Polygon draws their favorite video game characters as frozen treats

There is nothing more classic than a frozen treat in summer. Even if that treat is shaped like perfectly adorable Sonic the Hedgehog... and has one gumball eye falling out of his head.

In spirit of blessed/cursed character treats, and as part of Polygon Summer Camp, we asked the staff to come up with their own ideal video game frozen treat crossovers. While the ice pop format is classic, all frozen goodies were on the table. Did they deliver? Would you buy any of these from an ice cream truck?

Please enjoy the contributions and artist statements below.

It’s a melt, Mario

Illustration: Chris Plante/Polygon

Artist: Chris Plante
Artist’s statement: “For this work, I asked myself: What would it look like if Mario melted alive? From there, the piece created itself.”

Master Chief ice pop with gumball eyes

Illustration: Nicole Carpenter/Polygon

Artist: Nicole Carpenter
Artist’s statement: “Under Master Chief’s Magic Shell® helmet, the space soldier tastes like funfetti cake.”

Cyndaquils and Cream

Photo: Petrana Radulovic/Polygon

Artist: Petrana Radulovic
Artist’s statement: “A fun (and healthy-ish) frozen yogurt treat! Available in three sizes: one made from a handmade aluminum foil mold, and the other two from adjusted chick-shaped cookie cutters. Featuring peach flavoring in the fiery tails for some fruit fun! Disclaimer: We are not responsible for the Cyndaquils and Cream pops remaining in one shape.”

The Eye Scream, a tribute to League’s noodliest champion

Illustration: Cass Marshall/Polygon

Artist: Cass Marshall
Artist’s statement: “Here is a cake-and-ice-cream-scoop version of Vel’Koz, Eye of the Void from League of Legends. He’s made of ice cream cones, banana, ice cream, and chocolate drizzle. Plus there are three cherries on top, which are both his extra eyeballs and the figurative cherry on top. The tentacles are made of, like, cake and fondant? I wanted to make something realistic that someone could actually eat while still capturing the essence of my noodley boy.”

Grapescourge Radahn (Scarlet Rotsicles Party Pack)

Illustration: Simone de Rochefort/Polygon

Artist: Simone de Rochefort
Artist’s statement: “Elden Ring’s Radahn is tragic (a venerable warlord who has lost his mind, forced to scavenge mindlessly on his fallen comrades) and also VERY FUNNY (BIG GUY RIDING A TINY HORSE). I love him, and I’d like to suck on his head. This Radahn ice pop was created in Photoshop, and such was my confidence with the medium that I was able to create a perfectly accurate representation of my liege in about five minutes. It’s called art! These treats would be sold in “SCARLET ROT” packs alongside ice-pop representations of Malenia (Tropical Blade of Miquella) and, of course, Radahn’s beloved horse, Leonard (Lemon-Lime Leonard).”

Frozen Peely Pop

Illustration: Julia Lee/Polygon

Artist: Julia Lee
Artist’s statement: “Here is the Frozen Peely Pop (Peely from Fortnite) in all its glory. I mean, it’s just a frozen banana with some chocolate eyeballs. It would be so easy to make. Epic Games, have your people call my people. Thanks.”

Mika★Jougasicle

Illustration: Julia Lee/Polygon

Artist: Julia Lee
Artist’s statement: “I present to you the Mika★Jougasicle (Mika Jougasaki from The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls), the best summer treat to beat the summer heat. She has Orange Sapphire-flavored gumball eyes and is pink lemonade-flavored. Buying this treat from your local bodega will certainly be cheaper than trying to pull her next limited gacha card.”

Sweet-as-you

Illustration: Ana Diaz/Polygon

Artist: Ana Diaz
Artist’s statement: “In college, I played some games by Amanita Design, and that inspired me to make digital collages for friends. I decided to give it another go for this Polygon Draws.”

God of War (and Frozen Treats)

Illustration: Ryan Gilliam/Polygon

Artist: Ryan Gilliam
Artist’s statement: “I’ve created the Kratos ice pop of my dreams. I imagine the bulk of him will have a vanilla flavor (although if we could distill “ashes of my murdered family” into an ice cream flavor, that would be ideal; Greek yogurt instead of ice cream would also be acceptable). And the red tattoo strip will need to be cherry. The beard should be chocolate with sprinkles in it, which will really bump the premium on this thing higher than the TMNT or SpongeBob ones. Of course, we still want it to be one of those horrible character pops, so it’ll also have the bizarre, blueberry eye gum that loses all of its flavor in seconds.”

Knuckles & Knuckles (sold in a two-pack)

Illustration: Chelsea Stark/Polygon

Artist: Chelsea Stark
Artist’s statement: “If Knuckles can get a glow-up and be voiced by Idris Elba, he at least deserves the same ice cream treatment. I am not sure what flavor Knuckles might be, but it probably tastes red and stains your tongue pink.”