Frostpunk - A Brutal Game of Survival

Ah yes, I survived. Barely.

You start off this desolate world with 80 survivors huddled around a furnace.

It is a manageable -20 degrees celcius (-4 Fahrenheit) at the beginning.

There are basic resources in this crater; coal, wood and metal.

The initial undertaking is to gather coal to start the furnace, to build tents to house the populace and to develop a Workshop to research technologies.

Your population is made up of 3 types; Workers, Engineers and Children.

The Children are pretty much one of your first moral dilemmas. Do you make them work? Every hand counts.
Or do you provide a safe place for them.

All decisions cost you in some way. In time, resources, or both.

And so this unforgiving game punishes you regardless of what you choose to do. You may overcome a short term issue which ultimately costs you down the road.

You may focus on Resource gathering improvements but then realise you should have improved the Heating Technologies when a cold snap happens -40C (-40F) and frostbite starts to wipe out your workforce.

Or the people ask for a Medical Tent. Do you build a Medical Facility, do you promise to treat all injured, or do you ignore the issue?

Each decision then reduces Hope and increases Dissent!

That also can lead to you being ousted as Leader and banished from the colony.

Then you have to build a Beacon which allows you to send Scouts out into the greater world to find cities, survivors, resources and trade routes. Again, causing you to divert limited resources in the hopes of improving your survival chances.

Later, the game focuses on Purpose. Do you become an Authoritarian or Religious Colony?
I focused on Religion.

This route requires some finesse to keep the population content via faith and the whip.
Ultimately, I became the Divine Leader that was able to keep the "Londeners" (the name of discontents who want to leave) under control with a little bit of bloodshed to mend their ways.

As you progress you find out that a Great Storm is on the way.
This was no joke as I was barely able to survive. The stores of food ran out. Fortunately, I had a couple of Automated Workers who could function in the -120C (-184F) cold, reduce all of my heating requirements to the bare minimum, and was able to eek a few souls through the storm.

Hearing the "dong" of the death bell was happening every second as people succumbed to the frostbite and freezing.

A morbidly satisfying game. A beautiful game with pretty graphics, sounds and immersion.

Now I am considering undertaking the next Scenario - The Arks - where you need to protect plant seeds.

I have had a similar feeling from, War of Mine, boardgame (which is also in PC format) which punishes you in a similar Survival style.