Call of Cthulhu: Prisoner of Ice

About Call of Cthulhu: Prisoner of Ice

Prisoner of Ice was made by Infogrames and released for PC in 1995 and Mac in 1996, as a follow-up to Shadow of the Comet under the Call of Cthulhu name. It is sold today on GOG and Steam.

It begins in the run-up to World War II. The submarine HMS Victoria is racing away from Antarctica after rescuing a Norwegian who escaped from a secret German base built on top of ancient ruins. It is carrying crates taken from the base. Lieutenant Ryan of US naval intelligence is aboard, and before long it is clear that what is in the crates is alive and that the Nazis meant to use it.

It is a classic point-and-click adventure: you walk Ryan through painted scenes, from the submarine's torpedo room to a museum, a Greek courtyard and a cell block, talk to people, collect items and use them. Some puzzles run against a clock of less than a minute and end the game if you fail, though the game saves itself before them. The story draws on Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness and mixes his monsters with spies, soldiers and time travel.

Puzzles are mostly about items, and they aren't hard, though Adventure Classic Gaming, which gave it 3 of 5, noted that codes you find never go into your inventory. Keep a notepad. Some characters from Shadow of the Comet turn up late on. It's short too: HowLongToBeat's figure on GOG is about three hours for the main story, nowhere near the 70-plus hours the developer once claimed.

The horror comes in its creature attacks and gruesome cut scenes, which Steam players still single out along with the music. It suits fans of Lovecraft and 1990s adventures. Players who have tried both often prefer Shadow of the Comet, and some find the plot hard to follow.

GOG's copy runs in DOSBox and was updated in October 2025. You can pick the US or UK English version from one launcher, and there are German, Spanish, French, Italian and Brazilian Portuguese versions with their own voices. Steam sells it for Windows only.

How to play Call of Cthulhu: Prisoner of Ice

1. Buy it on Steam or GOG and install it.
2. Click to walk Ryan around each scene and to look at, take and use things.
3. Talk to the crew and the people you meet to learn what was taken from the base.
4. Combine and use items from the inventory to solve each puzzle.
5. Act fast in timed scenes: you have less than a minute before it is game over.

Tips

• Save often in separate slots, even though the game saves before timed scenes.
• Sweep each scene with the cursor: Steam players warn about pixel hunting.
• Write down every number or word code you find. The game doesn't keep them in your inventory.
• In a timed scene, think about what you are carrying before you click.
• Play Shadow of the Comet first if you want the earlier Infogrames Call of Cthulhu story.

Questions