A Guide to Mastering Those Ice Caves: Levels 11-15

Also, this article series instead of being three parts will likely end up as a five part series. Sorry for making you wait so long for the full thing to be complete but I do have a lot to say. ;)

Level 11 – Frosty Cavern

This level caused me a lot of trouble because I made basic mistakes when I was trying to beat it. With this guide, you shouldn’t get as annoyed as I did.

First off, with Hannah, push the boulder over the side of the ledge. If you can, make it hit the icy mist monster as it falls… it will destroy it and eliminate it as a threat.

After that, fall down with Hannah on the same path as the boulder took. Next, jump on top of the arrow box… it doesn’t do anything, but it can be dangerous if hit in the wrong way and gives a few points too. Remember, all extra things in a level should be hit… all boxes, arrows, etc. Why you ask? To get extra points… which is why you are reading this guide right? Even if you are just trying to beat all the levels, it is good practice in case you ever try for a trophy. I fail to have a trophy in this game because I have the levels down, but somehow I can’t do it all at once. :p

Anyway, back to the point. Grab the treasure to where the arrow was pointing, then take Hannah and push the boulder over the treasure chest to get rid of one of the two spikes… you don’t need more danger, right? ;)

Walk down the “stairs”, at the end of them jumping over the spike on to the treasure chest you see. Now wait there with Hannah and bring Armin to where Hannah is. Now with Armin, jump down on top of the icy skeleton. Sure, sure, you could jump down, avoid him and wait until he is facing Armin, but that isn’t needed.

Now once the icy skeleton is destroyed, take Armin, burrow to the left, and push the boulder to the left, and set off the arrow that falls. The arrow destroys the boulder, allowing you to grab the treasure, and head back. Jump over the dynamite, quickly turn to the left and hit the dynamite for a few extra points, and then go right, jumping along the ledges grabbing treasure… careful not to fall into the spike pit below!

Continue with Arming; avoid the icy mist monster and destroy the icy skeleton above.... grab the treasure, then climb the ladder.

Now take Hannah, and take her all the way to where Armin just climbed the ladder, remembering to stop just below where the icy skeleton was to grab the last of treasure. It is only accessible with Hannah. Now climb with Hannah up to the exit and jump across the gap with Armin to the exit too. Done!

NOTE: There is also a life box in the upper right-hand corner of the level, but I have deemed it too risky to get, and not worth risking your precious lives for it. If you want to try, good luck. It requires precise timing to get, and is harder to get to than to get back.

Sorry for the long description, but this is a key level where I lose lives and really get discouraged at times.

Level 12 – Hannah’s Solo Climb

Ah… this level is quite fun, and if you know what to do, it’s easy.

As the title indicates, this is a Hannah-level. Basically Hannah does everything, Armin just has to get to the exit.

First off, run to the left with Hannah and fall to the right to avoid the spike you would have fallen onto; make sure to avoid the mist monster down here.

After you’ve done that, jump on to both of the wooden ledges and jump towards the treasure chests on top of wooden boxes to get those pieces of treasures… you must do this before anything else! Make sure you won’t hit the mist monster as you fall from getting the treasure.

Hit the arrows in the center and collect the treasure that will fall. Then, drop down the chute at the right and immediately left to get the secret gem. Afterwards, head right to continue with the level.

After going to the right and climbing the ladder to almost the very top of it, you will reach the first tricky part of the level that involving timing. Right after the mist monster hits the right wall in the enclosed space, you must quickly get off the top of the ladder and crawl leftwards and down the next ladder.

Next, you must go down that ladder, collect the treasure, and up the next one. After getting past the mist monster the same way as the last, drop straight down the hole, not going a bit left or right. Remember, you absolutely MUST NOT fall to the right or left; one leads to a pit of no return, the other is where spikes lay.

From there, jump up and left over the two spikes. Grab the final treasure and go to the exit. Now with Armin go to the right and dig through the snow to get to the exit. This level really doesn’t score much, but with the gem it does, so make sure you get it.

Level 13 – Big Trouble

Last level was all Hannah, right? Well this is Armin’s level to shine.

There is a lot of climbing and lots of falling in this level. The gem was hard to find for me, but it’s actually easy to get.

First off, switch to Armin and do not hit the arrow, and go to the left (digging first), until you reach the ladder. Climb up, and as you do, you will see treasure that you can’t jump to straight on. You must get a good distance above these, jump rightwards, and then fall to them.

Continue upwards after collecting the two groups of treasure, and when you reach the top of the ladder, grab the treasure there and go back down a bit to the next ledge down then destroy the icy skeleton there. Jump rightward off the ledge and fall down to the next group of treasure, and hope the mist monster isn’t in your way as you land.

Quickly grab the treasure and walk leftward off the ledge, and as fast as you can fall right on to the next ledge, grab the treasure, as well as the life box to the right by digging. Hit the arrow as you walk off the ledge leftwards again, and yet again, immediately fall to the right and land on the tiny bit of the wall sticking out… then crawl rightwards, get the gem, head back left, and fall to the exit. Now walk Hannah to the exit. You’re done with this level now! Lots of climbing and falling, eh?

Level 14 – Fireworks

If you don’t try to rush your way through this one it is rather easy… only reason I see you could lose is impatience.

Anyway, from the get-go, with Armin, go to the right, jumping where need-be and hitting the dynamite to rid of the spikes. Make sure you are careful with the jumps! All dynamite should be hit from the left. Once you reach the other side, climb down the ladder, hit the dynamite box to the left, and then continue on, destroy the ice skeleton, then while the next ice skeleton is on top of the dynamite, hit the dynamite to easily dispose of him.

Go down into the little pit, hit the arrow, then jump to the left and wait… after the boulders fall down, treasure will too. Collect the treasure and continue left; get rid of the ice skeleton, then destroy the dynamite with the dynamite box. Grab the treasure to the very left then go down the ladder.

Grab the treasure at the bottom then hit the dynamite to the right to clear the spikes. Jump over the remaining spike and run rightward, smashing the ice skeleton and getting the treasure. Then go to the exit with Armin. Now bring Hannah all the way from the beginning to the exit to beat the level. It could have been cleared with Hannah first too, but you would have had to avoid all the ice skeletons.

Level 15 – Gunthers Revenge

A monster of a level… there’s a lot to figure out and do here! It is also really confusing to explain, so I hope you understand what I’m saying.

Ignore the ladder at the beginning you’ll see… you can do nothing with it. At all. Except dig through snow to reach a dead end. ;) Anyway, take Hannah to the very right and fall down the chute, but right after you start falling, hold the left button, because there is a secret area there you need to enter. Find your way through the secret area, and when you eventually reach an arrow, hit it and run left to avoid losing a life. After you do, jump through the hole it opens up.

With Hannah, swim to the left all the way to the ladder on the very left. Grab the treasure you see as you do. Hit the arrow by the ladder and it will set off a chain reaction of falling boulders. Now switch Armin while this is happening. Run with Armin to the very right and fall down the chute all the way to the bottom, but make sure you avoid the dynamite at the bottom. Hit the dynamite safely from the left to get a few points. Push the boulder to the left. Now jump in the water across each gap so Armin doesn’t drown until you get to where Hannah is.

Now stop.

From here, I will leave you to figure out the rest of the level because if you solve the rest of the level yourself, you will be a much better Hatic player than before as it requires good strategy to solve. You shouldn’t rely on me all the time, should you?

That’s it for this week, not many levels, but a lot of information for you to process.

Until next time, good luck frigid spelunkers! Next article will likely be 5 levels as well.