In my first run of Frostpunk 2, I killed a bunch of my own citizens.
Frostpunk is a series about making hard choices to build a city that can survive a post-apocalyptic winter, and the sequel takes the same concept on a much bigger scale. Of all the decisions that I made, one of the most inconsequential was early. My coal mine was malfunctioning, and I had the choice to seal off the mine, save the coal that remained, and kill the miners inside; or to save the miners and risk destroying my coal supply.
So I killed the miners.
Anything from cold to disease to starvation can be a cause of death. Most casualties are met with an indifferent “197 people have died” notification, barely worth paying attention to except that it decreases your available worker count. This decision was more intentional.
Frostpunk 2 did not let me forget it. Two hours later, I received a pop-up anecdote featuring a story profiling a citizen in my town. This was the son of a miner who had died in that mine disaster. The son was a miner too. Every day he walked into the mine, he’d touch a rock outside it to remember his father.
This touch of humanity is what turns Frostpunk from a standard city-builder to something truly special. It is a reminder for our own lives that regardless of what the world expects from us, it is people who most impact us. It is a reminder to stop worrying about jobs and world news and focus on your loved ones around you. After all, you never know when your boss is going to bury you in a mine for profit.
Into The Spine