Fans and critics ofFrostpunkare in agreement about one thing, this game is tough. Even on the standard difficulty settings, it can be quite challenging to achieve victory. There are a lot of obstacles preventing success and some of them are unique to this game.
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Whether you’re considering diving in for the first time or you’ve already taken the plunge and find yourself getting overwhelmed knowing why the game is difficult can be the key to success. Here are the most common reasons people struggle in this game.
Updated January 3rd, 2021 by Russ Boswell:Frostpunkis easily one of the most challenging, painful, and rewarding experiences to hit the Indie gaming scene in the last few years, with many players flocking to the city-building strategy game to try their hand at braving the bitter cold. For some,Frostpunk’s difficultyhas proven to be too much, with many scrambling to online forums to seek out tips and tricks that will hopefully keep them from losing control of their colony. Thankfully, there are some veterans out there that have bravedFrostpunkand all of its dangers that can offer some solid insight on how to conquer the cold nights. To better showcase some of the bestFrostpunktips and tricks available, the following list has been updated and now includes even more entries to help new (and returning) players on their path to victory.
13No Tutorial
The first barrier for many players is that the game doesn’t have a thorough tutorial. It does have one and it goes over some of the basics, but some players are getting lost nonetheless or finding it doesn’t go over the complexities well enough.
If anyone finds themselves in this camp then the best thing they can do is to either keep playing and learn by trial and error or spend some time online looking at fan-made tutorials. Not everyone is a city-building pro so don’t worry about struggling to climb the learning curve at first.
12Lots Of Micromanagement
There are a lot of moving parts in this game and they all require near-constant attention. In addition to balancing the physical aspects like food, heat, and resources, players also have to monitor politics, needs, and wants.
Even minor issues can blow up to be big problems later on if left to fester too long. This game is a balancing act, and learning to keep all those little plates spinning is part of the challenge this game presents.
11Failure Is The Best Teacher
Frostpunk doesn’t just lack a tutorial, it lacks any kind of “teaching mechanic” except the cold, hard, inevitability of death. Simply put, the best way to learn in Frostpunk is to fail, continuously, until all of the harsh mechanics are understood. Players, especially those new to the city-building and survival genre, should embrace failure as a means of learning the ins-and-outs of the game, as it’s highly likely that players will fail their first few attempts, especially if they’re unlucky enough to face some of Frostpunk’s unforeseen events and misfortunes.
It can be a pretty steep learning curve for those that are just getting into the genre for the first time but each failure will teach players valuable lessons that they can morph into future successes.
10Mostly Finite Number Of People
Unlike most real-time strategy games, players are given a mostly finite amount of people and have few means to increase that number. Players will get the occasional outside recruit, but it won’t replace a mass exodus or significant casualty that chews into the population.
This also means players only have so many hands to do the work needed. Spread workers too thin across too many projects, and everything slowly grinds to a halt. But food production to keep the coal mines going can’t be ignored either, it’s part of that balancing act and each loss of life makes it even harder to stay balanced.
9The Cold
Thissurvival gameis unique in that there is a constant threat players must face and account for, the cold. This added layer of difficulty can put a serious dent in the resources if players aren’t prepared for it.
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Cold can cause people to become sick and therefore less productive, it can force the player to burn too much of the coal, and it can limit expansion efforts as each new building must be protected by the heat. This ever-present, pervasive enemy can be a real problem throughout the playthrough.
8The Survivors
The people players are trying to keep alive can themselves be a major obstacle for that goal. Everyone has their own individual wants and needs, and keeping them satisfied can be a real chore.
Adding to this problem is the fact that these individuals aren’t aware of the larger picture. They’ll complain about lack of housing not realizing there isn’t any wood to build them because they shouldn’t be overworked, but they’ll complain if players expect them to work harder to obtain that lumber to build the houses they want.
7Random Events Can Be Painful At Times
One of the best parts of Frostpunk is that players will always need to be on their toes as no two playthroughs will operate exactly the same. One of the biggest reasons for this is the inclusion of Random Events that can both help and hinder a player as they attempt to keep their citizens safe from the biting cold. Some events will provide players with a serious choice that can, sometimes, greatly affect how their operations perform in the future. Other events will seemingly spring out of nowhere and can either offer players a boon or force them to deal with the repercussions of a debuff.
How players interact with events, how prepared they are for when they happen, and how many they end up dealing with during a given run are all variables that can make or break the game.
6Blizzards
As if the persistent cold wasn’t bad enough, the player will quickly realize that the storms make things even worse. These act as a brutal and unrelenting blast of frigid air that can drive the people to the grave and tax the generator.
Many players will achieve some semblance of a balance, only to have a storm roll in and send all the plates flying. So not only are players struggling under normal everyday circumstances, but they have to prepare for when things get even worse under a storm.
5Politics Isn’t For Everyone
One of the most difficult things to manage in Frostpunk are the political situations that will arise during a player’s rule. Although many will try their best to avoid it, there are times when the people below begin to question the decisions of the person in charge and there are even instances in which the player can find themselves on the wrong end of a rebellion led by unhappy survivors that feel like they could do a much better job leading the flock to prosperity.
Those that have a hard time navigating political discourse and the idea of “making the tough decisions” will definitely struggle with what’s “right and wrong” on their first few playthroughs. Even when everything seems to be going right, the politics of it all can send it crashing to the ground.
4Short Term Distractions
This ties into one of the greatest challenges of this game, which is to not get sidetracked. With so many things demanding attention, it’s easy to forget the much larger goal and forget to devote resources to technology advancements, expansion, and other forms of progress.
The player could have everything running smoothly and have weathered a storm or two, only to find that they’ve run out of wood sources in the crater and don’t possess the means to get more. It’s very easy to sabotage long termsurvivaltrying to take care of an immediate threat. Keep a level head, make the hard call, and stay on track.
