Saturday 11 / January / 2025
Remember the days when stories always ended with “and they lived happily ever after?”
It’s been a while since we’ve seen those sorts of happy stories, the ones that spoke of idealism and the triumph of good over evil. There was always a certain guarantee. Good would banish evil.
That idealism, though, has since given way to realism that makes us realise that evil is like the tide, sometimes weak, sometimes strong, but always there. That is the tale of Frostpunk.
The latest game by Polish studios 11 Bit, who specialise in games that show the hidden costs of survival and success, Frostpunk was made available for purchase on April 24, and this city-building survival game is sure to be a success with gamers everywhere.
Having already sold more than 250,000 copies in the first three days of its release, Frostpunk is easily the most anticipated game for the first quarter of 2018, and with its (literally) chilling premise, it’s not hard to see why.
The game is set in an alternative timeline, where a new Ice Age has dawned. The year is 1886, and you play the leader of a group of people who are searching for refuge from the merciless cold and biting frost. The fate of your followers literally rests in your hands.
Your group’s first task is to stave off the cold by building a generator. They may do other things once that’s done, but your job is always the same — the generator must be kept running at all times, no matter the cost.
If this means your people must feed it coal throughout the night instead of resting their weary bones, so be it.
If it means your miners must traverse the dangerous and treacherous landscape to find precious fuel to keep your people alive, then that’s what must be done. If it means there is little food and few clothes to keep out the ravages of the elements, so that the generator is kept alive, then that is a decision you have to make — the cold will get to you anyway if your generator isn’t running.
Around this central heating behemoth is built your city. Frostpunk’s dystopian landscape needs workers to keep the city functioning.
Workers live in shelters to keep out the cold — the better the shelter, the warmer they are — while factories churn out the tools they need to survive and hunt.
But the more people you have building your city, healing the wounded in hospitals and manning your factories, the fewer people there are to feed the beast. Short of workers, you are faced with two options — do you let your people succumb to the cold or are you ruthlessly going to pull children from school, so that they can power your relentless machine?
While most would be left aghast by the latter, it is a choice you would not enjoy (okay, maybe you do), but irrespective of whatever else you do for your people, delaying their inevitable death by frostbite is always going to be your ultimate priority.
You wouldn’t think that this is a game that would attract takers, but its tremendous success has shown the world just how keen people are to see something different.
Jakub Stokalski’s richly designed graphics show the game’s stark landscape, and Frostpunk’s haunting theme music by composer Piotr Musial add plenty of depth and realism to this game, making it one of the best of the year already.
When the lists come out for the best games of 2018, don’t be surprised to find Frostpunk very near the top.
The Short and Skinny
Name: Frostpunk
Genre: Fantasy/City-building
Produced by: 11 bit studios
What it’s about: A new Ice Age has come to haunt mankind. In search of a better world, you lead a group of desperate survivors away from the cold. You have but one job – survive.
Where to buy: Steam, GOG games, FrostPunkGame.com, instant-gaming.com
Platforms: Windows, PlayStation 4 (Coming Soon), Xbox One (Coming Soon)
IGN Rating: 9/10
