Frostpunk 2 Preview — Can a utopia thrive at the end of the world?

destructoid.com:

Frostpunk is one of the more memorable titles for me in recent years. Building the last bastion of a city in a post-apocalyptic world—when done correctly, like it is in Frostpunk—is sure to stick with you. I’m not quite sure there have been any games that have been released since that made me navigate harsh moral dilemmas quite as much as Frostpunk.

We recently had the opportunity to take a look at the freeplay mode of the upcoming sequel Frostpunk 2. As such, we didn’t get to see the story and nitty-gritty bleakness that’s a staple of the universe. But, we did get a look at some of the new features and overall gameplay the sequel will bring.

The stakes in Frostpunk were about as high as they can get. Players have the task of building an efficient hub in the shadow of a massive coal generator. In the end, you would oversee a population of about 600, while making choices all for the overall goal of simply surviving the harsh frozen landscape.

Frostpunk 2 takes place thirty years later. Survival has been accomplished, and the focus has shifted to thriving as opposed to just surviving. If the original could be considered a simulation title on a micro-scale, Frostpunk 2 is certainly on a macro-scale in comparison. Instead of placing individual buildings, you lay out entire districts. It’s a sprawling city as opposed to a tight hub in the original. Instead of a population in the hundreds, your city can grow into the thousands.

But while the denizens of Frostpunk 2 have survived the apocalypse, life still isn’t sunshine and rainbows. The choices player make when building up their city has shifted from pure necessity for survival to trying to help the city thrive and flourish. Several factions have been established, including