Ice sheet

Ice sheet

Sheets of ice which can be kilometers thick. There is no soil for plants to grow in. The only animals here are migrating to somewhere else - or badly lost.
Ice sheet is extremely inhospitable. There is no soil for plants and almost no animal life. Long-term survival is a challenge.

Base Stats

Type

Biome

Texture on World Map

Allows colonies

Yes

Allows Roads and Rivers

Yes

Animal Density

0.2

Plant Density

0

Disease MTB Days

90 days

Movement Difficulty

1.5^[Note]

Forageability

0%

Min Temperature

N/A

Max Temperature

-10 °C (14 °F)

Rainfall range

N/A

Swampiness range

N/A

Max Fish Population

600

Weather Commonalities

Clear

12

Dry Thunderstorm

2

Soft snow

20

Hard snow

40

Gray Pall

1

Windy

1

Overcast

1

Blizzard

2

Ice Sheet is a cold biome in RimWorld.

Summary

The only land possible to farm is stony patches around hills and mountains, but they need to be heated indoors and also have sun lamps. You will need to hunt, trade and cannibalize until you get a heater and a sun lamp. Later, moisture pumps can create larger growable areas and hydroponics can be used instead of ground. Geothermal vents can be used for free heating. With so few animals here, any predators that roam in will become hungry soon and target your colonists and animals.

In the lists below the number in brackets represents the relative commonality.

Flora

None.

Fauna

• Arctic fox (0.1)
• Arctic wolf (0.1)
• Lynx (0.1)
• Megasloth (0.1)
• Muffalo (0.1)
• Polar bear (0.1)
• Snowhare (2)

Additionally, these animals can spawn in coastal maps:

• Penguin  (0.1)
• Walrus  (0.1)

If the map is polluted, then no wild animal will spawn.

Diseases

Ice Sheet has a disease MTB of 90 days. The following diseases can occur in a Ice Sheet:

Disease	Commonality
Flu	100
Plague	80
Fibrous mechanites	30
Sensory mechanites	30
Animal flu	100
Animal plague	80
Organ decay	10

Fish

The table below contains the list of all of the fish that can be caught - as well as where they can be caught.

Fish	Water body	Rarity
Salmon	Freshwater	Common
Frostfish	Freshwater	Uncommon
Salmon	Saltwater	Common
Cod	Saltwater	Common
Dogfish	Saltwater	Uncommon

Analysis

See also: Ice Sheet Guide

While not as resource-starved as the sea ice, the ice sheet lacks food and reaches dangerous levels of cold, making it a difficult biome to get started in. Taking advantage of the starting ruins and geothermal vents can greatly help early survival.

• Growing and Food: Extreme - No plants grow in the ice sheet. The few animals present can provide some food in a pinch. Trading can provide food if there is a nearby settlement and the colony has valuables to sell (valuable and accessible ores, human organs, starting items). Otherwise, the colony will need to rely on cannibalism, or, with a large body of water, fishing, to survive until a sun lamp setup can be established.
  • Cannibalism is the most reliable source of food in the early game. The storyteller will send raids and events at the same rate despite the cold, and if you only have 1 or 2 colonists, PopulationIntent will try and generate more colonists recruitment events (to eat).
  • Fishing in a coastal tile can be feasible if colonists can survive outdoor temperatures, or if an enclosed, heated room can be made.
  • There are rough patches of soil. By enclosing an area of stony soil, heating it, and producing light with a sun lamp, crops can grow without the need for hydroponics. Still, hydroponics are worth researching eventually for the added space and fertility. If Ideology is installed, nutrifungus can be grown with just a closed room with heat.

• Disease: Moderate - Disease events are rare, but healroot cannot grow at all, meaning medicine supplies will be low before a greenhouse can be established.

• Temperature: Very Difficult - Outdoor temperatures will be below freezing except in the hottest days, and only during the daytime. Steam geysers generate heat in an enclosed room, so they are essential for survival until a power grid can be established. To survive outdoors for extended periods of time, warm clothing is required. Due to the cold climate, raiders and other human pawns will typically arrive with warm clothes for the colony to use.
  • In the colder months, it can get cold enough that only mechanoid raids can generate.

• Fires: Easy - Plants do not grow, so wildfires are nonexistent.

• Predators: Moderate - Predators are rare, but they will get hungry. Polar bears can be a serious threat to colonists too far outdoors.

Overall, ice sheet is very difficult when starting out. Once the colony's food, temperature, and mood are stable, progression is relatively normal, since stones and ores generate at the normal rate. Therefore, it can be suitable for players wanting to play on an extreme biome, but without the tedium associated with proper sea ice.

Gallery

• 

  An Ice Sheet

• 

  Ice Sheet's texture on the world map

Version history

• 0.11.877 - Added

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Biomes

Temperate

Temperate forest • Temperate swamp • Scarlands

Hot

Tropical rainforest • Tropical swamp • Arid shrubland • Desert • Extreme desert • Glowforest • Grassland • Lava field

Cold

Boreal forest • Cold bog • Tundra • Ice sheet • Sea ice • Glacial plain • Orbit

Water

Lake • Ocean

Pocket map

Underground • Labyrinth • Metal hell • Undercave • Insect lair