Icetris Is an Addicting and Free Retro Arcade Game for iPhone

One of the things that I love most about new games with retro style is that they bring back fond memories of classic games like Tetris. Icetris for iPhone is a unique combination of match three and falling blocks that’ll have you addicted in no time.

The goal of Icetris is to tap containers at the bottom of the screen in order to change them so they match objects that are about to fall into them. Ice blocks always fall into buckets, but other objects and containers vary based on the level you’re playing.

For example, the bathtub level in Icetris requires you to make sure all soap bars fall into a container that resembles a tub. There are three containers at the bottom of the screen, and making sure they correspond with the falling objects is very tricky.

New players are greeted with a quick visual tutorial to show them what they need to do in order to play Icetris correctly. One of the best things about the game is that it’s really easy to understand, so new players won’t have any problems with picking up the game and playing it right away.

Icetris is a very fast-paced game and it takes a bit of time to get used to how the game works. At first I found it almost impossible to play the first level for more than a couple seconds, but after about 10 minutes of playing I had already unlocked two additional characters/levels and beaten my high score 5 times over.

Currently Icetris includes 7 levels for players to unlock, and the only way to do so is to reach the minimum required total score. One of the things I really like about this is that your total score is cumulative, so you don’t have to worry about attaining an incredibly high score in order to access other parts of the game.

Icetris also features a retro soundtrack with a catchy tune, but I do wish that background music changed from level to level.

Lastly, Icetris features Game Center integration and includes a leaderboard which allows you to compete with friends and other players to see who can get the highest level score (not total score).

Overall, I think Icetris is a fantastic game that really challenges players to be as quick as they can while paying attention to the blocks that are falling from the top of the screen. The game is challenging enough to be difficult, but addicting enough to keep you coming back for more.

Icetris requires iOS 4.3 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.

A small fee was paid by the developer for publication of this review

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• Icetris has been featured by Indie Game Magazine (themactrack.com)