Frozen Lake: how it plays, odds and payouts

How Frozen Lake plays

Tap Step. The penguin walks onto the next slab of ice on the path.

Each slab shows what clearing it pays. The ice gets thinner the farther out you go.

Tap Cash out between slabs to keep the multiplier shown.

The rule people miss: If a slab breaks the penguin falls in and you lose the bet. Reach the far shore for the top pay.

Frozen Lake is a ladder game in which a penguin waddles across a frozen lake, ten rows of ice from the shore to the far side. Each row either holds or breaks, and the ice gets thinner the further out the penguin goes. The pay grows slowly at first and then jumps. You keep it by tapping Cash out (lock in the multiplier you hold) between rows.

How a round works

Pick a mode: Easy, Medium, Hard or Hardcore. Set your bet and start.
Tap Step. The penguin walks onto the next row. Each row has its own break chance, which rises towards the far side.
A row that holds raises your pay to the amount printed on it. A row that breaks drops the penguin in and loses the bet.
Tap Cash out between rows to keep the pay of the last row you crossed.
Reach the far shore after row 10 and the round ends with the top pay.

Break chance of each row

Row	Easy	Medium	Hard	Hardcore
1	2.4%	4%	6.4%	9.6%
2	3.6%	6%	9.6%	14.4%
3	4.8%	8%	12.8%	19.2%
4	6%	10%	16%	24%
5	7.2%	12%	19.2%	28.8%
6	9%	15%	24%	36%
7	10.8%	18%	28.8%	43.2%
8	13.2%	22%	35.2%	52.8%
9	16.2%	27%	43.2%	60%
10	19.8%	33%	52.8%	60%

Pay by row

Each cell shows the chance of crossing that row, counted from the start, and the pay at that row.

Step	Easy	Medium	Hard	Hardcore
Row 1	97.6% / 0.9938x	96% / 1.0104x	93.6% / 1.0363x	90.4% / 1.073x
Row 2	94.09% / 1.0309x	90.24% / 1.0749x	84.61% / 1.1463x	77.38% / 1.2535x
Row 3	89.57% / 1.0829x	83.02% / 1.1683x	73.78% / 1.3146x	62.52% / 1.5513x
Row 4	84.2% / 1.152x	74.72% / 1.2982x	61.98% / 1.565x	47.52% / 2.0412x
Row 5	78.13% / 1.2414x	65.75% / 1.4752x	50.08% / 1.9369x	33.83% / 2.8669x
Row 6	71.1% / 1.3642x	55.89% / 1.7355x	38.06% / 2.5486x	21.65% / 4.4796x
Row 7	63.42% / 1.5294x	45.83% / 2.1165x	27.1% / 3.5795x	12.3% / 7.8867x
Row 8	55.05% / 1.762x	35.75% / 2.7135x	17.56% / 5.5239x	5.81% / 16.7x
Row 9	46.13% / 2.1026x	26.1% / 3.7171x	9.97% / 9.7253x	2.32% / 41.77x
Row 10	37% / 2.6217x	17.48% / 5.5479x	4.71% / 20.6x	0.929% / 104.43x

Every cell multiplies to 0.97 (chance x pay), which is how the game keeps the return at 97% at every cashing-out point.

Worked example

Take Hard and cash out after row 6. The pay there is 2.5486x, so a bet of 100 coins returns 254 coins. The chance of the penguin reaching that point is 38.1%. Standing on row 6, the penguin faces a 28.8% chance of breaking row 7 in exchange for a pay jump from 2.5486x to 3.5795x, and the next row after that (35.2% break) takes it to 5.5239x. Each row's added reward is exactly large enough to offset its added risk.

Compare with Easy. Row 1 pays 0.9938x (a 97.6% chance of crossing it), which is below the bet. That is not a mistake: crossing that row is very likely, and the pay is set so that every stopping point returns 97% on average, which puts a near-certain first row just under 1x.

Max win and limits

The top is the far shore on Hardcore: 104.43x the bet, in 1 round in about 108. On Hardcore, rows 9 and 10 both break 60% of the time, which is the highest single-row risk in the game. These pays are far below the game-wide limits of 50,000x the bet and 250,000,000 coins per round. Volatility ranges from low on Easy (2.62x top) to high on Hardcore.

What matters and what does not

Mode choice: shapes how early the risk begins. Hardcore's first row already breaks 9.6% of the time.
Cracks on the ice: purely visual.
Waiting between steps: no effect. The penguin does not tire and the rows do not weaken with time.

Because the return is 97% wherever you stop, no stopping row beats another on average. Stopping earlier means more frequent small wins; stopping later means rare big ones. The wider idea is covered in how ladder and tower games work.

How it differs from other cash-out games

Safe Crack has only four steps and a vault card at the end; Frozen Lake has ten rows and a pay curve that is flat then steep. Tower keeps the same risk on every floor, while here the risk keeps growing. For a ladder with a forgiving shield, see Laser Heist.

Play with limits

Coins are virtual, have no cash value and cannot be withdrawn or exchanged for prizes. For adults (18+), for entertainment. Set a time limit before you play; see playing safely in Cashout Arcade.

Frequently asked questions

Why do the early rows pay so little?

The ice is thickest near the shore, so the first rows rarely break and are priced accordingly. On Easy, cashing out after row 1 pays 0.9938x, which is slightly less than your bet.

Do the cracks I see on the ice mean anything?

No. The cracks are cosmetic. Which rows hold or break is decided on our servers when the round starts.

What happens if I reach the far shore?

The round ends with the top pay for your mode: 2.62x on Easy, 5.54x on Medium, 20.6x on Hard and 104.43x on Hardcore.