Arctic Race is a family game of tactical racing in polar surroundings. In the game all players sponsor two dog sled teams, and the player whose both teams have reached the North Pole first, wins.
Each player is dealt a card showing the two teams that the player sponsors. The players keep their cards hidden, so the players' teams are unknown. Several players can share a single team, but only one player can have a specific combination of two teams. The board is built differently for every game out of big ice floats. Several weather hazards surround the ice track at the beginning of the game, and are moved onto the track during the game. The players are granted godlike abilities in the game, as they are allowed to move the hazards on their turn, as well as any dog sled they wish. If a hazard is ever moved into the same space as a dog sled, the dog sled cannot move before the hazard has been moved away.
The game is played by rolling two dice: a movement die and a hazard die. The movement die lets the player move a dog sled 1-4 spaces on the board, and sometimes ALSO lets the player place a crack in the ice on the board. Cracks can only be crossed by using ladder cards that the players have three of when the game starts. Without ladders cracks cannot be crossed and players have to go around them. The hazard die usually lets the player move one of three types of hazards, sometimes it allows a free choice of hazards, and sometimes the player can move no hazard at all. All this makes for a very exciting race, and an entertaining 30+ minutes.
