Frostpunk 2 raises the stakes from the original game, scaling up both the challenges and the opportunities. This guide is designed to help you manage your city effectively and ensure its survival—whether you’re playing sandbox mode or story mode. While this guide focuses on sandbox gameplay, most of the strategies also apply to story mode, with the exception of scripted events. If you’re new to the game, starting with story mode is recommended for a gentler introduction.

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Game Setup

Choosing a Map

The game currently features seven maps, each with unique buildable terrain and resource layouts. For beginners, larger maps with forgiving conditions are recommended:

• Crater – Closely resembles the story map, rich in nearby resources.
• Ryzen – Large and resource-rich but requires extensive frost-breaking to expand.

Setting Ambitions

Your city’s ambition determines your long-term win condition:

1. Colonize the Frostland – Establish three external colonies to supply your city.
2. Develop a Metropolis – Maintain and grow a massive single-city population.
3. Build a Prosperous Future – Accumulate a massive reserve of resources.

The Metropolis and Prosperity ambitions are generally easier since they focus on a single-city build.

Starting Communities

At the start, you choose two communities, with a third added randomly. Each community affects available research options and introduces different faction dynamics. All combinations are viable—no setup will block your progress.

Difficulty Settings

• Citizen difficulty is ideal for beginners. Even the default game can be punishing.
• Difficulty is broken into four adjustable categories:
  • Economy – Affects how much your population consumes.
  • Weather – Controls storm frequency and temperature drops.
  • Frostland – Adjusts external resource availability.
  • Society – Governs faction tension and how easily laws pass.

Avoid Survivor Mode unless you’re confident—it removes save scumming by allowing only one save slot.

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User Interface and Resource Management

Top Left Panel

• City Name – Cosmetic and can be renamed.
• Time Controls – Speed up or pause the game with keyboard shortcuts.
• Missions & Promises – Display active tasks and player commitments.

Population Panel

• Population Count – Tracks active and unavailable workers (e.g., due to injury or illness).
• Progress Arrow – Shows progress toward the next population increase.

Core Resources

• Heat Stamps – The main currency, earned by passing laws or growing your population.
• Prefabs – Used to construct buildings; obtained through extraction or factories.
• Steam Cores – Rare, used for advanced buildings; mostly acquired through exploration.

Fuel & Heating

• Heat – Generated from burning coal, oil, or steam and distributed city-wide.
• Fuel Stockpiles – Essential for withstanding cold spikes and storms.

Citizen Needs

• Shelter – Prevents cold-related deaths and disease.
• Food, Goods, Materials – Produced in their respective districts; stockpiling is critical.

Societal Pressure Systems

• Tension – Rising unrest can trigger strikes and riots.
• Trust – Falling trust can lead to your exile.
• Ideas Tree – Unlocks new laws, buildings, and upgrades through research.

Construction Tools

• Districts – Provide housing or produce key resources.
• Hubs – Boost productivity within districts.
• Frost-Breaking – Clears frozen terrain to expand your buildable area.

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Early Game Strategy

Initial Priorities

1. Housing – Place housing close to the generator to save fuel.
2. Fuel Extraction – Establish coal/oil extraction early to ensure basic power.
3. Council Hall & Research Institute – Begin passing laws and unlocking tech.

Core Research Focus

• City Development Effort – Unlocks passive prefab generation.
• Housing Insulation – Improves heat retention without increasing consumption.
• Resource Balancing – Maintain surpluses of food, goods, and materials to avoid cascading failures.

Frostland Exploration

Unlock waystations through frost-breaking to enable outpost expansion and resource delivery. Prioritize connecting to high-yield areas.

Layout Tips

• Group similar district types together.
• Reserve space for hubs to optimize efficiency.
• Expand existing districts before building new ones—this saves heat and resources.

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Mid-to-Late Game Strategy

Technology and Expansion

• Focus on upgrades that improve extraction (e.g., advanced coal mines, factories).
• Send expeditions regularly to gather rare resources and establish colonies.

Faction and Community Management

• Maintain Relations – Keep at least one faction strongly aligned for passive bonuses.
• Address Tensions – Resolve discontent quickly through laws or infrastructure.
• Dictatorship – Can force laws through, but raises faction hostility and risks civil war.

Resource Scaling

• Stockpile fuel and materials in preparation for cold waves and late-game events.
• Build logistic hubs to reduce inefficiencies and store resources more effectively.

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Survival Tips

1. Keep citizen needs manageable: Hunger, cold, disease, crime, and squalor must be addressed consistently.
2. Always prioritize heat: As temperature trends downward, heat becomes your top survival factor.
3. Balance faction influence: Don’t let one group dominate—or revolt.
4. Expand with purpose: Overextension without proper fuel or supply chains leads to collapse.

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By following these strategies, you’ll set yourself up for long-term success in Frostpunk 2. Mastering the balance between survival, infrastructure, and social tension is the heart of the game—and your city’s fate depends on it.

Good luck, and may your generator burn bright!