Frost is one of our 2018 Apple Design Award winners. These awards celebrate the creative artistry and technical achievement of developers who set the standard for app design and innovation on Apple platforms.
Pour yourself a glass of something refreshing and get your headphones ready. Frost is more than just a game, it’s a meditative experience that sucks you in and flushes out the day’s stresses as it massages your brain.
In each of its 50-plus levels you draw paths to guide a cloud of colourful spirit-like particles to their home. They’re little living sparks that curl through and around these pathways, creating a beautiful virtual firework display in each one-screen scene.
And, like all the best puzzlers, Frost eases you in before setting you on an increasingly tricky path.
To start, you simply sketch out rivers of light, matching the spirits’ colour to that of their glowing orb planet.
As things progress, however, you’ll encounter particles that react with each other like chemical compounds. Others need to be herded by spirits of another colour, and some bounce off your drawn lines.
As Frost's stages turn into little biology experiments and physics conundrums, the gameplay gradually evolves while its beautifully distinctive visuals dazzle from the first level to the last.
And although each level requires a different strategy, no matter how you approach a puzzle you’ll feel your heart rate slow to the game’s soothing, atmospheric soundtrack.
Endlessly playful and relaxing, Frost is also very moreish. Be careful if you play it on the train ride home – you may miss your stop.