Investigating the mysteries of the ancients while on a quest to save Neopia, researcher Clara Chatham finds herself in the middle of a dangerous ice field. Can you help her slide her way out of this slippery situation?
Ice puns? Oh boy...
How to Play
Like the other Atlas of the Ancients games Tunnel Tumble, Moltara Run, and Clockwork Codebreaker, Clara on Ice is a re-skin of an existing Neopets game. Specifically, it's a slightly modified version of Let It Slide. The only changes made are that the Snuffly of the original game has been replaced by Clara, the enemy Gabars have been become Snow Beasts, and all other graphics have been stretched vertically to match the size of the new characters.
The game is controlled with the arrow keys, used to move to left or right, the up arrow allowing you to jump. The space bar can also be used to jump; regardless of which key you use, holding it down will allow you to jump farther. When on an icy slope, Clara will automatically slide forward. This is faster than walking down the slope and makes it easier to time jumps, so avoid using the left and right arrow keys when sliding.
I feel as free as a Snuffly!
Your goal in each of the game's three levels is to run, jump, and slide your way to the end, collecting items and avoiding hazards as you go. You start each level with three hearts and 200 seconds on the clock. The hearts are your health, allowing you to be damaged by enemies or hazards three times before getting a Game Over. To help you along, the levels contain three or four hearts. Once per game, you can type the code stalactites for an extra heart, so long as you currently have less than six.
As for the clock, it isn't a time limit, but a time bonus; while you won't get a Game Over from running out of time, you won't receive any bonus points either. See the Scoring section below for more information.
Game Elements
Each gem that you collect is worth 10 points.
In addition to protecting you from enemies and obstacles, each heart is worth 50 points upon completing a level.
Snow Beasts will do one heart of damage on contact, then vanish. They will either walk back and forth in a small area, jump, throw snowballs, or fly around with helicopter caps.
Helicopter caps allow you to glide when jumping, slowing your descent, but you will lose them if you take damage.
Obstacles and Hazards
Level One (3 hearts)
In the first level, your primary concern will be avoiding Snow Beasts. While they only stomp around and jump in this level, Clara tends to slide around on the icy ground, so the beasts can still be problematic when you come upon them unexpectedly. You will also encounter moving wooden platforms, ice platforms that start to melt when you jump on them, and icy slopes. If you see a Snow Beast while sliding down a slope and are unsure whether it's going to jump or stay on the ground, use the arrow keys to stop yourself and approach more slowly. This level contains three hearts.
Level Two (4 hearts)
The second level introduces several more hazards, and is significantly more difficult than the previous one. The first new feature you'll come across is near-freezing water, so cold that you'll take damage on contact. You have just a few seconds before you'll take damage again, so if you fall in, jump back out as soon as possible. Floating in the water you'll find large blocks of ice, which will tilt and sink when jumped on; you'll have to move quickly if you want to use them to cross the water.
One of the more annoying obstacles found here is the boulder, which you must roll by standing on it and walking to the side. The boulder will only move when you're standing far enough from the center, and it's possible to fall off if you go too far, so be careful when using a boulder to cross water. Much more fun to use are the thermal vents, which cause you to float upward when jumping near them. Later in the level you'll encounter ice platforms similar to those from the first level. These new platforms, however, will only appear when you get close to them.
Finally, this level introduces two new behaviors for Snow Beasts. The first will either walk, jump, or remain stationary, but every few seconds they will throw a snowball, which will damage you on contact. The second type wear helicopter caps, allowing them to hover around in the air. While this may not sound very intimidating, at one point there's a short gauntlet of Snow Beasts hovering up and down, and you must use a moving platform to pass through them. If you haven't mastered the game's jumping mechanics, you will likely find this section quite difficult. This level contains four hearts.
Level Three (4 hearts)
The third level doesn't add much, but ramps up the difficulty yet again. The most significant new addition is small clusters of icy stalactites, which are very easy to stumble upon if you're not expecting them. These are particularly difficult to avoid on slopes, which make up large portions of the level. Also new here are swinging platforms, though these are fairly easy to use and should pose no problem.
There aren't many Snow Beasts in this level, but the new types can be a nuisance. First is the flying, snowball-throwing Snow Beast. While you only encounter them once or twice, their flight patterns, snowballs, and the movement of the platforms you must cross to bypass them can be a headache. That's nothing, however, compared to the final hazard of the game: a giant, angry Snow Beast, rapidly throwing large icicle-filled snowballs that fly in an arc while it jumps up and down! Actually, this beast isn't such a big threat, and you can easily glide over it with a helicopter cap to finish the game.
Scoring
In each level you can collect eighty gems (worth 10 points each) and up to six hearts (worth 50 points each), for 1100 points per level. While you start levels with three hearts, and the second and third levels have four hearts to collect, any past the first six won't be counted. If you reach the end of a level with less than six hearts, you can type the code stalactites once per game for an extra heart. Since this code can only be used once per game, however, you may want to save it for situations in which you really need it.
You will also receive a time bonus upon completing a level, with every second left on the clock counting as one point. You start each level with 200 seconds on the clock, but it's better to not focus on this; even if you proceed through a level as quickly as possible, ignoring gems and hearts, you're unlikely to finish with more than 100 seconds left. Collecting just ten gems or two hearts is the equivalent of that, so while there's nothing wrong with playing quickly to get as high a time bonus as possible, make sure to get all the gems and hearts.
To think, we made it through the entire guide without a "slippery slope" joke...
