Despite being a mostly relaxing, somewhat passive experience with light puzzle platformer gameplay, GRIS does contain some fairly tricky puzzles, such as the Gris Ice Caves Puzzles. Stuck at this tricky section mid-way into the game? Our guide will let you know exactly how to get past the tricky Ice Caves in Gris in no time.
Gris Ice Caves Puzzles – What Are They?
Mid-way through Gris, you’ll come across some ice caves. These tricky caves will freeze you solid in a second or two when you’re not moving. As with the rest of the game, you’re tasked with finding stars, typically hidden behind relatively simple puzzles. When you reach the Ice Caves, there will be two stars to find: One to the left, and one to the right. Once you have collected both stars, you will be able to return to the middle and carry on your journey.
Getting your hands on the stars in the Ice Caves is a little complicated, however, and requires you to make the most of the skills you have learned up to this point.
Gris Ice Caves Puzzles – How to Get the Star on the Left
Collecting both stars in the Ice Caves will require you to make use of your heavy block skill. You will notice that to get the star on the left side of the Ice Caves requires you to reach a high up area that you simply cannot with your standard jumping ability. This is where the block comes in.
Even before you can reach the high platform where the star resides, you will notice that you can’t quite reach the lower platform without making use of your heavy block ability. You’ll have to use this again in a minute.
Once you have reached the initial high level (as you can see in the image above), stand on the lower platform. Simply standing still in the block form at the end of the lower platform won’t do, however. Stand on the edge of the lower platform and create a frozen cube to stand on. Jump up onto this and turn into a cube again. You should be able to jump on top of this higher frozen platform and then jump over to the highest platform where the star awaits. Simple enough, really.
Gris Ice Caves Puzzles – How to Get the Star on the Right
While the solution to the puzzle on the left is rather simple, unfortunately, the Ice Caves to the right contain a trickier puzzle. Heading into this area, you will notice two platforms that will go down when weight is applied, the one on the right lifting the one on the left and vice versa. You need to balance them just right in order to open the circular door hiding that the star is hidden behind. It’s a tricky puzzle that had us scratching our head for a minute or two, but, as it turns out, the solution is straightforward.
You will notice that the platform on the right has a lot more room underneath it than the one on the left, this is your clue. You don’t need to worry about throwing yourself (as a block) on top of either platform right away, it is underneath what counts. Simply turn yourself into a block underneath the platform on the right-hand-side and wait to become frozen. Once you have done this, you will stop the platform on the right from going completely down with any weight on it. If the platform on the right goes completely down, the two will be unbalanced, and the puzzle will remain incomplete.
Jump up (quickly now) onto the platform above the frozen cube. Smash down onto it as a cube and stay there until you are frozen again. This will hold the platform on the right down enough so the one on the left doesn’t rise up too much.
Quickly jump onto the platform on the left, and it will open the circular door for you. That star is now yours. Enjoy. To finish the puzzles, simply head back into the middle of the area and a little cutscene will play before allowing you to go ahead on your journey.