Can You Make The Grade In Ice Riders?

Ice Riders ($0.99) by Sauce Digital Limited combines a line-drawing game with snowboarding.

Find the drop point where the boarder will fall from, and devise your ice slide to coincide with the bonuses randomly placed throughout the level. A meter on the left shows how much ice you have available for drawing.

Once you hit done, the boarder drops and you get to see how well your line skills work.

However, unlike some games, such as From Cheese, where your character will only follow its programmed path, you still retain control of the boarder in this game.

The controls are similar to other “downhill” games such as Earn To Die. Three buttons will help you pull off stunts while also nabbing the bonuses. The lightning-like button in the bottom right has the boarder grab the board, resulting in a speed boost. On the left side are two directional buttons to help perform stunts. You’ll need them, especially as the grades become harder.

Two game modes are provided: campaign and single grade. Campaign mode starts at grade (level) one and progressively becomes harder as you complete each grade. Single grade allows you to pick which grade you’d like to play, regardless of whether or not you’ve beaten the previous grades.

Each grade features a target score, as well as a maximum available score. At least match the target score and you’re on your way to the next grade.

However, what’s not so easy about this game is navigating through it. The menus in this seem to prove harder to use than the different snowboarding tricks.

For example, unsuccessfully finishing a grade in single grade mode doesn’t end the game. You simply see the screen as you left it, but without the boarder. Hitting the quit button ends the grade, though it feels like it would quit the app all together.

During the middle of campaign mode, hitting the X button before the level ends allows you to end the run, which results in seeing everything but the boarder. Hitting quit takes you back to the main menu.

The game’s graphics are simplistic, with a background of triangular mountains and a wavy field of snow. As for the snowboarder, he is only slighter more detailed than a stick figure. With a line being the simplest shape to draw, it makes sense that the graphics would compliment that simplicity.

Aside from the slight headache of navigating between grades, this is a fun little game. Slide on over to the App Store to check it out.