Frostpunk

Frostpunk is a city-building, survival strategy video game developed by 11 bit studios. It released for PC in 2018 and later was ported to consoles. Set in a frozen, post-apocalyptic world, the game drops players into command of the last city on Earth as survivors contend with extreme cold, scarce resources, and difficult social choices.

Gameplay centers on constructing and maintaining a city around a central heat generator. Players gather coal, food, and building materials, build housing, hospitals, and utilities, and must balance temperature, population needs, and efficiency. A technology tree unlocks improvements, while a system of laws enables governance over issues such as work hours, education, and religious practice. Citizens are assigned to jobs, and decisions about overtime, automation, and resource allocation shape productivity and morale.

Moral choices form the core of Frostpunk. Rationing, evacuation policies, and policies regarding labor and care force players to weigh short-term survival against long-term social stability. Social unrest, illness, and emigration can result from unpopular policies, and the game features multiple endings based on accumulated decisions and city viability.

Content and reception: Frostpunk was praised for its atmosphere, narrative weight, and challenging mechanics, though some reviews noted its steep difficulty and punishing pacing. The game expanded with content such as The Last Autumn, a prequel expansion that explores an industrial project preceding the Great Freeze, introducing a new campaign and mechanics.

Platforms and impact: Initially released for PC, Frostpunk was subsequently brought to consoles and broadened discussions about governance, resource management, and ethical trade-offs in game design.