Spelunky is © 2008, 2009 Derek Yu and Mossmouth, LLC, and is used under the [Spelunky User License v1.1b](https://spelunky.ai/LICENSE.txt). spelunky.ai is an unofficial fan project, not affiliated with or endorsed by Mossmouth. The game and its assets may not be sold.

Music by George Buzinkai and Jonathan Perry; sound effects made in SFXR. From Spelunky Classic 1.1, © 2008, 2009 Derek Yu and Mossmouth, LLC.

# Ice

From the spelunky.ai wiki: <https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ice>.

*For the ice that melts underfoot, see [Thin Ice](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/thin-ice).*

Ice is terrain in Spelunky Classic, the blue blocks of the Ice Caves, slippery underfoot: a player who lets go of the controls on it slides on.

![A block of pale blue ice with white diagonal streaks](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/sprites/sIce/frames/0%404x.png)

| Ice          |                                                                                                                                                         |
| ------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Effect       | Slippery: the player slides[^1]                                                                                                                         |
| Destroyed by | Bombs, the Mattock, the Yeti King's roar                                                                                                                |
| Objects      | `oIce`, `oFrozenCaveman`                                                                                                                                |
| Found in     | [The Ice Caves](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ice-caves), [Yeti Lair](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/yeti-lair), [Mothership](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mothership) |
| Drops        | [Caveman](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/caveman)                                                                                                             |

Ice is one of [the Ice Caves](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ice-caves)' two kinds of rock, the other being their dark blue stone. It's
solid like any block, and breaks like one, but it's slippery: the player keeps nearly all his speed from one
step to the next on it, so he slides rather than stops. Now and then a [Caveman](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/caveman) is frozen inside a
block.

## How it works

**Clip: Sliding on ice.** The player runs a few steps on rock and stops dead when he lets go; then he runs onto a floor of ice, lets go, and slides on along it. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/clips/ice/slide/clip.mp4))

When the player stands on ice[^2], the friction that slows him each
step is 0.98, the share of his speed he keeps[^1], where on other ground it's
0.6[^3], or 0.98 too while
he runs with the run key held[^4]. It doesn't apply while
he's ducking, or when he wears [Spike Shoes](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/spike-shoes), and then ice is like any ground. What counts is the
block just under his middle.

The clip shows the difference. The player runs on rock and lets go: he stops 4 pixels on, in 6 steps. Then he
runs onto ice and lets go: he slides on for 136 pixels, eight and a half blocks, and takes about 125 steps to
stop[^5].

A stunned or dead player's body bouncing to a stop on ice keeps 0.8 of its speed at each bounce, where on
other ground it keeps 0.3[^6].

### Breaking it

Ice breaks like any block, to a [Bomb](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/bomb) or a [Mattock](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mattock), but it leaves water drops rather than
rubble[^7]. The [Yeti King](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/yeti-king)'s roar breaks it too: each step
of the roar, each block of ice within 96 pixels of him, but not right under him, has a 1 in 60 chance of
coming loose as a falling block of ice[^8].

### Frozen Cavemen

Each block of ice the game makes has a 1 in 80 chance of a Caveman frozen
inside it, which does nothing[^9]. Breaking the block frees him: he's made
as a [Caveman](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/caveman), stunned, and can't be hurt for 20 steps[^10][^11].

## Locations

| Where                                                         | How                                                                                                                     |            |
| ------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------- |
| [The Ice Caves](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ice-caves)           | Each rock tile is ice with a 1 in 10 chance, dark stone otherwise; their ice tiles are always ice, or ice half the time | [^12][^13] |
| [A Yeti lair](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/yeti-lair)             | The other way round: each rock tile is ice but for a 1 in 6 chance of dark stone; its ice tiles as the Ice Caves'       | [^14][^15] |
| [The mothership](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/mothership)'s level | The ship's rooms' rock tiles are rock half the time, and that rock ice with a 1 in 10 chance                            | [^16]      |

In custom levels ice is the [level editor](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/level-editor)'s tile `i`[^17]. Under a block of ice with nothing beneath it, level
generation hangs an icicle that drips now and then, with a 1 in 20 chance[^18][^19].

## Interactions

- **[Thin Ice](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/thin-ice)** is another thing: it isn't slippery, and it wears away under the player.
- **[Spike Shoes](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/spike-shoes)** make ice like any ground for the player who wears them.

## Tips

- Ducking stops a slide: the ice's slipperiness doesn't apply to a ducking player.
- Letting go at a walking run on ice carries the player eight blocks or more, over an edge if there's one in the way.

## FAQ

### How slippery is ice in Spelunky Classic?

On ice the player keeps 0.98 of his speed each step whatever he does, where on other ground he keeps 0.6 unless he's running with the run key held: letting go after a walking run, he slides about eight and a half blocks before he stops, where on rock he stops within a few pixels.

### How do you stop sliding on ice in Spelunky Classic?

By ducking, or with [Spike Shoes](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/spike-shoes): the ice's slipperiness doesn't apply to a ducking player, or to one wearing them.

### What is the caveman frozen in the ice in Spelunky Classic?

A [Caveman](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/caveman) the game freezes into a block of ice with a 1 in 80 chance. Breaking the block frees him, stunned for a moment.

## See also

- **Related:** [Thin Ice](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/thin-ice), [Spike Shoes](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/spike-shoes), [Yeti King](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/yeti-king)

## References

[^1]: [`scripts/characterStepEvent.gml:774-778`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/characterStepEvent#L774-L778)

[^2]: [`scripts/characterStepEvent.gml:116`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/characterStepEvent#L116)

[^3]: [`scripts/characterCreateEvent.gml:83`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/characterCreateEvent#L83)

[^4]: [`scripts/characterStepEvent.gml:685-698`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/characterStepEvent#L685-L698)

[^5]: Clip [ice/slide](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/ice#clip-ice-slide)

[^6]: [`objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:362-372`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPlayer1/step#L362-L372)

[^7]: [`objects/oIce/destroy.gml:1-6`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oIce/destroy#L1-L6)

[^8]: [`objects/oYetiKing/step.gml:113-128`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oYetiKing/step#L113-L128)

[^9]: [`objects/oIce/create.gml:3`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oIce/create#L3)

[^10]: [`objects/oIce/destroy.gml:8-14`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oIce/destroy#L8-L14)

[^11]: [`objects/oFrozenCaveman/destroy.gml:1-7`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oFrozenCaveman/destroy#L1-L7)

[^12]: [`scripts/scrRoomGen3.gml:295-304`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGen3#L295-L304)

[^13]: [`scripts/scrRoomGen3.gml:507-514`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGen3#L507-L514)

[^14]: [`scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml:301-310`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenYeti#L301-L310)

[^15]: [`scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml:435-442`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenYeti#L435-L442)

[^16]: [`scripts/scrRoomGen3.gml:419-425`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGen3#L419-L425)

[^17]: [`scripts/scrCreateTileObj.gml:55-59`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrCreateTileObj#L55-L59)

[^18]: [`scripts/scrSetupWalls.gml:170`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrSetupWalls#L170)

[^19]: [`objects/oIceBottom/alarm_0.gml:1-2`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oIceBottom/alarm_0#L1-L2)

### Source code

- [`objects/oIce/create.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oIce/create)
- [`objects/oIce/destroy.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oIce/destroy)
- [`scripts/characterStepEvent.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/characterStepEvent)
- [`objects/oFrozenCaveman/destroy.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oFrozenCaveman/destroy)
- [`objects/oFrozenCaveman/step.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oFrozenCaveman/step)
- [`scripts/scrRoomGen3.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGen3)
- [`scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrRoomGenYeti)
- [`scripts/scrSetupWalls.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrSetupWalls)
