The long-awaited Frostpunk 2 expands upon the ideas of the award-winning original, amplifying the survival game's scope and scale in new ways. The title is developed and published by 11 bit studios, a company best known for its hand in the initial Frostpunk and This War of Mine. A recent demo presentation from game co-directors Jakub Stokalski and Łukasz Juszczyk - the former of which who also serves as design director and the latter as art director - at Gamescom gave a better idea of some of the game's main systems and how it's grown since the original. 82h4f

Out of all the speculative fiction subgenres that derived from cyberpunk, steampunk is the most popular with plenty of video games, such as the highly anticipated Frostpunk 2, exploring the genre. Based on the Steam Age that occurred between the late 1700s and the early 1900s, steampunk features retro-futuristic worlds where the machinery and aesthetic of steam-powered technologies remained prevalent and even progressed.

Two months after first teasing the project on Twitter, 11 bit studios has announced Frostpunk 2 and released its first official trailer. Frostpunk was first released in 2018, and it was a great success for the indie studio (although 11 bit studios no longer refers to itself as such), which led to the game being expanded with plenty of DLC since the game’s launch, the last of which was On The Edge in August 2020.

In an industry once dominated by large studios with multimillion-dollar budgets, the rise of indie games over the last decade has been groundbreaking, allowing small teams push gaming in new directions. Some standout indie games master and refine their respective genres, while others flip conventions on their heads and open new doors for more games to succeed them.

The cold, unforgiving, city-building survival game Frostpunk will test the player's ability to plan for the long-term. While city-building games often come in a grid-based or even hexagon-based building system, Frostpunk has a radial build structure. It's a design choice that makes sense for the setting, as the city the player is in charge of is built around a massive coal generator, the main source of heat in a world that is steadily growing colder.

Through any player's time in Frostpunk, they will quickly learn the importance and value of Hope. They will also likely learn how easily Hope is lost, and how that, in turn, can topple a civilization. There are plenty of things within the game that offer Hope, and plenty of things that take it away.

Polish game developer 11 Bit Studios teased a potential sequel to its popular and wildly imaginative city-survival game Frostpunk with a barebones teaser trailer. The possible sequel would presumably follow in the footsteps of the 2018 game, taking place in the same post-apocalyptic ice age. The degree to which the mechanics, tone, and story of the sequel would mirror the first Frostpunk game remains to be seen.

Of the city-building games out there, few manage to be as bleak and desperate as Frostpunk. The world is getting colder, and it is up to the player to build a city and keep it heated for all its citizens. Along the way, as with other games of its genre, they will have to make tough choices with major consequences. As of writing, it is also free on the Epic Games Store for a limited time, so PC gamers can try it at no cost.

2018's post-apocalyptic city-builder Frostpunk is the third free game in 2021's Epic Games Store Mega Sale. The Epic Games Store has given free games away each week since its inception, and last year took things to a new level with a quartet of high-profile games, with the giveaway coinciding with store's annual summer sale. 2020's offerings included Grand Theft Auto V and Borderlands: The Handsome Collection, and this year's mystery games have proven to be just as notable.

PlayStation Now subscribers in the United States are set to gain access to three extra titles this month, including The Crew 2, Frostpunk, and Surviving Mars. The December 2020 offerings provided subscribers with robust options, such as Horizon Zero Dawn, Darksiders III, and The Surge 2, along with three other games. By comparison, then, the January lineup seems like slim pickings, but the service is still packed with quality selections overall.