Frostpunk
2018
Audio: English · Subtitles: Korean, Turkish, Japanese, Polish, German, Chinese, Portuguese, English, Italian, Spanish, Russian, French
- simulator
- strategy
- indie
- survival
- drama
- single player
The story
Frostpunk, the newest title from the creators of This War of Mine, is a society survival game where heat means life and every decision comes at a price. In an entirely frozen world, people develop steam-powered technology to oppose the overwhelming cold. You face the task of building the last city on Earth and securing the means necessary for your community to survive. Optimization and resource management often clash with empathy and thoughtful decision-making. While city and society management will consume most of the ruler’s time, at some point exploration of the outside world is necessary to understand its history and present state.
What it’s like
Amber furnace glow against blue-grey snowfields, with soot-dark iron and brass machinery crowding the frame, and a low, constant drone of steam engines under a wind that never quite stops. The palette is cold and industrial, with warm light always signalling scarcity, and the interface feels like a ledger: sober, numerical, and pressing. Its vibe is grim, austere, and quietly tense, the kind of experience that suits a rainy evening alone with headphones or a long stretch of focused play when you want the mind busy and the stakes high. The rhythm alternates between long stretches of planning and sudden crises, such as a storm, a failing furnace, or a restless population, which keep the tempo tight. Emotionally it is heavy and reflective, following a leader who must steadily trade comfort and warmth for survival, and the arc is one of hardening under pressure while holding onto a sense of what is being lost. Violence is mostly implied: unrest, deaths from cold and hunger, and hard policy choices that involve child labour or sacrifice, with no gore and no sexual content. It suits players who want strategy with moral weight, thoughtful dread, and decisions that linger after the screen goes dark.
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