistical game in which players must travel from Alaska to Siberia by crossing the ever-changing ice. Be sure to take enough tools, or find them on the way, and always avoid the polar bears. Shop
    if no image, probably out of availability
  5. Snow Tails
    Fraser & Gordon Lamont; Fragor/Asmodée; 2-5
    Dogsled racing game where movement is determined by card play. A beautiful production. read more – Shop
    if no image, probably out of availability
  6. Der Goldene Kompass
    Inka & Markus Brand; Kosmos; 2-4
    Based on the fantasy novel, The Golden Compass. The players are trying to unravel the secret of lost children. To do so they travel to the cold north of Svalbard, home of the ice bears. From there, they must travel to the another world. Players use cards to gain experience, have encounters and race to the goal. Shop
    if no image, probably out of availability
  7. The Golden Compass Movie Game (Der goldene Kompass - Spiel zum Film)
    Marco Maggi & Francesco Nepitello; Kosmos/Sophisticated Games; 2-4
    Based on the film, The Golden Compass. Players take turns leading Lyra to rescue her friends, along the way collecting items, clues and knowledge of the golden compass. A golden compass spinner provides the two actions a player may choose from. It is not really a cooperative game; the winner is the one who has scored the most points by the end. Shop
    if no image, probably out of availability
  8. Golden Compass DVD Board Game
    Sababa Toys; 2-4
    Based on the film, The Golden Compass. Trivia game using a DVD that offers clues and questions, including scenes from the movie. Includes four sculpted pieces of the characters and their four daemons. Shop
  9. Grænaland
    Vlaada Chvátil; CzechBoardGames/Altar Games; 3-5
    Scandinavian settlers of Greenland attempt to survive and thrive. Includes resource production, negotiation, trading and voting. read more – Shop
  10. Daddy Cool
    Heinz Meister; Huch & Friends; 2-6; 5+
    A press-your-luck game in which polar bear cubs race to the bath. read more – Shop
  11. Eskimo
    Lloyd Krassner; Warp Spawn Games; 2-4
    Print-and-play card and dice game of hunting food.
    if no image, probably out of availability
  12. Iglu Iglu
    Bruno Cathala & Bruno Faidutti; Goldsieber; 2-4
    As the ice slowly melts, various things appear, such as fish, foxes, polar bears, etc. The Inuit enter the board from the edges and attempt to collect all they can as well as build their igloos so as to control the remaining islands. Shop
  13. Mare Polare
    Roberto Fraga; Selecta Spielzeug; 2-4; 4+
    The Inuit crisscross the ice of the "polar sea" trying to collect particular fish, for their particular types of soup. Memory and cooperation play important roles. Shop
  14. Mush! The Iditarod Game
    Julie Collett, April Foiles, Kat Lund & Erin Williams ; unpublished; 2-4
    Educational card game which teaches map reading. The goal is to be the first to cross the Iditarod dogsled racing course.
    if no image, probably out of availability
  15. Igloo Pop (Iglu Pop)
    Heinz Meister & Klaus Zoch; Zoch/Rio Grande; 2-6; 7+
    Players shake plastic igloos trying to guess the number of beads (between 2 and 13) they hold. If right, they get to claim the card matching that number. Trying to identify this amount by ear is not easy, but surprisingly feasible. Shop
  16. Am Rand des Gletschers
    Anja & Patrick Menon; Krimsus Krimskrams-Kiste; 2-4
    Card game of ice age tribes living "at the glacier's edge". In a risk management system, players must decide how to allocate their tribe members to satisfy the conflicting goals of gathering food and winning glory for the tribe. read more – Shop
  17. Eskimemo
    unknown; Schmidt Spiele; 2-4; 5+
    Memory game for children. Players roll dice and put that number of Inuit in their igloos. When their own igloos are full, they can start putting them in those of other players. The first to hide all of their Inuit wins. Shop
    components
  18. Kayanak
    Peter-Paul Joopen; HABA; 2-4; 6+
    Players represent Inuit trying to catch fish, which are represented by steel balls in different sizes. Punching holes through the sheet of paper suspended in the box represents breaking the ice. Shop
  19. Yukon Company
    Dirk Henn; db-Spiele; 4-6
    Players represent traders in the old Yukon, buying goods in the city and then swapping items with non-player gold prospectors up the creeks. read more – Shop
    components
  20. Nanuuk!
    Günter Cornett; Bambusspiele; 2-4
    Players represent Inuit who go out hunting and have to bring back their gains to the igloos. The trouble is that the ice is very thin and every step makes it crack a little more. Care must be taken not to be trapped on an island without a kayak, or run into a polar bear. Also includes rules for play as a pure abstract. read more – Shop
    components
  21. American Megafauna
    Phil Eklund; Sierra Madre Games 1-4
    The game is of competing dinosaurs and mammalian megafauna. The map is of the entire North America, including the frozen north. But if ice ages set in, ice can cover most of the map and even prematurely end the game (as well as most life on earth). Very suitable for solitaire play. Also available is the American Megafauna Expansion Kit which permits a fifth player. read more – Shop
  22. Safe Return Doubtful
    Randy Moorehead; Simulations Workshop; 1-5
    Players represent early polar explorers trying to reach the pole, or as close as possible before supplies run out, and return again home safely, preferably not by floating home on an iceberg, though it's a distinct possibility if all other options fail. Very suitable for solitaire play. read more – Shop
  23. Mush
    Alan R. Moon; White Wind; 2-6
    Players race their dog sleds via a great deal of dice rolling. Adding interest is the ability to design the dog team before play begins. read more – Shop
    components
  24. Klondike
    Stephanie Rohner & Christian Wolf; HABA; 2-4; 6+
    Players represent gold panners. They draw three samples (marbles) out of a bag and see if they are gold (yellow) or rock (black or gray) and then see how much gold they can get to fly out of a pan by rocking it back and forth, hoping not to also knock out the rock. Other players participate by betting on how well they will do. read more – Shop
  25. Im Reich des weißen Bären
    Charles Lerue; Schmidt/Selecta; 2-4; 8+
    "In the Realm of the White Bear" is about Inuit going out to catch fish on the ice and then returning home again while trying to avoid the dangerous polar bears. Shop
  26. Polar Dare
    Dan Glimne; Milton Bradley; 2-4; 8+
    Penguins race across the ice trying to avoid polar bears. Players use their points to move their pieces and/or the ice floes. Actually there were once northern penguins, though now extinct and somewhat different from their southern cousins. Shop
  27. Gold am Yukon
    Reinhold Wittig; Amigo; 3-6; 6+
    "Gold in the Yukon" is a roll and move game as teams of prospectors cross the board to reach gold claims. Shop
  28. North to Alaska
    unknown; Herbert Law; 2-8; 8+
    A roll and move game has players traveling from Seattle to Anchorage, the object being to arrive with the most money. Shop
  29. Icebergs
    Tom Wham; TSR; 2-8
    Players represent captains of oil supertankers racing for oil, avoiding the icebergs. Shop
  30. Alaska
    Eric Solomon; Ravensburger; 2-4; 8+
    Players race their trucks to get their containers from a central island to their camp over the ice before it completely thaws. Action cards include polar bears, robbers, fog and frostbite, but also extra containers and the helicopter. Shop
  31. Klondike
    Tom Dalgliesh & Lance Gutteridge; Gamma Two; 2-6
    A stocks and speculation game in which players decide whether to pan for gold or invest in supporting services like hotels and stores. Shop
  32. Race to the North Pole
    unknown; Snowdon Productions; 2-6
    Roll-and-move game of racing to the north pole. Said to be rare. Shop
  33. Don't Break the Ice
    unknown; Schaper/Milton Bradley/Schmidt; 2-4; 4+
    Dexterity game. White plastic blocks are wedged into a grid and players take turns using a hammer to hammer out one block at a time. Eventually the man positioned on top must fall in and be claimed by the polar bear. Shop

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