Deck the Igloo

A snowball fight for 2, played across the table.

Two snow forts face each other over an ice wall. Each side has 3 penguins and an igloo to protect. Slap a penguin and it throws a snowball over the wall into the other fort. Fill all of their cups and the next ball you land pops their igloo.

No batteries. Every throw comes from a spring that your slap winds up.

Both snow forts of Deck the Igloo set up across the ice wall, three black penguins on orange keys along the back of each fort, red snow dials beside them, and an igloo in each fort's corner.

Two forts, one ice wall.

Each player sits behind a fort with 3 penguins in a row. In front of every penguin a snowball waits in its cup. Keep scrolling to slap the one in the bobble hat.

Slap a penguin.

Every penguin stands on an orange key that pivots on a pin at the back of the fort. Press the penguin and it bows forward, taking the key down with it.

The key winds the arm back.

Inside the fort, a catch on the key drags the throwing arm down and back, 41.5° against a coiled spring. The snowball rides down with it in the arm’s cup.

Then it lets go.

At 12.7° of key the catch slips off. The spring snaps the arm onto its stop and the ball leaves at 68°, up over the wall and into the other fort. A harder slap doesn’t throw any harder: the spring sets every throw.

Every slap costs a snowball.

The same press turns that penguin’s red dial one notch. Each penguin gets 6 slaps, empty ones included. The last one leaves it bowed down and snowed in, and when all 3 are snowed in, that side loses.

Fill their cups and their igloo pops.

Every ball that lands rolls down that fort’s ice channel into the first empty cup. Once all 3 are full, the next ball rolls into the igloo and stays in the doorway. The one after knocks the latch, the dome springs open, and the round is over.

How a round goes

  1. Set up

    Drop 3 snowballs into the top of each fort’s channel. They roll down and settle in the cups in front of the penguins. Turn every dial back to its first snowball.

  2. Serve

    That leaves one snowball for each player. On one-two-three, both of you toss yours into the other’s snow pile.

  3. Slap

    Slap any penguin with a ball in front of it. Keep an eye on what’s coming your way, because every ball that lands on your side fills one of your cups.

  4. Lose the igloo, or run out

    A round ends when an igloo pops, or when one side’s penguins are all snowed in. Slapping all three without looking burns your snowballs fast.

  5. Reset

    Press the dome shut. Lift each dial and turn it back to the start, and its penguin pops back up. Whoever lost serves first.

Up close

One side's three penguins in a row, wearing a top hat, earmuffs and a bobble hat, each on its orange key with a red snow dial beside it.
One side’s penguins wear a top hat, earmuffs and a bobble hat, so a quick glance tells you which one to slap.
Close on one fort's rampart: three penguins on their orange keys, and beside each a red snow dial with its white axle cap and a slider running back from it.
Each penguin’s red dial sits right beside it, so you can see how many slaps it has left without looking away from the game.
The ice wall with its diamond lattice, the round rim of the snow pile at its foot, and an igloo dome in the far fort's corner.
The ice wall stands between the forts. At its foot, the snow pile’s curved rim catches what comes over.
A snowball opened up: two white half-shells with a short round weight between them.

Snowballs that stay where they land

Each snowball is two shells closed around a loose weight. When it lands, the weight soaks up the bounce, so a ball that reaches the other fort stays in it instead of hopping back over the wall.

There are 8 of them, 0.8 in across and 4.6 g each.

The set

Players
2, one behind each fort
In the set
Two snow forts, the ice wall, 6 penguins on their keys, 6 snow dials, two igloos and 8 snowballs
Size, set up
15.1 × 9.1 × 5.4 in
Weight
1.9 lb
Made from
PLA
Power
None. Built-in plastic springs throw every ball.
Small parts
The snowballs are small enough to swallow. Not for children under 3.