Customer Reviews

Don't Break the Ice

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Games for small children are notoriously hard to come by. "Don't Break the Ice" is one of the few available and a classic in its own right.

My young son loves this game and we play all sorts of variations including moving the main ice piece that holds the bear to different places so we can experiment with the "physics" of the game. (So there is a true educational element.) We also try to put the ice pieces back in the frame using different patterns of insertion. This helps kill the time factor in getting the game pieces ready to play.

With its minimum of rules anyone can pick this game up in a minute. It's fun and can be played by "kids" of all ages. Given its low price, it's a no miss. Even if little children get more fun out of making the bear fall than not, so what? Think of it as a more versatile "hammer & peg bench" toy.

There are some durability issues. If one of the tabs that hold the ice breaks, you are out of luck. The frame consists of two pieces that slide together and the connection is prone to breakage. Still, at this price point it's a lot easier to replace than many of the fragile toys that cost far more. In fact you could buy every toy in the Milton Bradley "Cootie" line and still be under the cost of just one other plastic toy.

A good bet for a good price.

I loved this game as a child. We still have the one I played with 16 years ago.

Break the Ice is a simple game anybody can play. There is a man sitting on a big piece of ice. You want to knock out the pieces around him, but not knock out piece that will send him falling. It's simple enough but it does take some stratedgy.

We have a lot of kids that come through my house for different reasons, and I've never met one that didn't get a kick out of this game. It's a fun family game and a must for a small child.

I'll never forget playing Don't Break The Ice when I was a kid, because it's always been one of my favorites. I don't have any kids of my own yet, but I have a niece and she and I played this game for a few hours straight one day last week. She probably has even more fun playing it than I used to. It's a simplistic game that any adult can play with their kid, niece, etc., and find themselves having fun doing it and feeling like a kid again themselves! My niece especially gets a kick out of it when I break the wrong piece of ice I lose.

A game of Don't Break The Ice doesn't usually last long. You basically place all of about 20 plastic ice cubes into the holder, with the red man standing in the center. Both you and your opponent have a plastic hammer and you take turns knocking out one block of ice. But soon you won't be able to help breaking into 2 or 3 blocks of ice in one turn and the poor guy in the middle will be tilted downward staring into a chilling abyss. Whoever hits the piece of ice that results in the guy falling through, loses. This can inspire some competitive spirit, laughs, and trash talking.

If you have any kids around, I recommend getting Don't Break The Ice for sure; it's a great way to spend time together.

A wonderful classic toy! Buy it and keep it for life! I would only like to see this toy produced as it was originally. The frame, blocks and hammers are not as heavy duty as they used to be and it was the first thing I noticed...to the maker...they kids will play with it but the parents are buying it and classic toys that aren't as we remember them are dissapointing. We await an "Original" version and we will keep it for life!

Although my daughter loves this game, I would advise others not to purchase it. The blue frame (which holds the ice blocks in place) is very flimsy. We've played the game probably 20 times, and I've super-glued the small pieces that allow the frame to slide together five times. Today, it broke again and now, it cannot be repaired again. I'd much rather pay a few dollars more for this game and have it last!!

The kids (2 & 4 years old) do enjoy playing the game, but they think it is really funny when the ice breaks, so they see who can make the bear fall the fastest. I timed them and it takes 15 - 20 seconds for them to break the ice. As a parent I get tired putting all the ice back in the frame.

I played with this game over 25 years ago and I remember how much fun it was to play. My friends and I would play Don't Break the Ice for hours trying new ways to keep the little man (now it's a polar bear) on top of the ice with as many blocks of ice chipped out. It is a great strategy-learning game. I can't wait until my daughter is old enough to play this game as well.

I bought this toy for my son and niece. They love it. They can put it together themselves and when the polar bear falls watch out because everyone laughs, even the one who made the polar bear fall. It teaches children how to take turns and to accept a loss if they actually do knock the polar bear down. I even play to get in on the fun.

As I have no children of my own (and, given my vocational choice, not likely to, either), I miss the experience of having so many of the wonderful (and much of the not-so-wonderful) children's toys and gadgetry around my house. Thus, each year for holidays and birthdays, I must teach myself anew all of the various ins and outs of the toy industry. Inevitably, I find myself defaulting back to those items that were popular during my childhood, and, more particularly, things that I enjoyed.

Thus it was when I was looking for a gift for my three-year-old niece, that I was looking for a gift that fit my sister's strict parameters for appropriateness:

'Please, nothing that makes noise, especially an agonisingly repetitious noise.'

'Nothing that can stain walls, carpets, floors, or ceilings.' (which made me wonder, just what is it that kids do with their paints and crayons that they can reach the ceiling?)

'Nothing that takes batteries.'

'Nothing with choking bits or fragile things that break easily.'

'No more dolls.'

'No more stuffed animals -- she gets buried in the ones you've given her already.' (oops, I guess that was a plea for originality!)

So, these guidelines (commandments, actually) in mind, I ventured into the world of children's toys, and was bewildered with the array of inappropriate gifts. Floor to ceiling in some shops -- who purchased these things? Was my sister being overly harsh in her strictures? Was the rest of the buying public that foolish? (on second thought - don't answer that!)

So it was that I came upon a few things that qualified, and high among them was the game Don't Break the Ice! I remembered this game fondly from my childhood. Putting the 'ice cakes' together in the frame, tapping on them roughly then gently to get the most cakes before the figurine fell through to an icy fate; then putting everything back together again to start the process over.

This made me think that the game is in fact an excellent preparation for the average working day -- putting together projects that are destined to fall apart; some will come and tap gently, others roughly; sometimes you'll be the one who falls through, sometimes others will; and, the whole thing starts over again -- and through it all, the thing to remember is, the point is to have fun. One doesn't have to win each game, each day, but it is in the playing that one succeeds and learns.

Needless to say, after having such an epiphany among the toys, I could hardly not purchase this item. I took it home, delivered it during the holidays, and it was appropriately well received. Despite having nothing that lights up, nothing that makes noise (beyond the rapping of the blocks), nothing that moves and nothing that marks, my niece played enraptured by the game.

'Again!' she would exclaim, mallet in hand ready to rap anyone who dared defy her.

She laughed gleefully as the blocks fell through, and even more when the whole edifice came crashing down.

'Again!'

I am sure she will be a future trader, and hostile takeovers and corporate break-ups will be her strong suit.

Can a toy manufacturer be sued for implanting such desires? Never mind, she'll buy them and break them up, too.

Don't break the ice is a favorite classic, and quite addicting even in this time period. You begin by turning what looks like a mini-table over and inserting what looks remakably like ice-cubes into it.

Out of all the mini icecubes, there's one that is equivelent to four normal icecubes. This is where a person rests.

The object of this game is to take a mini tap-hammer (made of plastic, so don't worry ;) ) and you lightly (or roughly) tap out a piece of ice. This ice might just fall, or it could make some other small icecubes fall. Or, if you really mess up, then it will send the person on the large ice cube crashing down!

Setup only takes a few minutes, and this is a fairly quick game, and that's all a part of it's charm.

Overall, this is an awsome classic!