Ice Breakers: Penguin Pirates

Game Description: Welcome to the next chapter of Ice Breakers! In Ice Breakers: Penguin Pirates you will have to sharpen your matching skills to beat the clock. Games.com has added some new twists to the game such as changing the color of tiles and clearing a path for special items like maps to drop off the board. Don't let the first few levels fool you. Ice Breakers: Penguin Pirates will challenge you! Get to it, Matey. Penguin Pirates await!

How to Play Ice Breakers Penguin Pirates:

• You are looking to match 3 or more identical objects either across or up and down on the board.
• Use your left mouse button.
• Click on 2 adjacent objects (or use a dragging motion) to attempt to swap their positions to make a match.
• The objects will only swap if there is a resulting match of 3 or more in-a-row.
• If you take too long to make a match, Ice Breakers Penguin Pirates will show you a possible move you can make. Look for the small penguin that will pop up on the board and show you where to click.
• If there are no more possible matches available on the entire board the game will tell you that there are no more matches, and then automatically scramble the board for you. Then, just keep playing as usual.
• At the upper left you will see two meters. The top meter, that has a clock symbol on its left, is called the 'Shift'. The shift is green and moves from right to left. It tells you how much time you have to complete each level. Your goal is to complete each level before the shift runs out.
• The second meter, just under the shift is the powerup meter. It has a lightning bolt symbol on its left. The powerup meter is blue and moves from left to right. Each time you make a match of 4 or more objects, the powerup meter will gain strength. When the powerup meter gets all the way to the right, you will earn a powerup that you can use to affect the game. (You can learn more about the powerups in the next section).
• Your goal on levels 1-4 is to make matches over every square on the board. As you do, the squares will turn to gold. You must turn every single square to gold before time runs out.
• After you complete level 1, you may skip the dialogue at the beginning of each subsequent level by clicking the 'Go To Next Level' button. The dialogue really doesn't give you much useful information. And, quite frankly, it gets boring really quick.
• On level 5 a new element is introduced into the game for the first time: map pieces. For level 5 you must drive all 3 map pieces through the bottom of the board by making matches on the squares beneath them. This allows the map pieces to drop all the way to the bottom. Once there, they will fly off the board and fit into their respective placeholders below the board. You must drive all 3 map pieces from the board before time runs out.
• On levels 6 and 7 it's back to turning all squares to gold again, just like you did on Levels 1-4.
• Beginning on level 8, you have dual objectives. In addition to turning all squares to gold, you must also drive every single map piece through the bottom of the board by making matches on the squares beneath them. You must accomplish both of these goals before time runs out.
• When you fail a level you have a choice to make. You can either choose to go back one level lower and continue playing. Or, start the game completely over from the very beginning. (Before deciding what you want to do, you will want to submit your score on the Penguin Pirates Leaderboard. You can learn more about submitting your score below). After submitting your game score, click either 'Restart One Level Back' or 'Restart From Beginning'. Either way, your score will be lost and you must start again at zero.
• There are 25 levels of play.
• Ice Breakers Penguin Pirates will automatically save your game progress as long as you use the same computer as before. When you come back you will see a message that says: "Since you have previously played, you may resume your game where you left off." Click the 'Resume Game' button to continue your game.

The Ice Breakers Penguin Pirates Powerups:

• The powerups are shown on the left side of the game, just under the score. There are 3 kinds of powerups. The powerup on the far left is the TNT powerup (it looks like a bunch of steel balls). The one in the middle is the Color TNT powerup (it looks like a bunch of colored balls). The powerup on the right is called the Scrambler powerup. It looks like a blue whirlwind.
• Each time you earn a powerup, you will see a number in a pink square just to the lower right of the powerup. These numbers indicate how many of each powerup you currently have.
• All unused powerups carry over to the next level. You also retain your powerups when a level is failed, and you choose to go back one level. (If you fail Level 1 however, your powerups cannot be saved).
• You are allowed to have a maximum 12 powerups (4 of each kind). You can use your powerups anytime you want and then earn new ones. However, if you already have the maximum 12 powerups and you get the blue powerup meter all the way to the right, nothing will happen.
• The first powerup you will earn is the TNT powerup. You will have to earn the maximum 4 TNT powerups before you can earn your first Color TNT powerup. To earn your first Scrambler powerup you must first have 8 powerups (4 TNT powerups and 4 Color TNT powerups).
• The TNT powerup can destroy a maximum of 9 objects on the board in the shape of a square. To use the TNT powerup, drag the TNT powerup unto the board. As you do, you will see faint balls on the squares of the objects. When you get the TNT powerup in the exact position you want simply release your mouse to destroy the objects.
• The Color TNT powerup is more powerful, though not as precise, as the TNT powerup. Use it to destroy a lot of objects at once. Like the TNT powerup, you drag the Color TNT powerup unto the board. As you position the TNT powerup over each single square you will see a faint ball on every other similar object. Once you decide which type of object you want to destroy (for example, all blue diamonds), simply release your mouse to destroy the objects.
• The Scrambler powerup is different than the other two powerups. First of all, you don't drag it with your mouse... you simply click on the image. Second, it will not destroy any objects. But, it will change all the objects on the board by scrambling them up. Sometimes this will help, and other times it won't. You just have to take your chances.

Play Ice Breakers Penguin Pirates on Full Screen

Please Note: Before playing Ice Breakers Penguin Pirates in Full Screen mode, you may want to take a moment, or two, to read my review. Then, after playing your game, simply click the back button on your browser to return to this page.

Ice Breakers Penguin Pirates Game Options:

• While playing a level you may pause the game, and take a break, by clicking the 'Menu' button located near the upper left corner. To resume, click the 'Resume Game' button. (Be very careful not to accidentally click the 'Restart From Beginning' button or you will lose all of your game progress!).
• The music may be turned on or off by clicking the musical note icon located just to the right of the 'Menu' button.
• The game sounds may be turned on or off by clicking the microphone icon located just to the right of the musical note icon.

Ice Breakers Penguin Pirates Playing Tips:

• Do yourself a huge favor and play Ice Breakers Penguin Pirates on Full Screen mode by clicking the link below the game. It will save your eyes, and you will also have a lot more fun!
• There are two ways you can approach, and play, Ice Breakers Penguin Pirates. One way would be to try for a high score. The other way would be to simply see how far you can get in the game (which, by the way, is my favorite way to play).
• Whichever way you decide to play the game, don't forget to make matches of 4 or more to get new powerups.
• If you are trying for a high score to submit on the Leaderboard, keep this in mind: Whenever you fail a level your score goes back down to zero. So you will want to use as many powerups as you need to survive each level. You will also need to restart the game from the very beginning whenever you lose a level because you will need the points from the lower levels to get a high score.
• If you are like me, and you want to simply see how far you can get in the game, here is the best tip I can give you. When you reach the tougher levels, say, level 13, make sure you have your full arsenal of 12 powerups at the ready (4 TNT's, 4 colored TNT's, and 4 Scramblers). You are going to need them! If you are an experienced Match 3 player, you will find that these powerups are easy to get on the lower levels. (Just a reminder, you get new powerups by making matches of 4 or more). On the middle, and higher, levels you are not going to have the luxury of concentrating as much on building powerups. You will be fighting, like crazy, just get to make it through each level. Try not to use any powerups on levels 10, 11, and 12, even if you have to go back one level lower and repeat. Beginning on level 13, try to use just enough powerups to make it through. Try to save as many powerups as you can for the remaining levels.

Richard's Rating: 4 out of 5.

Pro: Ice Breakers Penguin Pirates is definitely not for the faint of heart. It is a very, very, tough Match 3 game. I would say, because of the addition of the map pieces, it is even tougher than the original Ice Breakers game... which is saying quite a lot. Don't let the beginning levels lull you into a false sense of security. You will be challenged! And, you will likely have to go back and repeat levels many, many, times. If you are up to the challenge, Ice Breakers Penguin Pirates may be just what you are looking for. You may also curse the day you ever started playing it! lol.

Con:

• If you have never played Match 3, or have no idea what Match 3 is all about, Ice Breakers Penguin Pirates is not the game for you. Try one of my other Match 3 games. Jewel Quest, although not that easy, may be a good place to start.
• Sometimes, Ice Breakers Penguin Pirates will act a bit erratic. For instance, sometimes a square will become blank and there is no way to turn it to gold. This usually happens after you use a powerup. These occurrences are rare. But, they do happen often enough that I felt I needed to tell you about it. When something like this occurs you will have to play the level over again; and maybe even have to refresh your browser to get back to the game.

Other Games: If you enjoy playing Ice Breakers Penguin Pirates, you may also like to play the original Ice Breakers game. Ice Breakers is, in my opinion, get a little bit easier than Ice Breakers Penguin Pirates. Of course, that means it is still plenty tough!

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