Frostpunk is an amazing resource & city management game where every choice matters and where inaction is just as deadly as incompetence. Even if you aren’t into city builders, I highly recommend giving Frostpunk ago.

Set in an alternative steampunk 19th century the world has found out that an impending global ice age is about to occur due to volcanic eruptions (think of the Arctic snap but globally). You arrive at one of the few generator city’s, giant heat producing furnaces and are ordered to govern the people, protect the furnace and weather the storm while keeping the citizens needs met and discontent at a minimum. It doesn’t seem so difficult at first, extract coal to keep the fires burning, make food to keep everyone fed and get enough of the other resources to be able to build new building. Then the cold starts to hit and you are scrambling to keep people warm and fed, heal the sick and deal with the ever increasing disasters that start to plague your city.

I like to think of myself as a relatively nice and collected person, but Frostpunk brought out the inner dictator that would have made humanity’s worst proud. Your actions are measured by what laws you pass and decisions you make throughout the game. By the end I had people eating sawdust meals, with cripples freezing to death in abandoned care homes, citizens brainwashed into reporting fictitious crimes about their neighbours with their children working the coal mines. Not only did I cross that line, I returned, did another lap and crossed it again and have never felt more proud at only saving a few people. Surviving in Frostpunk is hard, and until you know the inner workings of good building placement and have a solid plan in place failure will likely involve every inhabitant freezing to death, the generator exploding or you being exiled into the unforgiving cold. It forces you to compromise on your morals, the rights and safety of the few vs the many. Benevolent actions may cripple you, and tragedy can strike at any time. Being utterly pragmatic will lower your approval so quickly that you are turfed out of office, so it’s a fine line to walk.

Mismanaging resources will lead to a quick game over, but poor city building will lead to long drawn out failure and makes all the difference. This is explored more in one of the DLC’s, but the whole game is about efficiency (the citizens are stupid). The city is built around the generator in a circle, and heat can be increased at the cost of coal consumption. Some buildings can function in very cold weather, but others can’t and the colder your population is the sicker they get. Your population is split into 3 types, with adults forming 2 categories - general workers and a few being specialised into engineers who can do the fancy jobs like being a doctor or researcher, and the rest who are children who can’t work (unless you pass laws that make them work). Do you spend time on getting the children out of the cold, and in care centres, where they might have a chance at helping the doctors, or have them working the coal mines earning their keep, or ignore them completely to focus on more pressing needs?

The game looks great, and certainly captures a steampunk vibe and while covering everything in ice and snow it looks gritty, with coal mines scattered everywhere, fires constantly burning and more snow constantly dropping. Giant automations can be used that replace the workers and look like something out of war of the worlds.

Frostpunk has quite good replay value as there are a few scenarios to play after you have finished the first one, all which add different challenges and tell a different story. There is now an endless mode to play which removes any of the major events and lets you tweak starting resources to help get a better grip on the game.

The DLC lets you try and recover a poorly run city instead of building from the ground up, which adds a new layer of complexity. There is also a scenario of actually building the generator pre ice age which adds a completely different dynamic to the game (as the population isn’t quite as willing to work hard for a threat they can’t see) or missions that revolve around helping a floundering neighbour city at the cost of your own scare resources.

If you are chasing 100% achievements then you will need to purchase the DLC and practise, as some of the achievements require a perfect run (no civilian losses), or are quite specific in what you need to do.

For more reviews please visit https://gtm.you1.cn/storesteam/curator/31327216/

Frostpunk is an amazing resource & city management game where every choice matters and where inaction is just as deadly as incompetence. Even if you aren’t into city builders, I highly recommend giving Frostpunk ago. Set in an alternative steampunk 19th century the world has found out that an impending global ice age is about to occur due to volcanic eruptions (think of the Arctic snap but globally). You arrive at one of the few generator city’s, giant heat producing furnaces and are ordered to govern the people, protect the furnace and weather the storm while keeping the citizens needs met and discontent at a minimum. It doesn’t seem so difficult at first, extract coal to keep the fires burning, make food to keep everyone fed and get enough of the other resources to be able to build new building. Then the cold starts to hit and you are scrambling to keep people warm and fed, heal the sick and deal with the ever increasing disasters that start to plague your city. I like to think of myself as a relatively nice and collected person, but Frostpunk brought out the inner dictator that would have made humanity’s worst proud. Your actions are measured by what laws you pass and decisions you make throughout the game. By the end I had people eating sawdust meals, with cripples freezing to death in abandoned care homes, citizens brainwashed into reporting fictitious crimes about their neighbours with their children working the coal mines. Not only did I cross that line, I returned, did another lap and crossed it again and have never felt more proud at only saving a few people. Surviving in Frostpunk is hard, and until you know the inner workings of good building placement and have a solid plan in place failure will likely involve every inhabitant freezing to death, the generator exploding or you being exiled into the unforgiving cold. It forces you to compromise on your morals, the rights and safety of the few vs the many. Benevolent actions may cripple you, and tragedy can strike at any time. Being utterly pragmatic will lower your approval so quickly that you are turfed out of office, so it’s a fine line to walk. Mismanaging resources will lead to a quick game over, but poor city building will lead to long drawn out failure and makes all the difference. This is explored more in one of the DLC’s, but the whole game is about efficiency (the citizens are stupid). The city is built around the generator in a circle, and heat can be increased at the cost of coal consumption. Some buildings can function in very cold weather, but others can’t and the colder your population is the sicker they get. Your population is split into 3 types, with adults forming 2 categories - general workers and a few being specialised into engineers who can do the fancy jobs like being a doctor or researcher, and the rest who are children who can’t work (unless you pass laws that make them work). Do you spend time on getting the children out of the cold, and in care centres, where they might have a chance at helping the doctors, or have them working the coal mines earning their keep, or ignore them completely to focus on more pressing needs? The game looks great, and certainly captures a steampunk vibe and while covering everything in ice and snow it looks gritty, with coal mines scattered everywhere, fires constantly burning and more snow constantly dropping. Giant automations can be used that replace the workers and look like something out of war of the worlds. Frostpunk has quite good replay value as there are a few scenarios to play after you have finished the first one, all which add different challenges and tell a different story. There is now an endless mode to play which removes any of the major events and lets you tweak starting resources to help get a better grip on the game. The DLC lets you try and recover a poorly run city instead of building from the ground up, which adds a new layer of complexity. There is also a scenario of actually building the generator pre ice age which adds a completely different dynamic to the game (as the population isn’t quite as willing to work hard for a threat they can’t see) or missions that revolve around helping a floundering neighbour city at the cost of your own scare resources. If you are chasing 100% achievements then you will need to purchase the DLC and practise, as some of the achievements require a perfect run (no civilian losses), or are quite specific in what you need to do. For more reviews please visit https://gtm.you1.cn/storesteam/curator/31327216/