One-button music game
A Dance of Fire and Ice is a music game developed by the 7th Beat Games. This game challenges players to control a pair of spheres as they progress through mazes. You must move these two orbiting planets without breaking their perfect equilibrium to continue the game.
Like Friday Night Funkin’, the spheres move to the beat of the music. Although, instead of using the arrow keys or WASD, A Dance of Fire and Ice only uses one button. Note, however, that the game requires precision and perfect rhythm. Each stage is linear, and missing the beat is really punishing.
Don’t drop the beat
A Dance of Fire and Ice is a one-button rhythm game that will remind long-time players of the classic Playstation 1 game, Vib-Ribbon. As mentioned, the goal of this game is for players to navigate two orbiting spheres in a winding path. The challenge is that they have to follow a song’s beat to progress in the game. Players will need to press the button in tune with the beat of the background song.
Each press of the button will also pivot the direction of the motion of the paired orbs. Doing so will make turns and cross gaps in the maze. However, it also risks losing your beat and timing. Additionally, the mazes themselves are a challenge. They are not only a map to navigate to, but they also indicate what rhythm is coming in the song. You will have to learn the landscape to anticipate the upcoming notes and timing.
There are more than ten worlds that you can explore in A Dance of Fire and Ice, and each world comes with new shapes to control and even new music. With these, the gameplay remains fresh in every stage. Moreover, each world starts with a small tutorial and ends with a final stage. There is also “Speed Trials” that you can play once you complete the whole game.
For solo players only
A Dance of Fire and Ice is a paid game, and its initial run-time is relatively short. The whole game will only take about 3-6 hours to play if you clear the stages at a normal pace. However, the difficulty in each world is steep, and it takes a few trials and errors before you can accurately anticipate the notes and beats of the songs. But if you wish to extend the content further, there are additional levels and interactions available via in-game purchase.
Players are free to adjust the game’s calibration to make their gaming comfortable. They can do so manually and on the fly or use the auto-calibration system. Calibration is also beneficial to avoid slow desync, which other similar games suffer the most. However, players must note that A Dance of Fire and Ice is a single-player game. There is also no online competition that pits you against other players—even on a leader board. It also requires an audio output for you to play.
Fun and challenging
Overall, A Dance of Fire and Ice offers an impressive experience for music rhythm game fans. It is an unusual game that combines simple controls with challenging music-centric navigation. It also features sweet tunes and beautiful visuals that affect your mood as you play. The steep difficulty can be intimidating, and the stages require trial and error to complete. Nevertheless, it is a fun game to pick up.
