Ice Block

Ice Block is an artwork building that provides decor while remaining frozen solid. Unlike most other sculpture types, it has no masterpiece-quality variant, so its decor bonus caps at a lower value: the best possible Ice Block gives +10 decor from skill-based quality, compared to +15 for masterworks on other artwork buildings. This makes it less efficient than Metal Blocks or Large Sculpting Blocks when pure decor output is the goal.

Its main advantage is that it can act as a temporary source of decor and, in the right environment, a source of cold. Ice Block melts above -0.6 °C, so it is only practical in permanently subzero areas or in space, where it can avoid ambient heat. It is especially vulnerable to heat from comets, regolith, and rockets, which can quickly melt it if they strike nearby. In Sandbox Mode it immediately melts because buildings are placed at 20 °C, but in Debug Mode it can be cooled below freezing if the game is paused.

A few practical uses and limits stand out:

• Two Large Sculpting Blocks provide the same decor as one Ice Block, though they cost more overall and have a slightly reduced range because of their footprint.
• Two Metal Blocks provide twice the decor of one Ice Block, or more depending on the metal used.
• Building Ice Blocks on mesh tiles above a supply of cold fresh water can help preserve that water a bit longer while also training artists.
• If the block is surrounded by liquid or highly thermally conductive gas, it exchanges heat faster, which matters if you want it to melt into cold water.
• Because it lacks masterpiece quality, Ice Block is capped below the maximum decor potential of other sculpture types.

In practice, Ice Block is best treated as a niche decor solution for frozen bases, space construction, or cold-storage-adjacent rooms where its melting point can be safely maintained.