Icewind Dale is a computer role-playing game (CRPG) series developed by Black Isle Studios. It is set in the Forgotten Realms Icewind Dale region, but takes place decades before the events described in R. A. Salvatore's books which made the area a well-known part of Faerûn.

The games are based on the famous Bioware Infinity Engine. The Infinity Engine offers a pre-rendered isometric worldview, with sprite-based characters. This engine was also used to power the Baldur's Gate series and Torment.

As with all games developed on the Infinity Engine, the Icewind Dale series is based on a real-time modification of the 2nd and 3rd editions of the AD&D (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons) ruleset. The player begins each of the games by generating a party of up to 6 characters, but is unable to recruit NPCs as was possible in other games on the Infinity Engine. Also, as the entire party is generated by the player, the player-characters do not have preset personalities, and are all capable of assuming the role of "protagonist" with minor differences at most.