Frostpunk: The Board Game

Objective and modes: The core box supports 1–4 players cooperatively. Players act as advisors to the last city and work together to complete the goal on the chosen Scenario card. Glass Cannon Unplugged lists a play time of about 120 minutes; the box includes a Rulebook and Scenario Book. Goals vary by scenario. When a Scenario Book or card conflicts with a general rule, follow the stated priority order.

First setup and round: Choose a scenario from the Scenario Book, place the map, Generator, shared tracks, resources, and citizen markers, then prepare cards as instructed. The first round begins with the Action Phase and skips the first five phases normally used in later rounds. Each scenario may add objectives, components, or rules, so do not substitute another scenario’s setup or special instructions.

Nine-phase sequence: A complete round proceeds through Dawn, Morning, Generator, Weather, Preparation, Action, Dusk, Hunger, and Night. Dawn passes Leadership and advances the round; Morning reveals an event; Generator checks fuel, heat, stress, and cold-related sickness; Weather advances heat ranges, hunting, expeditions, and the storm; Preparation chooses an Advisor and resolves sickness.

Action Phase: During the Action Phase, players place Citizen Meeples on available action locations and resolve them. Common actions remove snow, gather resources such as wood, coal, steel, and other supplies, construct buildings, use buildings, deploy Scouts, and perform special actions from the scenario or cards. Workers, Engineers, and Children have different abilities and limits. Temperature, building condition, health, and scenario effects may restrict an action.

Generator and heat: In the Generator Phase, players may spend coal to increase heat, then resolve cold-related sickness and check Generator Stress. The Generator provides heat to the city; Weather changes the heat ranges. If stress becomes too high, the Generator may break down, and its second breakdown causes a loss. Whether a building provides shelter or a work place must be checked against heat range, insulation, and the building’s current side.

Social condition, laws, and events: Hope and Discontent use tokens on separate tracks, and changes can add, activate, exhaust, or remove tokens. During Dusk, resolve Dusk effects on the Scenario and Event displays, then reveal a Dusk card and carry out its option or consequence. Laws, Morning events, and scenario cards can change available actions, so apply the exact card and Scenario Book text when a new situation appears.

Hunger, sickness, and night: In the Hunger Phase, handle the previous round’s Hunger, spend Food to reduce it, and feed citizens as required for the current round. During Night, place citizens in Shelters covered by heat; citizens without a warm bed may become sick. Resolve Sickness markers in later Preparation phases. Illness, death, and the Corpse track all make the city’s remaining capacity more fragile.

Victory and loss: Complete the objective on the current Scenario card to win. The general rules list six loss conditions: the last Hope token is removed; a sixth Discontent token is placed; the Generator breaks down for a second time; any Sickness marker reaches 26 or higher in Preparation; Hunger remains at 25 or higher after spending Food to reduce it during Hunger; or the Corpse marker reaches its final space. A scenario may add its own rules and goals; card text has priority.