Reckon you have to make some tough calls at work? The debut gameplay trailer for city simulator Frostpunk shows how you’ll have to decide whether to legalise child labour or open fighting arenas to deal with criminals.
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Set in a frozen world, humanity lives in small pockets where steam-powered technology allows them to stave off the deadly cold. As the mayor of humanity’s last city, you have to make all the tough decisions that will determine the survival of your citizens. Much like developers 11 bit studios’ previous game, This War of Mine, almost every decision in Frostpunk is a hard one.
One of the main mechanics in Frostpunk is the Book of Laws, which acts as the game’s tech tree. Following certain events like a child being injured in a workhouse, it will be up to you whether to reform the law to stop incidents like these from happening. While banning child labour may clear your conscience, it may also reduce the productivity of your city and cause more people to die from the cold. You’ll have to make several of these tough decisions throughout your time with Frostpunk, with some of them being a bit more grisly than deciding health and safety legislation.
You’ll also have to venture outside of the city walls to scavenge for resources and deal with potential threats. Each expedition is a risk, as you could lose vital people and open your city up to attack. I can already tell that Frostpunk is going to be quite the stressful experience, with players constantly dealing with bad situation after bad situation.
For those who can’t wait to run their own icy Dickensian dystopia, you’re going to have to, as Frostpunk is scheduled to release in winter 2017. It should be the perfect game to play as the nights draw in and things start to get chilly.