Frostpunk

Frostpunk is a real-time strategy and city builder, enriched with survival elements (the creators even talk about developing a new genre, which they call "society survival"). The game was developed by the Polish team 11 bit studios, which gained worldwide fame thanks to the bestselling This War of Mine.

Plot

The action of Frostpunk takes place in an alternative version of the 19th century, in which a new ice age has come to Earth. The handful of survivors you take control of seek refuge near a steam-powered heat generator - and in order to maintain the last bastion of humanity, the entire community must adapt to the frigid new reality.

Mechanics

The gameplay in Frostpunk takes place around a heat generator, which is the center of the survivors' settlement. We build not only houses for the inhabitants, but also various industrial buildings, hospitals, nursing homes and kitchens. Although at the beginning we have only a handful of people, with time more people come to us, so the village gradually transforms into a large post-apocalyptic city.

The gameplay consists mainly in managing the community in such a way as to keep it alive at all costs. Often this requires sacrificing the rights or even the lives of individuals for the good of the whole; sometimes this is the only way to ensure the survival of others. The game is driven by morally ambiguous decisions, implemented in the form of passing more laws. For example, we can send not only adults but also children to work, organize funerals for accident victims (thus wasting valuable time) or bury them in mass graves, or even drastically increase working hours. The key to success, however, is to balance the moods in such a way as not to escalate the dissatisfaction of the population, which may lead them to revolt and, as a result, overthrow the poor manager and end the game. During the game we spend a lot of time on the screen presenting an elaborate tree of rights, which contains mutually exclusive solutions to important problems; taking advantage of each of them brings both positive and negative effects, the impact of which can be felt long after their enactment.

But it doesn't end there, because with time our capabilities begin to grow - after building a workshop we gain access to new technologies, the discovery of which can make life easier for the residents, but also create additional problems. Investing in a navigation balloon will show other survivors where they can find a new home, in turn, developing the automatons (steam-powered robots that can work almost without rest) will significantly reduce the workload. But more people in the settlement is also a potential worry (after all, someone has to take care of them), while the breakdown of machinery can lead to dangerous accidents. Exploration of the ice-covered world is also important - sending scouts is associated with great risk, because the scouts sent to the frozen wastelands may encounter deadly security, but only in this way you can, for example, discover additional deposits of priceless coal.

Game modes

In addition to the story mode, which consists of three extensive scenarios, Frostpunk also includes a sandbox module in which the player can expand the settlement at will, without having to complete specific tasks.

Technical aspects

Frostpunk features 3D graphics based on contrasts, with cool colors representing nature on one side and warm colors symbolizing the remnants of an ancient civilization on the other. The whole game presents high quality and is complemented by an intuitive interface. It is worth noting that the game's cutscenes were created by the Platige Image studio, while the soundtrack is the work of Piotr Musial, whose portfolio includes works composed for Blood and Wine, the expansion pack to CD Projekt RED's hit game, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Last updated on 17 April 2018