Ice blocks

Frozen blocks have a pale icy shell. They first appear in level 7, Double Scoop Cone.

The rules

• A frozen block takes two bites: the first ant cracks the ice and carries a chunk of it home, the second carries the block away.
• The numbers on the boxes already include the extra bites, so the totals always add up.
• Ice does not change what is exposed: a frozen block on the edge can be bitten right away.

What ice does to a level

Ice makes its area slower to clear. A box whose color is mostly frozen needs twice as many ants for the same number of blocks, so it stays in its slot longer and the layer behind the ice opens later. When the ice sits in the core of the picture, as it does in several chapter 2 levels with a hard ending, the last part of the level becomes a slow, tight finish.

Tips

• Expect icy colors to occupy a slot for a while, and keep a spare slot when you send one.
• If ice guards a key or the edge of a spider web, start on it early.
• The Machine Gun shatters ice and block together, which makes it the best booster against a frozen core.