Arctictopia Review – Indie Game

Let’s get started on this Arctictopia Review.

What is Arctictopia?

Arctictopia is a puzzle-solving game set in the Arctic Ocean. You are a Polar Bear with your baby cub polar bear. Unfortunately, the ice keeps melting and separating the two bears. You need to navigate past dangers and reunite the bear with its cub.

Can you complete all the levels in this laid-back, relaxing, and easy-to-play puzzle game?

Who Makes Arctictopia?

Arctictopia is made by the developer Gamtropy. They are a five-person indie game development team from Taiwan. They have made several other games similar to Arctictopia like Desertopia and Forestopia.

Which Platforms is Arctictopia On?

Arctictopia is available from the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, and Steam.

Arctictopia Controls

The controllers in Arctictopia are not very complicated. You use basic arrow keys for movement. If you fail the level, you hit R to restart. Occasionally you will need to hit the enter key to get to the next screen.

There is also a Hint Key with H that shows you how many moves an ice float has. This is a nice way to get a little bit of a hint, without completely spoiling things. The final command is the Z back key, which means if you make one wrong move you can “undo” it and continue on.

Arctictopia Gameplay Review

Arctictopia starts with some comic and animated type sequences. You are following the story of two polar bears who keep getting separated by the melting ice. Each level has different size ice floats that will melt as you move in one direction. Some will be larger than others and you will need to effectively plot a path through the waters to figure out how to reunite the bears.

As the levels progress there will be additional characters added in. Seals, humpback whales, arctic foxes, and puffins for example. When these characters appear on the screen you have the option of picking them up before connecting the bears. To get a “perfect” level all the animals need to be collected. Picking these guys up can add a bit more challenge to things.

The graphics are very cute and remind me of a childhood book. Occasionally there will be some funny character stuck in the snow off to the side, but overall it’s simple and cute. There are several comic book-type shorts as you progress in the levels that introduce new hazards and characters. Overall, it brings you back to a calming childhood story.

There is nice and relaxing music playing in the background as you play. After a long day of working, I found myself popping into this game and immediately relaxing because of it. It is a very relaxing video game.

The puzzles gets your brain thinking. Some are pretty straightforward and easy, while others require a few tries and some creative thinking. As the levels progress and more hazards are added, as expected things get much harder.

Currently, the achievements are bugged. Almost none of them have unlocked for anyone who has played it, so I hope the developers can get out a patch soon for this and achievements are a great motivator for puzzle game players.

Who Will Enjoy Playing Arctictopia?

There is no official rating on Arctictopia. I imagine this would be E for Everyone. If you like puzzle games, brain teasers, and relaxing story-telling experiences you will enjoy Arctictopia.

What Games are similar to Arctictopia?

There is a very relaxing vibe to this game that immediately calms the mind. It reminds me of Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Playne, Unpacking, and Divide By Sheep.

How long is Arctictopia?

There are 150 levels of Artctictopia at this time. Some levels can be completed in less than a minute, while others will take you a while and quite a few tries. There are at least 8 hours of gameplay here.

Final Thoughts On Arctictopia Review