While Nintendo has managed to keep the handheld gaming market alive long after its competitors have bowed out completely, Valve’s Steam Deck has been able to offer something the Switch simply can’t; access to some of the biggest and best games currently releasing. Though theNintendo Switch hasZelda: Tears of the KingdomandSuper Mario Bros. Wonder, the Steam Deck has the likes ofElden Ring,Resident Evil 4 Remake, andCyberpunk 2077, along with over 10,000 other Verified titles. Unfortunately,Frostpunk 2is not one of those titles.
Released just a few days ago,Frostpunk 2is the long-awaited follow-up to 11 Bit Studios' 2018 dystopian city-builder, and by most accounts, it was worth the wait.Frostpunk 2is currently sitting at a “Mostly Positive” on Steam with over 6,300 reviews. However, just above those reviews, fans will notice thatFrostpunk 2currently has a Steam Deck verification status of “Unsupported,” meaning that, officially, the game does not run on Steam Deck. But that’s not entirely true.
Frostpunk 2 Could Be The Perfect Steam Deck Game Soon
Frostpunk 2 Is Currently an Enjoyable Experience on the Steam Deck
Strategy games and the Steam Deck are a perfect pairing. The Steam Deck’s sleep mode allows players to quickly hop into a strategy game, place a few buildings, organize a few armies, complete an objective or two, and then pause the game mid-session, which is a valuable feature when sessions can last for hours at a time.Frostpunk 2’s campaignlends itself well to this pick-up-and-play approach that the Steam Deck excels in.
Despite being officially classified as an “Unsupported” game for the Steam Deck,Frostpunk 2runs surprisingly well. Upon booting upFrostpunk 2on the Steam Deck for the first time, players will notice that the game’s settings will already matchthe Steam Deck’s specs, such as the size of the game’s window filling the Steam Deck’s screen naturally. The game’s graphical settings will also be automatically turned to low to try and ensure a smooth performance.
Even on these lower graphical settings,Frostpunk 2still looks fairly crisp on the Steam Deck, and its performance remains remarkably solid, with the game hitting a fairly consistent 30FPS and higher.Frostpunk 2’s default Steam Deck control schemeis also surprisingly decent, with the right trackpad being used as the mouse cursor, and the two triggers being used as the left and right mouse buttons respectively. EvenFrostpunk 2’s default UI and font size work well for the Steam Deck’s smaller screen. For an Unsupported game,Frostpunk 2works unexpectedly well right out the gate.
Frostpunk 2’s Steam Deck Performance Isn’t Perfect Just Yet
Of course,Frostpunk 2’s Unsupported classification isn’t totally without reason.Frostpunk 2is absolutely devastating for the Steam Deck’s battery life, with the handheld console lasting just 45 minutes to an hour when playing the strategy game.Frostpunk 2’s FPS can also start to chug a little the more the player builds out their city, though it’s only really noticeable when the player zooms in and tries to take a more detailed look at their buildings and districts.
There’s still some work to do tomakeFrostpunk 2the ideal Steam Deck game, but that future might not be too far away. And until then, eager fans can still have a good time playingFrostpunk 2on the handheld.
Frostpunk 2
WHERE TO PLAY
The game takes place 30 years after the apocalyptic blizzard that has taken place in Frostpunk. Earth is still overwhelmed by the neverending frost and harsh, icy climate. You play as the leader of a resource-hungry metropolis where expansion and internal conflicts are an unavoidable reality. It’s up to you to make decisions about your City’s future and face their consequences.In Frostpunk 2 you can build your City on a new scale by creating entire districts with different purposes. Make sure that all parts of the City work well together as well as research technologies that will set the direction for your citizens’ progress.THE CITY MUST NOT FALL “Frostpunk 2 is still a game about the City and its society,” states Jakub Stokalski, game Co-Director and Design Director at 11 bit studios. “But inner turmoils, sparked by rising social differences, mean that players will be facing new kinds of threats. We use a post-apocalyptic setup to tell a meaningful story about human ambition. Because ultimately, what can end us is not nature itself – it’s human nature.”NAVIGATE BETWEEN FACTIONS AS A STEWARD As the City grows, creating and passing new laws becomes a more complex matter. The people slowly divide into factions with different, often contradictory visions of the future. The Council is a place where these ideas clash, sometimes violently. It’s your role as a Steward to ensure that the city will not fall because of those conflicts. Manage emerging crises while at the same time steering humanity towards a new destiny.
