Just as the Bering Straits bestride the gap between the great nations of Russia and the USA, Ice Flow bestrides that mythical gap between the 'serious' and the 'fun' game. It falls into that much-hunted category of a game you can play with your gaming mates AND a game you can play with the family.

That makes it a great gateway game: a game to help you introduce non-gamers to the modern table-top experience. And at 1 hour it's a good filler too.

The rules are simple: get your 3 explorers across the Bering Straits from Alaska to Siberia. The first to do this is the winner. In your turn you can move 1 explorer (generally east-west) and 1 ice floe tile (generally north-south). To the uninitiated, and for children, it's a pure race game; but for strategists there's plenty of tactical play as you use rope to navigate obstacles and fish to send the polar bears onto other players!

I can't praise this game enough. The quality of the board and pieces is outstanding, and the ice floe tiles are beautiful. If you buy one family strategy game this year, make it Ice Flow.

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Ice Flow was released in June 2008 in England, where it was voted Best New Boardgame at the UK Games Expo.