Frostpunk 2 Dev Talks Council Hall and Its Interconnected Systems

Frostpunk 2 is a city-building survival game that takes place 30 years after the first game, but whereas the first one was about surviving the hellish wintry landscape, the upcoming title is about living in that and dealing with the biggest threat to the city yet: humanity itself. Frostpunk 2 looks to go above and beyond what the original title accomplished with the game's scope, not only in terms of the city itself, but also through the introduction of its Council Hall. As the Steward of New London, players don't simply choose between laws like in Frostpunk but actively forge new ones, which becomes more complex as the city grows, new factions form, and more voices try to bend the player's ear. Clashing factions and rising social differences add another level of complexity, making Frostpunk 2's vision of post-post-apocalypse life all the more intriguing.

Game Rant recently sat down with Jakub Stokalski, Frostpunk 2 co-game director and design director, to discuss the invention of the Council Hall, Laws, and all the elements and systems that play into its government approach.

Frostpunk 2's Council And Law System

The Council and Law systems are just some of the complex city builder systems in Frostpunk 2, all of which build off of the first game. Stokalski detailed some of the laws players can understandably expect to see again, but then also elaborated on how they are expanded.

"The laws themselves both come from the types of laws that would be descendant from the Frostpunk 1 survival type of experience. Where do we get our food? How do we feed ourselves? What do we do with the children? The classic stuff, let's say. Then on top of that, all the rest are the rules or laws that you would imagine them wanting to decide on how to do regular life-like things like, how do we work? What are the work shifts?"

Of course, how players manage Frostpunk 2's factions could add another level of complexity to the game's system-driven approach, as each and every faction might have a different answer to these questions. Some, for example, will also offer more radical suggestions and outright reject things that do not line up with their belief system. One instance, as another example, is how research feeds into laws, and said factions will possibly make demands based on this research. How players respond and support these factions not only influence their relationship with them, but the other factions as well.

Frostpunk 2's Laws Try to Bring Something to a Post-Apocalyptic World

Another interesting point of comparison with Frostpunk is Frostpunk 2's approach to the apocalypse. While generally dubbed a post-apocalyptic game, Frostpunk 1 was all about living in that apocalypse. However, it's often dubbed a post-apocalyptic game, which is what Frostpunk 2 is, creating a funny scenario where it's more like a "post-post-apocalyptic game." All social conventions have disappeared by this time, which means players are reconstructing and building a new future in a world that survived the end of the world. Of course, this new future is determined also by the citizens of New London and the votes they cast in the Council Hall.

Realistic Depiction of Post-Apocalypse

Although Frostpunk also had a social focus, this could make Frostpunk 2 an even more realistic depiction of the end of the world, especially given its more prominent focus on the dangers and problems of a species not just trying to survive but navigating each other. The social impact of post-apocalyptic events is also not typically explored in most apocalyptic games, making Frostpunk 2's approach rather unique. As Stokalski added, such themes are often more challenging:

"I think this is a more mature and more difficult conversation to have, right? It's like, what are the things worth preserving? What are the things worth building on? Rather than what do I have to do to just live through this next day?"

Frostpunk 2's Immersive Systems

With a set of highly immersive systems, it could be easy to see why Frostpunk 2 is one of the most wish-listed games on Steam, and those planning on picking it up on Xbox Game Pass or other platforms are likely as excited.