Frostpunk: The Board Game

2022

Experience Frostpunk: The Board Game, where survival meets strategy. Lead your colony, manage resources, and make impactful decisions in this post-apocalyptic icy world.

150
minutes

1 - 4
player(s)

16+

Heavy

About the game

Frostpunk: The Board Game is a captivating and immersive tabletop adaptation of the popular survival city-building game developed by 11 Bit Studios. This game plunges players into a frostbitten, post-apocalyptic world where they must make challenging moral and strategic decisions to ensure the survival of the last city on Earth.

The game takes place in an alternative, steampunk-inspired 19th century where the Earth has been ravaged by an extreme ice age. Players assume the roles of leaders responsible for the last city standing, built around a life-giving heat generator. The city is populated by distressed citizens who look to you for guidance and survival.

Game components Unboxing the fun!

Frostpunk: The Board Game comes packed with a variety of components. Each one plays a specific role in the overall gameplay, contributing to the experience of managing a city in a frozen post-apocalyptic world. Here’s a detailed list of the game components and their uses:

1. Game Board: The main game area where players will manage their city. It has tracks for resources, hope, and discontent, as well as spaces for buildings, workers, and automaton.

2. Scenario Sheet: This sheet outlines the specific goals and challenges for each game. The goals can vary from surviving a certain number of rounds to achieving specific conditions.

3. Building Tiles: These represent the different structures that players can build in their city. Each building provides specific benefits, such as generating resources or providing shelter.

Resource Buildings: Generate resources such as coal, wood, and food.
Infrastructure Buildings: Provide services like healthcare, education, and entertainment.
Tech Buildings: Offer technological advancements, improving the city’s efficiency and capabilities.

4. Worker Meeples: These represent the citizens of the city. They can be assigned to buildings to generate resources or provide services. Their well-being is directly linked to the city’s hope and discontent levels.

5. Automaton Tokens: Automatons are machines that can replace workers in the city. They are immune to the cold and can work continuously, but are expensive to build and maintain.

6. Resource Tokens: These represent the different resources (coal, wood, food, steam cores) that players can collect and use to build structures, feed citizens, and fuel the generator.

7. Generator Dial: This is a unique component that represents the city’s generator. It is a vital part of the game as it provides heat to the city. Players must manage their coal supply to keep the generator running and prevent their citizens from freezing.

8. Event Cards: These cards introduce unexpected challenges or opportunities. They can be drawn based on game conditions or as a result of player actions.

9. Law Cards: These cards allow players to pass laws that can change the rules of the game, giving them new strategies and options. However, they can also increase discontent or lower hope.

10. Technology Cards: These cards represent advancements that players can research to improve their city. They can provide a range of benefits, from resource efficiency to improved living conditions.

11. Objective Cards: These cards provide the players with personal goals that can earn them additional victory points if completed.

12. Player Aid Cards: These cards outline the phases of each turn and provide a reference for game rules. They are a useful tool for new players.

13. Dice: Used to resolve certain actions, such as hunting or exploration.

Game setup Lay it out, line it up, let’s go

Frostpunk: The Board Game is an immersive cooperative game where players take on the roles of leaders of a small colony of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world that’s frozen over. The game is based on the popular video game, Frostpunk, and involves strategic planning, resource management, and tough moral decisions. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to set up the game:

Step 1: Player Roles Assignment

Decide among yourselves who will take on which role. Each player can choose to be a leader, an engineer, a doctor, or a laborer. Each role has its own specific abilities and responsibilities.
Distribute the chosen role cards to each player.

Step 2: Board Placement

Place the main game board in the center of the table. The board represents the city and the surrounding frozen wasteland.
Place the generator miniature in the center of the city.
Arrange the building tiles around the generator, leaving some space for future construction.
Place the resource markers (coal, wood, steel, food) in their respective spaces on the board.

Step 3: Initial Resources

Each player starts with a set amount of resources as indicated on their role card. Distribute these resources to each player.
Place the remaining resources in a common pool within reach of all players.

Step 4: Random Elements

Shuffle the exploration deck and place it face down near the game board. This deck represents the unknown elements of the frozen wasteland that players can explore.
Shuffle the event deck and place it face down. Draw the top card and place it face up. This card represents the first event that the colony needs to deal with.
Shuffle the law deck and place it face down. This deck represents the moral decisions that players will have to make throughout the game.

Now that everything is set up, you’re ready to start playing Frostpunk: The Board Game. Remember, survival is the ultimate goal, but how you achieve it is entirely up to you and your team. Good luck!

Game flow Round and round we go

Frostpunk: The Board Game is a highly engaging game that tests players’ strategic abilities. Each game round is divided into several distinct phases, which guide the player’s actions and decisions. The game proceeds in a cyclical pattern until the end-game criteria are met.

The phases of each game round are as follows:

Weather Phase: In this phase, players will draw a weather card to determine the game’s weather conditions. These conditions affect the game’s temperature and may present other challenges.
Preparation Phase: During the preparation phase, players can perform several actions. These can include researching new technologies, constructing buildings, and collecting resources. Players must also feed their citizens and ensure they have enough heat to survive the incoming weather conditions. Failure to do so can result in negative consequences.
Placement Phase: This phase involves placing worker meeples on various action spaces within the city. These spaces allow players to gather resources, construct buildings, research technologies, and more. The number of meeples that can be placed on each action space is limited, so players must prioritize their actions carefully.
Resolution Phase: During the resolution phase, players resolve the actions of their placed workers. This can involve collecting resources, building structures, or researching new technologies. The order in which actions are resolved is important, as some actions may depend on the results of others.
Dusk Phase: In the dusk phase, players must ensure that their citizens are fed and warm. If they fail to meet these requirements, they may face penalties such as sickness or discontent among their citizens.
Generator Phase: This is the final phase of each round. Here, players will have to manage their city’s generator. They need to balance the amount of coal used to maintain the generator’s heat output, and the wear and tear on the generator itself. If the generator breaks down, it can have catastrophic consequences for the city.

Players will repeat these phases for each game round until the end-game criteria are met. Typically, the end-game is triggered when a certain event occurs or when a specific round is reached, as defined by the scenario being played. At this point, the player with the most victory points, calculated based on their city’s infrastructure, citizen happiness, and other factors, is declared the winner.

Players'turn One turn to rule them all

In Frostpunk: The Board Game, each player’s turn represents a day in the icy, post-apocalyptic world. The player’s turn can be divided into several key phases: Weather Phase, Generator Phase, Placement Phase, Weather Impact Phase, Dusk Phase, Hunger Phase, Night Phase.

1. Weather Phase: The player draws a weather card and places it on the weather track. This card dictates the temperature for the day, which affects the city’s heat level and the difficulty of resource gathering.

2. Generator Phase: The player decides how much coal to burn to heat the city. The more coal burned, the higher the heat level. However, if the player doesn’t have enough coal, the generator may malfunction or go out, which has dire consequences for the city’s morale and health.

3. Placement Phase: The player assigns workers to various tasks, such as gathering resources, constructing buildings, or researching technologies. Each action has its own benefits and costs – for example, gathering resources helps sustain the city, but it exposes workers to the cold and may result in illness or death.

4. Weather Impact Phase: The weather card’s impact is applied. The colder the weather, the more likely workers are to get sick or die. If the heat level is high enough, the player can mitigate these effects.

5. Dusk Phase: The player retrieves their workers and checks for any casualties. Sick or dead workers can hinder the city’s progress and lower morale.

6. Hunger Phase: The player must feed their citizens. For each citizen that isn’t fed, the city’s morale drops. However, overfeeding citizens can lead to a surplus of food, which attracts more citizens and puts further strain on resources.

7. Night Phase: The player may enact laws or resolve social issues to boost morale. However, these actions may have negative consequences later on. The player also has to deal with any crises that arise, such as riots or disease outbreaks.

Throughout their turn, the player has to make careful strategic decisions to balance the city’s resources, keep its citizens healthy and happy, and ensure its survival in the harsh frostpunk world.

End of the game All good games must come to an end

Frostpunk: The Board Game is a captivating survival game where players must manage both infrastructure and citizens to survive in a post-apocalyptic frozen world. Like any board game, understanding the rules and victory conditions are essential to enjoy and eventually win the game.

The game ends when players reach the end of the Scenario Book. The Scenario Book contains seven rounds or ‘days’, each containing six phases. After the seventh ‘day’, players will proceed to final scoring.

Victory Conditions:

The victory conditions in Frostpunk: The Board Game are dictated by the scenario chosen, and they can vary significantly. However, the main victory condition revolves around the survival of your society through careful resource management, infrastructure development, and citizen care. All players must work collectively to meet these conditions, as this is a cooperative game.

Victory conditions generally include:

Maintaining a sufficient level of Hope within your society. If the Hope marker ever falls into the ‘Revolt’ section of the Hope/Discontent track, the players lose.
Keeping Discontent under control. If the Discontent marker ever enters the ‘Revolt’ section of the Hope/Discontent track, the players lose.
Preventing citizens from dying due to cold, hunger, or sickness. If all the Citizen markers are removed from the board, the players lose.
Achieving specific objectives indicated in the scenario (e.g., building certain structures, reaching a certain level of technology, etc.).

Actions before Final Scoring:

Before proceeding to the final scoring, players must perform the following actions:

Complete the final phase of Day 7 in the Scenario Book.
Resolve any remaining events or dilemmas.
Calculate the final Hope and Discontent levels.
Check if all victory conditions as per the chosen scenario have been met.

If the players have met all the victory conditions, they win the game. If not, they lose. Frostpunk: The Board Game does not offer varying degrees of victory – it’s a win or lose situation. However, the satisfaction comes from the shared struggle to survive and the tense decision-making process throughout the game.

Scoring Did you outsmart your rivals?

Frostpunk: The Board Game is a complex, strategy-based game where players assume the role of leaders in a post-apocalyptic, frozen world. They must work together to build and manage a city, ensuring the survival of its inhabitants. The game’s scoring system reflects the players’ ability to effectively manage resources, make strategic decisions, and maintain the city’s hope and discontent levels.

At the end of the game, points are awarded as follows:

City Scoring: Each player scores points based on the level of their city development. This includes buildings and upgrades. The specific points vary depending on the advancement of each construct within the city.
Population Scoring: Points are also awarded based on the number of citizens who survived until the end of the game. More points are awarded for higher population counts.
Resource Scoring: Players are rewarded for efficient resource management. Points are given for any remaining resources at the end of the game, including food, coal, and wood.
Hope and Discontent Scoring: The Hope and Discontent levels of your city also contribute to your final score. High Hope levels and low Discontent levels will yield more points.

In case of a tie, the game has specific tie-breaking rules:

Least Deaths: The player with the fewest citizen deaths during the game will be the winner.
Most Resources: If the tie persists, the player with the most total resources remaining at the end of the game wins.
Hope Level: If there is still a tie, the player with the highest Hope level at the end of the game is the winner.

In the rare event that a tie persists even after applying all the tie-breaking rules, the game is considered a shared victory among the tied players.

Particular Cases and Exceptions Wait… is that legal?

Frostpunk: The Board Game is a complex, cooperative game of strategic city building, survival, and moral choices. It has a few special rules and exceptions that players need to remember. Here are some of them:

Heat and Building Placement:

The game has a unique heat mechanic, where buildings closer to the generator stay warmer. Players need to carefully plan where to place their buildings to maximize heat efficiency.
Some buildings, like the Coal Thumper, produce resources outside of the building, which need to be collected by workers. This is an exception to the general rule where resources are collected directly from the buildings.

Hope and Discontent:

The game has a dual ‘Hope’ and ‘Discontent’ mechanic that impacts the game’s progress. If either hope drops too low or discontent rises too high, players can lose the game.
There are also unique laws that can be passed to increase hope or decrease discontent, but these often come with moral implications and potential negative effects.

Exploration and Expeditions:

Players can send out expeditions to explore the frozen wasteland. These expeditions have a risk and reward mechanic, where players may find valuable resources or face dangerous challenges.
The exploration is conducted by drawing cards from a deck, which brings a random element into the game. This is an exception to the otherwise deterministic gameplay.

Worker and Engineer Allocation:

Players must manage their population of workers and engineers. Only engineers can work in certain buildings and perform certain tasks, while workers are more versatile but less specialized.
This requires careful allocation of resources and personnel, and is a key part of the game’s strategy.

Weather and Generator:

The weather conditions and generator status affect the game’s difficulty. Players must keep the generator running and manage their coal supplies to survive the harsh winter conditions.
Failure to maintain the generator can lead to a game loss. This is a unique mechanic that adds an additional layer of complexity to the game.

These are some of the key special rules and exceptions in Frostpunk: The Board Game. Understanding them is crucial to mastering the game and surviving the harsh world of Frostpunk.

Tips and tricks Play smarter, not harder!

Frostpunk: The Board Game is a highly strategic game that requires players to balance their resources, make tough decisions, and adapt to changing environments. Here are some advanced strategies, beginner tips, and common mistakes to avoid.

Advanced Strategies:

Plan Ahead: Always have a plan for your next few moves. Consider the upcoming weather conditions and try to predict what resources you will need.
Focus on Resource Management: Keep a close eye on your resources, particularly coal and food. These are crucial for survival and running out can lead to disaster.
Utilize Buildings Strategically: Each building has a unique benefit. Use them strategically to maximize their advantages.
Adapt to the Laws: The laws you pass in the game can drastically change your strategy. Adapt your gameplay according to the laws you’ve enacted.

Beginner Tips:

Understand the Basics: Familiarize yourself with the basic rules and mechanics of the game before playing.
Cooperation is Key: Remember, Frostpunk is a cooperative game. Work together with your fellow players to survive.
Manage Your Workers: Be smart about how you assign your workers. You want to maximize productivity without overworking your citizens.
Keep Morale High: Morale is an important factor in the game. Try to keep it high to avoid any negative effects.

Common Mistakes to Avoid:

Ignoring the Weather: The weather in Frostpunk can be brutal. Ignoring the weather forecast can lead to disastrous consequences.
Overworking Your Citizens: While it might be tempting to push your citizens to their limits, this can lead to low morale and even death.
Neglecting Laws: Laws are an important part of the game. Neglecting to pass laws or not adapting your strategy to them can lead to failure.
Not Preparing for the Storm: The end-game storm in Frostpunk is a serious challenge. If you’re not properly prepared, it can wipe out your entire city.

Ways to Optimize Gameplay:

Work Together: Frostpunk is a cooperative game. Communicate and strategize with your fellow players to optimize your chances of survival.
Be Flexible: Adapt your strategy as the game progresses. What works in the early game might not work in the late game.
Utilize Your Buildings: Make sure you’re getting the most out of your buildings. Each has a unique benefit that can help you survive.
Learn From Your Mistakes: Every game of Frostpunk is a learning experience. Learn from your mistakes and apply those lessons to your future games.