Frostpunk Preview
I had no idea what to expect from Frostpunk, knowing only that the title was a riff on the steampunk motif. While I had no hands-on time with the game, the demonstration I watched was sufficiently intriguing. 11 bit studios, well known for This War of Mine, have developed a reputation for cerebral games that shine a light on the human condition. This game follows in those heavy footsteps, with gameplay sure to leave you awake at night.
You play the leader of a small band of refugees made even smaller by catastrophe. Stranded on the way to your destination, you’re forced to walk the rest of the way in the deadly cold. Said cold covers the whole of the earth, with no respite in store but the generator you’re travelling to. Once you find this place, your foremost task is to activate it. There are basic resources close by for this task, and your shivering citizens are put to work. From there, the game unfolds into a blend of survival and civilization simulations. You have no opponents to speak of but the environment and the cold.
Frostpunk gives you two major tools for survival. The first tool is your citizens, capable of doing any work you assign them so long as they’re healthy and warm. The second tool is the law, which you write and modify according to the needs of your people. This second tool is a complicated one, in that it leads to some difficult choices for you to make. If you’re running out of able bodies and more work needs to be done, there’s always child labour. If someone loses a limb, you must decide whether to keep them alive. If you’re running out of food, the people might be forced to put sawdust in their meals to stretch them a little thinner. All of these choices will change the levels of discontent and hope within your colony. These two concepts can be measured empirically, with dire consequences impending should they grow too faded or full. I watched as the demo’s denizens voiced their concerns over problems like the sawdust and the child labour, with the discontent bar growing and the hope bar getting smaller. The people were furious when their children were put to work, and only a little relieved when the same children were cared for after being injured. It seems like Hope in Frostpunk is a more fickle beast than discontent, which grows wild at the slightest provocation. This, I feel, is also an accurate reflection of human beings in distressful conditions.
All told, Frostpunk looks to be the kind of game that makes you think, that places a lens on the human condition and demands you look. The creators of the game were careful in their research, basing these awful conditions on ones found throughout the history books. The horrors and hope you inflict on your citizens are based in fact, not fiction. I’ll be keeping an eye on this title, as I’m sure it will make an impact when it’s properly released.
