Frostpunk 2 Review — Even Frostier and Double the Punk

Frostpunk is by far one of my favorite strategy/simulator games. It stood out from other games in the genre with its unique setting and focus on harsh, dystopian survival, forcing players to make harsh decisions and embrace the struggles of trying to survive in a harsh, flash-frozen apocalypse. It’s safe to say, then, that I was excited when I got the opportunity to play Frostpunk 2, hoping that the game would be everything I loved about the first and even more. Spoilers: It was.

Frostpunk 2 takes place after the events of the first game’s campaign. New London, the city players build up during the game’s campaign “A New Home,” has grown immeasurably in the time between the main game and the death of The Captain, presumably the former player character and the event which triggers the beginning of Frostpunk 2’s story and the leadership of The Steward.

The size of New London at the beginning of Frostpunk 2 compared to how it was in the first Frostpunk does a perfect job of showing the main difference between the two games: Scale. In Frostpunk 2, things are much, much bigger. Whereas the first Frostpunk was a city-builder that had you place individual buildings around the generator and watch each person trudge through the snow, Frostpunk 2 has taken the game to more of a 4X perspective, having you play with titles, place entire districts, and view everything from a bird’s eye view. Whereas you might struggle to reach a city of 1,000 in the first Frostpunk, Frostpunk 2 has New London begins with a population of 8,000 and has you manage citizens in the tens of thousands.

Frostpunk 2 is a perspective shift in much more than the literal sense.

The original Frostpunk dealt with the theme of survival. It challenged players to do their best to manage their small society while surviving the harsh realities of the Whiteout and the cruel decisions people often have to make to survive. While this theme is still present in Frostpunk 2, the game is less about survival and more about expansion; It focuses on the future and what comes next for a city that has learned to survive the storm. It deals with the subjects of colonization, how politics tends to marginalize and favor different communities, how said communities clash within a society, and challenges you to forge a path to the future of New London beyond simply surviving each day, with each community in your city having their own ideas of what the best way forward should be.

Besides building your city and managing resources, the crux of Frostpunk 2 is managing the communities within New London and their effect on the city itself. While you can try to play a more balanced game, generally, you will be leaning towards one of two options for who shapes New London’s future: Militarized supporters of industry and progress who wish to defeat the cold or staunch traditionalists who live off the land and wish to adapt to it.

While there are technically four communities of people in the city of New London during the campaign, I believe it is only two groups that shape the ending of the game, with the other two groups being less radicalized versions of them. Like in the first Frostpunk, the game has multiple endings based on which faction gains power over the city, with the more marginalized one rising to oppose you if pushed to the extreme. The game’s campaign is a series of decisions that form the narrative based on who you appease and who you marginalize, making every decision, from the game’s prologue segment to the very final chapter, influential in shaping the end.

As far as gameplay goes, Frostpunk 2 mains the theme of increasing the scale from the original Frostpunk. Familiar resources by way of heat, food, loyalty, and sickness return the game. However, as the narrative takes a turn towards a future where heat may no longer be a concern for the citizens of New London (it is still difficult to manage, if less so than in the original game), we are also given new resources such as the production of raw and luxury goods and community squalor to deal with. The richer your community, the more money you have to improve New London, and the faster things deteriorate and fall into disrepair.

Also introduced is a new council requiring the approval of New London’s various communities to pass laws. Political scumbaggery, ho!

Frostpunk 2 also expands the scope through map exploration and, more noticeably, colonization. You now have multiple cities to manage, spread across the map, which must be connected through trade routes and shared resources. The theme of colonization is a huge aspect of Frostpunk 2, challenging you to think about the lives of faraway citizens who pump precious oil into your main city when the survival of said main city matters above all else.

I was excited for Frostpunk 2, and with all excitement comes the potential to be disappointed. Thankfully, this is one sequel that failed to disappoint. It did everything I wanted it to do and more, offering an experience I frankly enjoyed more than the first game, of which I’m a big fan. I enjoyed it so much, in fact, that I’m going to wrap this review up and immediately play some more of it.

Try Hard Guides received a PC review code for this game. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles on our Game Reviews page! Frostpunk 2 is available on Steam, Epic Games, GoG, and Xbox.