Stone blocks hint to some ruin theme. But it can be anything, really. Cave, forest, mountains, village, cemetary, space port.

I'm resuming working on the magic effects. Now ice.
So here is Frost Touch, Ice Shard, Deadly Frost wich turns monsters into ice cubes and some familiars.



How does the ice cube looks to you? I've studied some references, and tried to simulate with the pallete I had, but I'm not satisfied and I've ran out of ideas. I can't make it all shiny and transparent, because it will appear on different sorts of levels.

Seiseki
Thank you. I've tried to apply your advices and make motion more smooth.

I get torn because I'm also so in love with awesomely simple tiles such as:

I doubt that it is beauty of tiles itself. Your fantasy assembles together sound, motion, dynamics, animation, music and produce a feeling on another level of comprehension.

I'm still torn about what angle to draw the ground, whether straight on like this or with a slight top view

I'd suggest going with angled view. It may be harder to make, but it looks way better and creates great atmosphere.
I'm struggling hard now on my own project with straight view, and its limitation is pain. And however cool tiles I make it doesn't contribute as much as any slight perspective effort (i've tried it on trees, buildings and interior). Straight approach may be cheaper and easier when executed properly, but I'm trying to squeeze some beauty and art out of it, so it basicaly loses cheapness and easyness. And I can't abandon it now.