How do you unlock the Council Hall in Frostpunk 2? Government and democracy might be a divisive subject, but when it comes to running your own city, you’ll soon find that some form of democracy is essential to keeping the peace.
As you progress through Frostpunk 2 and build your own city from the ground up, one of the most essential mechanics is the Council Hall, in which you can try to pass laws on a range of subjects. Doing so not only changes how your story unfolds in the city-building game, but can appease or infuriate different Factions. Certain laws can even improve goods manufacturing, food production, and Frostpunk 2 Heatstamps income, so here’s how to get started with your own democracy.
Unlock the Frostpunk 2 Council Hall
To unlock the Council Hall in Frostpunk 2, you must have a research building, which can only be placed in an expanded Housing District. The earliest you can have a Council built is around 35 weeks on normal difficulty, given frostbreaking, building, and research time.
In your first few weeks in charge, you must construct essential buildings first: an extraction hub for coal, and housing. Once you have these up and ready, your city becomes divided as different Factions begin to form. You are prompted to research a new coal extraction building, but must choose between two options. Once the building is complete, differences remain, so a Council must be built. It is only now that the option to build the Council building becomes available.
A one-off building, Council Hall can only be placed in the city center, at which point the ability to propose laws is unlocked.
How to pass laws in Frostpunk 2
Once you have placed the Council Hall in the city center, you have the option to submit one law for each Council session, between which the Council takes recess for ten weeks. The Council is made up of members from each of the city’s Factions, and all 100 delegates have a vote. A majority of 51 votes is required to pass a law.
You can either recommend whichever law you want, or you can put forward a policy that a Faction wants to see passed. Perhaps a Faction that you have made a deal with, or one you wish to improve your relations with.
If you have made a deal with a Faction to suggest a law, there is usually a time limit to fulfill your promise. It’s worth bearing in mind the ten-week recess between sessions before you propose a different law first.
Getting a majority
You can go ahead and put the proposal up for the vote if you think enough people are going to vote your way. If you’re unsure, however, you can negotiate with Factions to buy their vote. By letting them choose the next law to be voted on, promising to research and construct a building of their choice, or guaranteeing to enact a specific policy.
Of course, you can always fail to deliver on your promise or revert it down the line, but this doesn’t fare well with the Faction in question, so think carefully before making empty promises.
You can use this method to encourage Factions to vote for, or even against, a proposal. You might want to ask an opposing Faction to vote against a policy as a way to get around an existing promise.
Pressuring delegates
Alternatively, you can pressure delegates into voting your way. This always results in increased votes for the policy in question, but negatively impacts relations with every Faction. However, it does prevent you from having to make any promises.
That’s everything there is to know about getting set up with your own Frostpunk 2 Council Hall, and getting those all-important bills passed. The key to thriving—if you can call it that—in this survival game comes down to a good balance of everything, so don’t forget to pay attention to research and resources, too. Make sure you know how to get more Frostland teams to increase the latter.