Frostpunk

Bought this on a whim as it was massively discounted! Started playing at 1am, thinking I'll just check out what this game is about quick before bed... It's 7am and oh my lord! That was INTENSE!
I can't believe I survived it all, the drama of this game is surreal! Was totally locked it by the story and the mission! Would buy again, even if it wasn't discounted, would be worth every penny! Will definitely be sinking more hours in. Now... time for bed... Phew.

The Circle of Life
- Children mine coal.
- Coal keeps the generator running.
- Generator keeps children warm.
- Children stay warm enough to keep mining coal.
10/10 Would create an infinite energy source again.

I play games to relax and explore. Every moment of Frostpunk is panic, fear, and desperation.
This is one of those games that will stick to your memory for years.
A great escape from the real world issues, solving a fake worlds issues.
I allowed in waves and waves of refugees in order to protect them from an incoming winter storm. We quickly ran out of food and coal to heat all of the homes. Many starved, many froze.
I was banished for my compassion.
I won't make the same mistake twice.

I like to play this game in the winter and open up my window to let the cold in so that i can feel 10% of the discomfort that these people feel everyday. The game is great, it’s a hard, stressful and frustrating. "THE CITY MUST SURVIVE" i tell myself while making the most morally abhorrent decisions. 11/10 will make the children work 24hrs shifts in coal mines again.

The only city builder that's really sucked me in, it's certainly punishing and took me a few attempts to complete the first campaign but once I got steady it was such an experience. Within the first campaign, the pacing of the weather was just right to always keep me on edge, and make me feel relieved when it let up, internal conflicts were always almost disastrous and the finale sequence was so immersive. And in the end, even though I won, I still felt like a monster.
I was excited for more after the first win, and while the extra campaigns are fine and I enjoyed them a lot, I feel like it peaked with the first.

Masterpiece. Main story and gameplay keeps you in suspense all the time. Music should be mentioned separately - brilliant work of art.

Alright. Frostpunk is done and dusted. It actually took me 16 hours to complete the main campaign with the rest of my gametime spent trying out the unlockable scenarios and playing through the DLC. The first couple hours, I spent really figuring out how to play, then I played through the story until my people eventually executed me, and then I played through again and finished the campaign (which is called "A New Home"). I'm not somebody who plays a lot of builders, and even less so builders that require significant thought and strategy, so this wasn't in my wheelhouse, and yet I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The story set-up is pretty simple. You are the captain of an expedition sent to set up a new city, New London, around a powerful generator set-up previously in anticipation of the world freezing, which it has by the time you begin your adventure. Your goal is to keep the generator running while creating a city within which people can survive this frozen land. Maybe even thrive. The rest of the story is one of your own making. You are in charge, and you will make decisions and enact laws that will determine your city's outcome.
To that end, you will direct the gathering of resources, the construction of buildings and streets, the warming of the city, exploration outside of the city to find more resources and survivors to bring to your city, and you will as mentioned make laws. This takes the form of the Book of Laws, and your edicts will shape this developing survivor society. You have your base set of laws. Some are simple things such as decreeing that a graveyard will be built or a public house for people to let off some steam after a hard day. Other decisions will include deciding whether you will make the children work as laborers or allow them to develop and help out elsewhere instead. Your decisions will range from benevolent to tyrannical, and they will have an impact on your people and their morale.
So, in a sense, the morale system is also the morality system. And you will have to make some difficult decisions at times in order to ensure everybody's survival, whether or not they like how it happens, lol. And the people are fickle. This is represented by two bars: a hope bar and a discontent bar. Woe be the captain who lets that discontent bar grow and the hope bar wane. Think of them as health bars, only it's the health of your city and your leadership. Additionally, the people will make requests of you. Sometimes those requests will be common sense, other times they will be selfish requests, and yet other times, they will be completely unrealistic. Like letting people rest when you only have a few hours before a massive storm hits your city and need them manning their posts. And those types of requests often force your hand and make you issue some of the more tyrannical edicts.
As far as the unlockable scenarios, I'd consider those to be challenge modes of sorts. In The Ark, for example, you are tasked with building up a community around seed vaults. And while I'm sure there are people who have no problems playing through this, for me, it was super difficult. Not in a bad way. But probably above my skill level lol. I did not try the Endless modes, btw. That's not really my type of thing. But it is awesome that they are available for people.

Most of the game is spent staring at your city and various timers for job completion, the day/night cycle, and so on. However, there is also an overland map which you will use to assign search teams to check out various landmarks or things you can see from your city due to a beacon you will craft early on (basically a big balloon that gives you the ability to see the various places located outside your city but within eyeshot). And that might seem like it could get boring, but it doesn't. Why?
Because you're always planning your next moves, trying to reason out what will be most necessary to ensure your survival. And that leads to some incredibly tense moments throughout a playthrough. My first full playthrough, the people revolted and executed me fairly close to the end. And that taught me a lot about what I needed to do to actually survive. My second playthrough, I took the lessons I learned from my first and did complete the game. However, with only a couple in-game hours left, my generator still failed despite my planning and I barely limped across the proverbial finish line. I was so relieved and happy to have beat the scenario but I also couldn't believe how tense and uncertain it was, lol.
And those kinds of visceral moments and experiences is really what makes this game special. Additionally, something I never really do IRL is lose track of time, and yet while playing Frostpunk, as I was wrapping up a playthrough, I'd look up and realize it was 4 AM and I needed to be up at 7, lol. That's what this game can do to you. It's been out for over six years now, so it's a safe bet you have at least heard of it, and it may very well be languishing in your library. Play it. It's one of those games that deserves to be experienced by as many people as possible.
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