I am still playing my first game using "shifters" and am baffled by two things:

1. I can unlock a blessing "ice works", which yields a bonus on rivers in winter and another on seas with an ice shelf in winter. Is "ice shelf" a terrain modifier, and if so, where can I find it? I have never seen a tile with this modifier.

2. I cannot "vote". On the interface bottom left, there is a button "click to ... increase odds that this effect will be applied next winter" (2 pearls). This button is greyed out although I have 32 pearls saved up. Also, it is unclear what "this effect" means, since I cannot highlight any effect. There is nothing I can click on.

What am I missing?

1. It will become very obvious, when Winter comes :)

All coastal tiles will become traversable ice tiles. Pehapse there is no +x ice shelf tiles modifier for winter just yet, that is why you don't see it.

2. Votes are only available during Summer period.

Sublustris wrote:

1. It will become very obvious, when Winter comes :)

All coastal tiles will become traversable ice tiles. Pehapse there is no +x ice shelf tiles modifier for winter just yet, that is why you don't see it.

2. Votes are only available during Summer period.

hey thank! #2 now fully explained

However, regarding #1, this is is my third winter and coastal tiles were never traversable ice tiles. Even now I must enter boats. "ice shelf" seems to be an additional modifier, that is: not only must there be coast and winter, there must additionally be an "ice shelf"; is this the case? and if so, what and how are they created? I mean otherwise that blessing seems poor for coasts (but perhaps "worth it" for rivers)

For #2, you must have already collected enough pearls by either searching ruins or collecting in winter and then building the Altar of Auriga expansion.  Then you will be able to spend Pearls in Summer to influence the Winter voting, with the cost cheapest at start of Summer and increasing each turn.

For #1 and Ice Shelf you must vote in this Winter effect during Summer and it won't always be available, there is some RNG and difficulty settings that affect how the winter effects are offered. So Rivers always freeze and make Ice Works great, but only with voting will you get Ice Shelf and then you can walk on and get the bonus Industry.

Ok thanks much!