An ice-cream parlor is like a choose-your-own-adventure novel, only instead of the inevitable nuclear white-water dinosaur catastrophe, you get delicious ice cream topped according to your whim. Take a journey into the heart of flavor with today's Groupon: for $5, you get $10 worth of custom-crafted ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery, valid at the Victoria, Duncan, and Nanaimo locations.

Cold Stone Creamery's ice cream, which is made fresh in stores every day, inhabits a quantum flux between soft-serve and traditional ice cream, with a rich, creamy texture that whispers tales of its superpremium quality as it glides over taste buds. Choose your favorite ice cream from among dozens of silky flavors, such as irish cream and butter pecan ($2.39–$3.99 for ice cream only). Each serving generously welcomes dozens of mix-in toppings as traditional as crumbled cookies and chopped nuts or as quirky as granola, black licorice, and pieces from magnetic poetry sets ($2.89–$4.59 for ice cream with one mix-in). Indecision and premature brain freezes are averted by Cold Stone Creamery's chill artisans, who sling a litany of signature sundae creations ($3.99–$5.75), such as the Birthday Cake Remix, which spins two turntables of birthday-cake ice cream layered with tracks of brownies, fudge, and sprinkles. The Frankencream you desire will be scooped cold off the grill into a freshly made waffle cone or bowl.