I feel miserable all the damn time in Frostpunk. Everything feels so hopeless right from the beginning of the map. There is so much loss and so much more that will be lost. It's as though all of my little villagers are being marched to their deaths, and I'm fully responsible.

I love city-builder video games, and moreso when there is construction taking place over time and materials needed to create your little towns. It's usually so pleasant to watch workers head to their jobs or go to their homes in a Tropico, Cities: Skylines, or Timberborn.

Except in Frostpunk, where the survivors dredge through snow to a workplace they will surely get ill working inside. Then after their shifts, they will go home because the infirmary is full of other sick survivors.

I'm deciding if I want to potentially sacrifice a survivor on an expedition in order to find some kind of material to finish a building. The small amount of survivors in Frostpunk are an important asset, but I will give up their lives for just some additional coal to get through a cold snap I'm never certain will end.

This was one of my first experiences of a simulator of its kind where I was always full of dread. The only negative aspect of this is that the fail states are decided potentially hours before the player will see them, which elevates this dread. I never know when something I've done made the rest of my session completely futile until I've invested more time; then that dread turns more into frustration in that I've wasted my time.

I've played through the campaign and some DLC. I'll eventually revisit some other campaigns, because it's a really great game. It's just difficult to put those hours in and only hit failures.