I’m a big fan of non-conventional games, i.e. games that don’t follow the same cookie cutter formula as so many do. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy all sorts of games, but when I come across something that offers a novel approach to gaming, I’m more than a little curious. And Frost does just that, in a really good way.
The concept of the game is to guide swarms of light towards an orb of the same color using your finger. I have to say here that the first thing that caught my attention were the graphics. The background is pretty neutral, but it almost needs to be to allow those beautiful glimmering swarms of light to be displayed in all their glory.
Everything is light and smooth and somewhat appeasing and inviting at the same time, and I can easily imagine myself almost zoning out while the background music (a nice, soothing piano) drones on.
All right, so now on to why the game is different from countless others. First, it doesn’t tell you what you need to do, instead letting you figure it out for yourself. As far as puzzle games go, I feel like this is a very good thing. I like the challenge, but it doesn’t stop there. As games do, Frost gets progressively harder the more levels you beat, and the ‘rules’ change along the way. For example, in the first few levels, I was able to easily guide the light swarms right to their orbs. Later on, the swarms were actually scattering away from my finger until I realized that I had to use a different colored swarm to herd them and push them towards the orb. And then there are obstacles like light beams cutting you off, the need to mix two swarms to make the right color according to the orb, etc.
It’s a game I don’t mind spending a lot of time figuring out each level, simply because moving the swarms of light around is fun in of itself. If you enjoy puzzle games that keep on puzzling you, this one may just be what you’re looking for – but it’s currently only available for iOS devices. You can get it here for $4.99.