Side Quest: Frostpunk
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You are the leader of this expedition. It's snowing outside, supplies are running low, the generator is off. You have six days to decide what to save and what to sacrifice. Someone will come home. Maybe.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT
A narrative puzzle in eternal snow
Side Quest: Frostpunk is signed by Jakub Caban and Bartosz Idzikowski, the authors of the Escape Tales series, and brings the oppressive atmosphere of 11 bit studios' video game Frostpunk to the table. Set in a post-apocalyptic world dominated by frost, the game puts you in the shoes of an expedition leader who has six days to turn an abandoned generator into a habitable refuge.
At the table, you collaborate to solve logical puzzles, manage scarce resources, and make difficult decisions. Each day is a series of choices: what to explore, what to build, who to send out into the blizzard. Time is running out, supplies are dwindling, and in the end, you'll have to account for what you managed to save before it's too late.
What they say abroad
"You signed up for this mission knowing that many have failed before."
— 11 bit studios
An experience that captures the essence of the video game: survival, moral tension, and the realization that you can't save everyone.
— FroGames
Side Quest: Frostpunk
The game is designed to be cooperative and works very well solo: you manage all decisions, and the puzzles maintain the same tension. You miss the group discussions on moral choices, but the narrative experience remains complete.
FrogScore · FroGames editorial rating · based on rules, international reviews and play sessionsWhat you find in the box
Components of a desperate expedition
Exploration map
The territory around the generator, divided into zones to explore. Each area hides resources, dangers, or stories. Choose where to send the team, knowing that time is running out.
Decision cards
The impossible choices: save an injured person or collect coal? Build shelters or repair the generator? Each card is a moral dilemma with concrete consequences.
Logic puzzles
Riddles to solve to unlock resources or advance the story. These are not abstract brain teasers: they represent real problems (repairing machinery, deciphering maps, optimizing routes).
Six-day track
The heart of the game: a visible timer that marks the countdown. Every action consumes time, every day brings new emergencies. Will you be prepared for the sixth day?
🎲How to PlayThe rules in four steps▼
How to Play
The Flow of Each Day
Each day is divided into turns. Each turn is a choice: what to do before nightfall.
Look at the map, available resources, and open objectives. Decide together which area to explore or which structure to build. There isn't enough time for everything: this is where the discussions begin.
Send out teams, solve the logic puzzle related to the chosen action. This could be a mechanical enigma, a path to optimize, or a map to decipher. When you solve it, you gain resources or unlock new areas.
Draw an event card. Something goes wrong: an injury, a blizzard, a breakdown. You must choose how to react. All options are costly. Choose the one that seems least bad.
Advance the six-day track. Update resources, mark progress. Prepare for tomorrow, knowing you have one less day and that the objectives are always too many.
⏱️Your First GameThe chronicle, moment by moment▼
A game in five moments
What happens at the table
Not the rules. The experience.
Arrival at the Generator
Open the map and see the unpowered generator. Around it, only snow and ruins. Read the expedition briefing: six days to make it habitable. Someone says "we can do it." Nobody truly believes it.
First Explorations
Start sending out teams. Discover a buried coal stash, but you need equipment to reach it. Solve the first logic puzzle: a stuck mechanism to repair. When it works, you feel like you've accomplished something concrete.
The First Impossible Choice
Day three: provisions are scarce. A card asks you to choose between rations for everyone or sending a team to find food. You discuss. Someone wants to play it safe, someone wants to take risks. The decision divides the group. You press on.
The Generator Starts
You've gathered enough coal, solved the technical puzzles, repaired the circuits. The generator roars. For the first time in days, there is warmth. But looking at the map, you realize you'll never explore some areas: time has run out.
The Final Report
Sixth day. Count what you've saved: how many people, how many structures, how many hopes. Read the campaign's epilogue. It's not a score: it's a story. Someone says "we could have done more." They're right. You only had six days.
🐸Good to Know FirstThree honest things, from friends▼
Good to Know First
Three things you need to know
It's a six-day narrative campaign. Once completed, you know the puzzles and events. You can replay it to optimize choices, but the surprise is lost. It's not a game you'll pull out every month for years.
The puzzles are logical but not overly difficult. If you regularly play tabletop escape rooms or investigative games, you might find them a bit linear. They are designed to be solvable in 10-15 minutes without blocking progress.
Half of the game is reading texts and event cards. If the group prefers pure mechanics without a story, this isn't the right game. Immersion in the Frostpunk atmosphere is essential to enjoy it.
🏆Victory and DefeatWhat the ending rewards▼
How it ends
How to win and how to lose
There are no classic victory conditions. At the end of the sixth day, you tally up what you managed to save.
Success
- The generator is functional and producing heat
- You have explored enough areas to ensure future supplies
- Essential structures (housing, infirmary) are built or repaired
Failure
- The generator remains unpowered on the sixth day: no one can stay
- Supplies run out before the end: the expedition must retreat
- Too many people die during exploration: the mission is a moral disaster
Side Quest: Frostpunk doesn't ask you to win. It asks you to survive and to tell what it cost to do so.
💬Frequently Asked QuestionsQuick answers before checkout▼
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ about Side Quest: Frostpunk
Do I need to know the Frostpunk video game to play?
No. The board game is completely standalone. Knowing the video game enriches the immersion (you recognize the atmosphere, themes, dilemmas), but the mechanics and story are understandable without ever having played it.
How long does a full campaign game last?
The six-day campaign can be completed in 60-90 minutes if the group is focused. You can pause it between days and resume: each day is a natural checkpoint.
Does it play well solo?
Yes. The mechanics are identical, the puzzles maintain tension, and the narrative works. You lose the group discussions about moral dilemmas (which are half the charm), but it's one of the best solo puzzle experiences in the Board&Dice catalog.
What mechanics does Side Quest: Frostpunk use?
It's a cooperative base with logic puzzles, elements of deduction, light resource management, and a simplified worker placement system (assigning teams to zones). The structure is linear narrative with branching choices.
Is it available in English?
Yes. The MS Edizioni edition is completely in Italian: rulebook, cards, narrative texts. Essential for a game where the story is half of the experience.
The people behind the game
Who invented it, who designed it, who publishes it — and what else they've done.
Side Quest: Frostpunk is a cooperative narrative puzzle game for 1-4 players, set in the post-apocalyptic universe of the Frostpunk video game by 11 bit studios. Designed by Jakub Caban and Bartosz Idzikowski (authors of the Escape Tales series) and published by Board&Dice, the game lasts 60-90 minutes and brings six days of impossible decisions in the eternal snow to the table. Recommended age 14+ years. Each game is a narrative campaign where you must explore, solve riddles, and manage scarce resources to make an abandoned generator habitable before it's too late. Italian edition MS Edizioni. Available on FroGames.it.
Side Quest: Frostpunk
Frequently Asked Questions
The answers you're looking for, no beating around the bush.
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