The die
Roll a number and you move one figure that many steps. Roll a ghost and you throw the sheet over a pawn; if every pawn is already covered, you swap two of them instead.
ESCALOFRÍO
Climb the castle without losing sight of yourself.
Coming soon on the App StoreHow you climb the tower
Two to four players around a single iPhone. Everyone starts with their pawn on the first step, in plain sight. That does not last long.
The sheet
While your pawn is still visible you are forced to move your own. The moment it gets covered, you choose which ghost to move. Any of them.
The ones nobody owns
There are ownerless ghosts loose on the staircase. Move them up, swap them around, use them as decoys: they belong to no one and they cannot win.
The top
The first to reach the tower wins, provided the figure turns out to be theirs when it is uncovered. If it belonged to no one, the castle keeps the whole night.
The three nights
The castle's weather shifts while you play, at its own pace and without warning. It does not change the rules: it changes what you can see.
Clear night
A full moon over the battlements and the lanterns lit. The whole staircase is visible.
Fog
The staircase blurs and the odd lightning bolt falls far away, always at the same distance.
Storm
Rain falls over the board and the thunder shakes the phone. The lanterns flinch at every strike.
Help
How many people do I need?
Two to four, in the same room, sharing a single iPhone that gets passed around. There is no online play and no computer opponent.
Why can I move a ghost that isn't mine?
Because that is the whole game. Once every figure is covered nobody knows for certain which one is theirs, so you move whichever suits you and trust your memory. Lose track and you will carry someone else's pawn to the tower.
I lost track of my pawn — can I check?
No, and that is deliberate. Nothing on screen reveals who each covered figure belongs to; if you could look it up there would be no game. It is only revealed at the end.
Can an ownerless ghost win?
No. If the figure that reaches the top belongs to no one, no player wins: the castle keeps the night and the game ends all the same. Which is why it pays to know who you are carrying up.
Does it have sound?
No. The game is deliberately silent so you can play anywhere without disturbing anyone. It does use haptics, though: thunder and the end of a game are felt in your hand.
Do I need an internet connection?
No. The entire game ships inside the app and it queries nothing from anyone. It works the same in aeroplane mode.
Are there ads or in-app purchases?
Neither. It is entirely free: no ads, no subscription, nothing to buy.
What languages is it in?
Spanish and English. It follows your iPhone's language: there is no setting inside the app.
Is my game saved if I leave?
No. A game lasts as long as a game lasts and nothing is saved when you leave — no scores, no statistics. Every night starts from scratch.
Something is wrong, or I have an idea
Write to me and I will look into it. If it is a bug, tell me which iPhone you have and what was happening in the game; that is usually enough to track it down.
Get in touch
thewhiteriggs@gmail.com
Privacy
It is a board game meant to be played in a room. It collects no personal data of any kind, at any point.
No account, no sign-up
No username, no email, no password. Open the app and play.
Nothing is stored
The app writes not a single piece of data to your phone: no games, no scores, no settings. Close it and there is no trace of what you played.
No ads, no tracking
No advertising, no analytics, no identifiers, no selling data to third parties. There are no third parties.
No connection
The game never connects to the internet, so there is nothing that could leave the device in the first place.
Escalofrío requests no system permissions whatsoever: no camera, no microphone, no location, no contacts, no notifications. Should this ever change, this page will be updated before the corresponding version is released. For any privacy question, write to thewhiteriggs@gmail.com.