Frostpunk 2 releases gameplay deep dive as beta begins

11 bit studios

Is it too early to call 2024 the year of city-builders? It certainly starts to feel like it. Manor Lords is already a triumph even in its content-limited Early Access version, Against the Storm is due for an expansion, and Frostpunk 2 is shaping up to equal or even surpass its predecessor – that is according to those already playing the game’s beta.

The Frostpunk 2 beta is running until April 22, 2024, and is open to everyone who pre-ordered the Deluxe Edition, which also contains three planned expansions for the game down the line.

Celebrating this milestone of getting the game into the hands of players, developer 11 bit studios published a gameplay deep dive on YouTube, in which staff members guide players through the core challenges they can expect to encounter in Frostpunk 2.

They poignantly summed up what Frostpunk 2 is all about in a single sentence: “Nature isn't the biggest enemy, human nature is.” In contrast to the original Frostpunk, which had players lead a struggling band of survivors through the zenith of a new ice age, the sequel takes place after the imminent crisis is over and humankind begins to rebuild.

With nature as the biggest threat, people were united. Now, that alliance of necessity fractures and old squabbles begin to break out again – your people will split into factions and to manage your city you’ll need to get into the nitty gritty of politics. Backroom deals, betrayals, and being just as ruthless as when you had to send children down into the mines to survive the cold are part of the daily routine.

In Frostpunk 2 you battle the effects of the apocalypse as well as those of human nature. / 11 bit studios

Players in the beta report that 11 bit studios perfectly translated the atmosphere and feeling of the original into the sequel, despite the clear change of scale. The challenges the game has in store this time around are just as difficult to deal with than the constant blizzard of the first title, with the political horse trading of today biting you in the butt tomorrow.

It’s up to you to navigate between the factions vying for influence and intending to impress their ideals on everyone in the city and to unite them to solve crises and get things done. And if you can’t – well, democracy isn’t the only way to rule, is it? But would that be the utopia everyone wants after the near-death experience of the icy apocalypse?

Frostpunk 2 is exploring interesting questions and concepts and seems to be doing so with interesting gameplay to boot. Anyone not buying the beta access will have to wait until July 25, 2024, to get their hands on the game.