Survival and city-building mashup Frostpunk 2 is set to release in just a couple days on September 20, and fans couldn’t be more excited. That hype is due to just how good its predecessor, 2018’s Frostpunk, is. If you haven’t played the original game, it takes the resource-management and society sim elements of the city-building genre and infuses them with survival elements that adds a sense of urgency to every decision. To celebrate the imminent release of the sequel, Steam is giving interested gamers the perfect chance to get hooked thanks to a sale on the first Frostpunk.
The Frostpunk Franchise Sale runs until September 21 and slashes prices on every piece of content for the original game. That means if you just want to try outFrostpunk you can get it for a measly $US2.99, down from its usual $US29.99 price tag. Though if you really want the full experience you can get the Game of the Year Edition, which includes three expansions that flesh out the world and act as prequels or sequels to the base game, as well as access to some digital goodies for the slightly more expensive (but still cheap as hell) price of $US10.65. But why should you give Frostpunk a try?
What makes Frostpunk unique in the city-building genre is its blending with survival elements. The game takes place in an alternate Victorian era Earth in which an eternal winter has taken hold of the planet. You lead one of the last few outposts of survivors in the world in a bid to survive the ever-dropping temperatures. To build up your society you need to do the typical city-building activities like collecting resources, constructing important facilities, and instructing your citizens on daily actions. These solid foundations are made even better, however, thanks to the added complexity of Frostpunk’s obsession with survival.
There will come a time in your playthrough of Frostpunk when you will have to choose who lives and who dies in your group. Do you sacrifice a child to save the larger group? Do you feed the hungry or heal the sick?. You might even decide that what’s best for your society’s survival is to eat some of your perished compatriots. It’s a grim world that forces you to accept that the cost of building back society will be paid in blood. Yes, the fundamental city-building mechanics are still satisfying, but you can’t help but feel a bit bad when it also requires more difficult moral dilemmas. While so many other games in the genre are ostensibly about creating your perfect world, Frostpunk admits that in this post apocalyptic setting there isn’t really much you can do to make society a utopia. You just have to survive as best you can.
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