Frostpunk is set during the Victorian era in a world that has been destroyed by ice. You play as the leader of one of the last settlements in this post-apocalyptic world. Frostpunk is first and foremost a narrative driven game, the themes and settings explored by the game is handled great and is the reason you play the game. Frostpunk is a city-builder and a management game, however these mechanics are by themselves mediocre. The themes of survival in an world destroyed by ice, and the sacrifices you need to make in order to survive is wonderfully handled.
The presentation of the game supports the narrative and theme very well. The cold and unforgiving ice is wonderfully presented both from a visual and audio perspective. The gameplay elements are flavoured in such a way that you make decisions that will lead to peoples’ deaths, but might be necessary for the survival of the colony.
The gameplay is that of a builder and management simulator, however Frostpunk is neither a a good builder or management game. The building and management aspects are functional, but they are quite shallow and lack complexity. The management aspect of the game is focused on the micro-management in order to optimise your settlement. The game can be somewhat difficult, but most of that is due to you not understanding the game or because of some artificial crisis generated by the game to force you to make hard narrative decisions. The gameplay serves the narrative, and is not a reason to play the game by itself.
What are you willing to sacrifice in order for the settlement to survive and thrive? The game explores its setting and themes very well, and if the “world-destroyed by ice” setting appeal to you I would recommend this game. If you on the other hand is looking for a good builder and management game, I would recommend staying away from Frostpunk. It is quite good at hiding the flaws of its gameplay, but it is not a good game if you only care about the gameplay aspects and not the narrative ones.
I finished the first scenario in about eight hours of play and succeeded on my first play-through without to much difficulty. There are several scenarios that are playable with the base-game, and two more with DLC. I am done with the game after the first play-through as I find the gameplay elements to be too shallow and mediocre to warrant a second play-through. If you can stand mediocre building and management games in order to enjoy a good theme you can likely get 40+ hours of the game with different scenarious and maps.
A critique of Frostpunk can be found here (Spoilers ahead)
| Playtime | 8 Hour for the first scenario (40+ hours playtime is conceivable to me if you enjoy the game) |
| Game release date | 24 April 2018 |
| Review release date | 30 July 2024 |
| Light sensitivity | No issues |
| Sound sensitivity | No issues |
| Motion sickness | No issues |
| Steam | Metacritic – Metascore (84) |