Frostpunk 2's first major content update is the mini-expansion I didn't know I needed

The free update makes some welcome, much-needed improvements.

Frostpunk 2 might've been divisive when it first launched, but its formula changes seemed logical and natural – exactly what you'd expect from a proper city and not just a struggling frontier town. Still, the change in approach meant that Frostpunk 2 missed out on the refinements one might expect from a sequel, as it implemented a mostly new way to manage your city and suffered from the same sense of "this could be better" that hung over the first Frostpunk as a result. The strategy game's first major content update is live now and goes a long way toward making it even better by deepening the tactics and providing new ways to play.

Tales from the frosty lands

One of the biggest new features is the Tales system, a set of optional stories that provide steep new challenges. These tales are do-or-die scenarios. If you decide to begin one and end up not completing it or failing the requirements, that run ends in failure. You can take on more than one tale during a campaign, so things get hectic and spiral out of control quickly if you aren't careful. The idea of instant failure just for mishandling a single quest seems harsh. On the bright side, tales are entirely optional, as you toggle them on or off before even starting a campaign. That makes them more of a voluntary modifier and a way to change how each campaign runs with additional challenges and even ways to combine multiple tales.

Tales also smooth over one of Frostpunk 2's more divisive elements. The sequel takes place on a larger scale, without the scrappy frontier feel of the original, and it removed much of the first game's personal element as a result. Events and stories that popped up featured debates and problems tied to groups – policy choices that would influence the fortunes of a specific faction, for example, instead of individuals and the situations affecting them. Tales don't quite bring Frostpunk 2 back to the level of the city's average folks, but they are more complex than the initial description makes them seem. Moving the toggle for "Beacon of Hope" forces you to accept all newcomers. That sounds like an optional side objective, not a new story, but that changes once the refugees start arriving. For example, you have to create funding avenues to help accommodate the ill and deal with potential disapproval from those who'd rather keep outsiders outside.

In short, it's not quite the much-needed bridge between the two story types, but it's a strong start. Councilors and administrators aren't just sitting there balancing group needs every day. Single-issue topics and other major events that can tank a career or entire town are part of political life, so it makes sense for these new tales to include that kind of conflict in Frostpunk 2 as well. Hopefully, future updates add even more tales of differing types and complexities.

If you can't take the heat...

Heat management, the update's second major new feature, is another natural-seeming choice. This is the frosty apocalypse. Of course heat supplies and distribution should still matter, even if the city is established! The basic concept functions much the same as it did in the first Frostpunk. You decide which districts get heat and how much of it, and there's a new overlay that shows how cold each area is. As you'd expect, letting populated districts or working areas suffer in the cold has a negative effect on public opinion and health, and letting people stay angry for too long makes protests and death more likely. These poor outcomes are also tied to factions, as they take it personally when you make their supporters freeze to death.

The additional layer of strategy involved in heat management is a welcome one. Heat – and the expansion of your resources to generate more of it – is more important than ever, and the new set of laws and research topics give you more ways to customize your city building. Heat management does seem like something the game should have launched with, but at least it's here now.

...Then try Serenity Mode

Serenity Mode, yet another addition that was present in the first Frostpunk, is one of the most essential changes, despite being comparatively modest. It's a low-stakes option with warmer weather, happier people, and more resources – sort of like a sandbox mode, where you can see how (almost) everything works and get a good feel for city management without three dozen potential disasters staring you in the face at all times. The best part is that Serenity Mode is a mode instead of a difficulty. You can play it on higher difficulties for more intense challenges, while still enjoying the benefits of a moderately less stressful campaign, such as having no faction wars. 

Customizable experiences with multiple difficulty options are essential in games like these. They make them approachable for players of all skill levels, create new ways to experiment and enjoy, and even gently teach how to handle some of the campaign's more complicated aspects with no fear of failure, and all without taking away from what gives Frostpunk its identity. There's even something for those who want a higher degree of challenge, the new Pit map. It's a rugged region with rocky outcroppings, fewer resources, and geography that makes efficient city planning more of a puzzle than normal.

Frostpunk 2's first major content update might sit in an unusual place. It's much bigger than a DLC pack, but not quite as full as a proper expansion, even though its additions do expand how a campaign unfolds. However, it's also essential, adding much-needed nuance to city planning and faction management and more approachable ways to enjoy the game.

This impressions piece is based on a version of Frostpunk 2's update the publisher provided. Frostpunk 2's first major content update is available now as a free download for PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.