This Old Guy’s first video game console was a Magnavox Odyssey and his first computer an Apple IIe. Last five games purchased: Frostpunk (PC), Mortal Kombat 11 (PS4), Anthem (PC), Civ VI DLC Rising Storm (PC), Red Dead Redemption 2 (PS4).

Do you like a challenge?

Frostpunk asks players to manage a city in bitterly cold conditions that only seem to get worse. You’ll need to gather scarce resources, research tech advances and make interesting decisions about how your new city will operate. How many hunters do you send into the cold? Will children be part of your workforce? Will your medics be quick to amputate limbs to save lives? Will you start a cult of personality to guarantee your continued rule?

The city building experience is aided and improved (after you’ve researched the proper tech and built a dedicated facility) by scouts who roam the frozen wasteland. Scouts will return rare resources but pose moral and practical dilemmas of their own. Do you escort refugees back to the city, costing the scouts chances to explore, or let the strangers fend for themselves?

Interesting choices, all with consequences, make for solid gameplay. But I’ve always been fond of lush graphics, too, and Frostpunk delivers on that front. In a game that demands constant monitoring of resource inputs and consumption, I found myself upgrading all instances of a particular building because the new look was too adorable to resist. The visuals when temperatures rise and fall are also fun without being obtrusive. 

No quibbles with the user interface design, with the caveat that I’ve played vaguely similar games in the past, including Sim City, Age of Empires and Caesar III, all of which rely upon roughly similar mental models for city building.

Old guy topline takeaway? Frostpunk delivers a challenging experience, framed by an apocalyptic storyline rich in detail and full of surprises. I’ve finished the main scenario (after three tries) and the Refugees scenario (on my second try.) I can’t wait to see what the Fall of Winterhome scenario has waiting for me.