Frostpunk 2is a city-building survival game that takes place 30 years after the first game, but whereas the first one was about surviving the hellish wintry landscape, the upcoming title is about living in that and dealing with the biggest threat to the city yet: humanity itself.Frostpunk 2looks to go above and beyond what the original title accomplishedwith the game’s scope, not only in terms of the city itself, but also through the introduction of its Council Hall. As the Steward of New London, players don’t simply choose between laws like inFrostpunkbut actively forge new ones, which becomes more complex as the city grows, new factions form, and more voices try to bend the player’s ear. Clashing factions and rising social differences add another level of complexity, makingFrostpunk 2’s vision of post-post-apocalypse life all the more intriguing.
Game Rant recently sat down with Jakub Stokalski,Frostpunk 2co-game director and design director, to discuss the invention of the Council Hall, Laws, and all the elements and systems that play into its government approach.
Frostpunk 2’s Council And Law System
The Council and Law systems are just some of thecomplex city builder systemsinFrostpunk 2,all of which build off of the first game.Stokalski detailed some of the laws players can understandably expect to see again, but then also elaborated on how they are expanded.
The laws themselves both come from the types of laws that would be descendant from theFrostpunk 1survival type of experience. Where do we get our food? How do we feed ourselves? What do we do with the children? The classic stuff, let’s say. Then on top of that, all the rest are the rules or laws that you would imagine them wanting to decide on how to do regular life-like things like, how do we work? What are the work shifts?
Of course, how players manageFrostpunk 2’s factionscould add another level of complexity to the game’s system-driven approach, as each and every faction might have a different answer to these questions. Some, for example, will also offer more radical suggestions and outright reject things that do not line up with their belief system. One instance, as another example, is how research feeds into laws, and said factions will possibly make demands based on this research. How players respond and support these factions not only influence their relationship with them, but the other factions as well.
Frostpunk 2’s Laws Try to Bring Something to a Post-Apocalyptic World
Another interesting point of comparison withFrostpunkisFrostpunk 2’s approach to the apocalypse. While generally dubbed a post-apocalyptic game,Frostpunk 1was all about living in that apocalypse. However, it’s often dubbed a post-apocalyptic game, which is whatFrostpunk 2is, creating a funny scenario where it’s more like a “post-post-apocalyptic game.” All social conventions have disappeared by this time, which means players are reconstructing and building a new future in a world that survived the end of the world. Of course, this new future is determined also by the citizens of New London and the votes they cast in the Council Hall.
AlthoughFrostpunkalso had a social focus, this could makeFrostpunk 2an even morerealistic depiction of the end of the world, especially given its more prominent focus on the dangers and problems of a species not just trying to survive but navigating each other. The social impact of post-apocalyptic events is also not typically explored in most apocalyptic games, makingFrostpunk 2’s approach rather unique. As Stokalski added, such themes are often more challenging:
I think this is a more mature and more difficult conversation to have, right? It’s like, what are the things worth preserving? What are the things worth building on? Rather than what do I have to do to just live through this next day?
With a set of highly immersive systems, it could be easy to see whyFrostpunk 2is one of themost wish-listed games on Steam, and those planning on picking it up on Xbox Game Pass or other platforms are likely as excited.
Frostpunk 2
WHERE TO PLAY
The game takes place 30 years after the apocalyptic blizzard that has taken place in Frostpunk. Earth is still overwhelmed by the neverending frost and harsh, icy climate. You play as the leader of a resource-hungry metropolis where expansion and internal conflicts are an unavoidable reality. It’s up to you to make decisions about your City’s future and face their consequences.In Frostpunk 2 you can build your City on a new scale by creating entire districts with different purposes. ensure that all parts of the City work well together as well as research technologies that will set the direction for your citizens’ progress.THE CITY MUST NOT FALL “Frostpunk 2 is still a game about the City and its society,” states Jakub Stokalski, game Co-Director and Design Director at 11 bit studios. “But inner turmoils, sparked by rising social differences, mean that players will be facing new kinds of threats. We use a post-apocalyptic setup to tell a meaningful story about human ambition. Because ultimately, what can end us is not nature itself – it’s human nature.”NAVIGATE BETWEEN FACTIONS AS A STEWARD As the City grows, creating and passing new laws becomes a more complex matter. The people slowly divide into factions with different, often contradictory visions of the future. The Council is a place where these ideas clash, sometimes violently. It’s your role as a Steward to ensure that the city will not fall because of those conflicts. Manage emerging crises while at the same time steering humanity towards a new destiny.
