Steve Cartwright designed it in 1983 with an idea as simple as it is tense: the protagonist has to jump from ice floe to ice floe, each moving in a different direction, to gather the ice blocks needed to complete an igloo before the cold weakens him, all while dodging polar bears, crabs, and birds that complicate every jump. Managing time, cold, and the floes' rhythm makes it much more demanding than its friendly aesthetic suggests.
It's routinely cited among the best games in the 2600 catalog overall, not just Activision's, an example of elegant design achieved with a minimal premise and flawless execution.
If you liked this one
