The Arks
The Refugees
The Fall of Winterhome
The New Autumn
On the Edge
Endless Mode
“The Arks”
The premise of “The Arks” is to protect (i.e. keep warm) four buildings which house the seedlings that will be used to re-start agriculture once the deep freeze is over. But the scenario quickly evolves into: how well can the player manage multiple automatons to stockpile resources. Worker count extremely limited, players need to juggle their automatons all the while significantly developing the production base. This is one of the weakest DLCs for Frostpunk. While the starting conditions are different, the course of events almost entirely parallels the main campaign “A New Home”, right down to a storm. I can see people who did not use automatons in the main campaign getting the most out of this expansion. Other players will likely find that the other expansions offer more unique challenges.
“The Refugees”
An exercise in immigration, “The Refugees” sees a group of lower class people escaping their overlords and stumbling upon a generator in the cold wilds. Knowing that more are on their way, it becomes the players job to prepare for the waves of refugees that follow. And just when the player thinks they have built a solid production base, another surprise arises, one related to social class, that forces the player to make some difficult decisions. This scenario, while asking the player to do normal Frostpunk things (i.e. maximize production), adds a layer of moral choice that gives the whole a substance unlike the other scenarios.
“The Fall of Winterhome”
Almost a reverse perspective of “A New Home”, in “The Fall of Winterhome” players start with a large population and a partially functioning city. Half in ruin, the player's task is to clean up the mess left behind by the previous leader and get conditions suitable for living, again. Discontent high and Hope low, players first goals are to organize the ruins while getting the Hope meter blue again. A difficult challenge, players will need to remove the idea of “build-build-build” from their minds and replace it with “efficient destruction is just as important as efficient building”. Out of the three expansions that come with the console version of Frostpunk, this is the most interesting for the manner in which it flips on its head the things the game has taught the player are “good to do”. My one complaint is that certain events transpire which test only one thing: has the player implemented faith keepers/guard patrols. If they have not done that, it's impossible to get the “good ending”.
“On the Edge”
To date, all DLC expansions for Frostpunk have asked the player to manage a main colony heated by a large generator, working with outposts for needed supplies. “On the Edge” reverses this setting by putting the player in the shoes of an outpost leader, needing to provide resources to New London. The title appropriate, the first half of this expansion requires extremely precise management of people and resources. And oh yeah, there is no generator. Other means of managing warmth are needed. These opening circumstances eventually expand into the frostlands, in turn introducing a new Frostpunk mechanic “favors”. The player's outpost essentially becoming a trading post, players need to balance what they produce, what others produce, and who needs what.
What?!?! No cold? No frost? Green lands, sunshine, and sea? Indeed, that is the scene as players start “The Last Autumn”. A Frostpunk prequel, the deep freeze is still in the future. But New London know its coming, and as a leader you have been tasked with constructing the first generator in the field. And so while temperature plays no role in this expansion, managing resource extraction, resource trading, and the construction of the generator, do. Labor unions and engineering societies making appearances, there is a very strong industrial labor feel to this scenario. For many people, “The Last Autumn” is their favorite Frostpunk expansion, and it's easy to see why. Seeing the generator take shape before the player's eyes, knowing the important role it plays in almost every other scenario, not to mention the fresh, new mechanics and resources needed to construct it, it feels great. Perhaps another way of putting this is, it delivers Frostpunk dopamine in concentrated form.
Endless Mode
The final mode discussed here is “Endless”. At its core, Endless Mode is the developer's leftover ideas for starting scenarios, underlain by a cyclical storm. Small space, big space, canyon-esque space, deep crater space, generator, no generator, build a generator—such are a few of the starting conditions. Players have 12-14 days to prepare for a deep freeze, and then must survive for a couple of days before the next 12-14 day cycle begins. There are a couple story beats, but by and large this is Frostpunk's sandbox mode. My personal favorite is “The Rifts”—the canyon-esque scenario, which tasks players with not only surviving the periodic cold spells, but building (expensive) bridges to other areas rich in resources. Overall, the success of this mode will depend on the amount of story a player wants/does not want in gameplay.
In the end, the DLC expansions prove to be extremely engaging additions to the Frostpunk world. Where most games have a core story and add to it in DLC with minor side stories, the DLC for Frostpunk render the core game a set of mechanisms with many possible stories of relatively equal weight. Taking the basic concept and iterating in ways that ask players to change their approach, it's anything but rinse and repeat. Designers took the time to ensure each DLC has its own story and functionality. Most are big and meaty, their length more than 40-game days. Moreover, they fit tightly within the theme of colony building, asking players to make tough decisions in those contexts—as both colonizer and colonist. For anyone who enjoyed the original Frostpunk and are looking for more, there is little reason to believe the expansions will be any less addicting. In fact, I wish the developers would stop making these so I can go to bed before midnight.
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