In a few months it'll be five whole years since survival city builder Frostpunk was released, challenging players to build a working city in a freezing post-apocalyptic world and carefully manage
In a few months it’ll be five whole years since survival city builder Frostpunk was released, challenging players to build a working city in a freezing post-apocalyptic world and carefully manage the society taking refuge within its borders.
And while we wait to hear when Frostpunk 2 will arrive (fingers crossed for 2023) it’s interesting to look at the city builders that have been coming out more recently, and how many of them may have been inspired by Frostpunk’s blend of story-driven management, society simulation, and survival systems.
We’re in a bit of a city building boom these days, which is exciting. While Fraser accurately pointed out that no one seems to be gunning for Cities: Skylines’ urban city builder crown, that’s left plenty of room for all manner of different kinds of city builders. We’re seeing city building games that take place at the bottom of the ocean, in outer space, on the sides of mountains, on the backs of giant creatures, and even on a fantasy ringworld populated by dice.
There’s usually something going on in these games besides just building pretty cities, managing money and resources, and simply making sure there are more happy faces than frowny ones in the civilian population. There are echoes of Frostpunk’s systems in so, so many recent city builders.
Expeditions
One of the earliest buildings you can unlock in Frostpunk is the beacon, a tethered hot air balloon that can rise up above the city allowing a lookout to spot places of interest far beyond the central generator. Scouts can then travel out into the world to explore new locations (which often lead to the discovery of even further-flung areas) and return using the beacon as a guide.
Often these expeditions give you not just additional resources but narrative choices, extra decisions to make, and plenty of tension while you wait to see how things play out. Expeditions also excel at making you feel like your city is just a small part of a much larger world taking place offscreen.
The Wandering Village (Image credit: Stray Fawn)
I’ve been happy to see more city builders include systems similar to Frostpunk’s expeditions, to allow us to peek beyond our own borders. In The Wandering Village, where you build a settlement on the back of a giant, lumbering, dinosaur-like creature, you’re able to send scavengers out into the world as your mighty beast slowly stomps through it.
