Author's Reviews

Frostpunk Review on Switch and Switch 2: Winter Has Come — Stay Close to the Generator

26 October 2026, 08:46 ... ... HaBiBuB

I once played Frostpunk during blackouts. Now it's finally on Nintendo Switch: released on October 19, 2026, and running on Switch 2 via backward compatibility. I checked FPS, load times, and text readability on both consoles, as well as battery life on Switch 2, and share whether the spirit of the game survived the port and which console is better to play it on.

Prices, editions, and facts verified on October 23, 2026. FPS, loading times, battery, and readability measurements are mine, taken on my own consoles in October 2026 (dates or month listed near the figures). Review key provided by 11 bit studios.

Winter 2023: Frostpunk during the blackout
What is Frostpunk and why I was waiting for it so much
Laws and decisions: the main nightmare is living people
Controls: L and R buttons and no mouse
Switch 2: stable 30 FPS
Switch 1: playable, but with frame drops
Loading: 43.6 vs 27.7 seconds
Battery: around three hours
Graphics and readability
Localization: no Ukrainian
Editions, price, size, and demo
Waiting for Frostpunk 2?
Verdict
Sources

Winter 2023: Frostpunk during the blackout

Winter 2023. Blackouts. It's cold and dark in the house, my phone is at 20 %, and I'm sitting with a laptop running on remaining battery power playing Frostpunk — a game about a group of people trying not to freeze to death. And you know what? When NPCs come and ask for coal, heat, and light, you understand them completely differently than any player in a warm apartment.

In case anyone has already managed to forget: on November 23, 2022, after a massive Russian missile strike, the vast majority of consumers across Ukraine were left without power, and outages continued into January 2023. So Frostpunk for me is not just a strategy game, but a game I once lived through almost literally.

It begins with the words “Winter has come.” Short and sweet. Hello, Starks! Except for you, it was “coming” for years, but here — that's it, it has arrived.

Introductory cutscene of Frostpunk: a steam crawler with black smoke crawls through a blizzard across an endless snowy wasteland, tiny human figures trudge nearby — After the words “Winter has come.”, the game immediately shows where you have ended up: an icy wasteland, a blizzard, and a handful of people near a steam engine. No horizon in sight — no warmth either. Screenshot: Frostpunk on Nintendo Switch 2, UND

And the real “Winter is HERE” is the final storm, when the thermometer reads −150 °C. The music (the Frostpunk soundtrack was composed by Piotr Musiał) plays so epically that Ramin Djawadi, composer of “Game of Thrones”, nervously smokes on the sidelines, while you frantically turn off heat in residential buildings just to save the generator itself.

City at night during the final storm, Day 48: the thermometer at the top shows −150 °C, cold and illness icons above houses, notification 'Mild frostbite — a citizen became gravely ill' — The final storm, Day 48: thermometer at −150 °C, cold snowflakes everywhere above buildings, the discontent bar has turned red, and at the top there's a notification “Mild frostbite — a citizen became gravely ill”. Screenshot: Frostpunk on Nintendo Switch 2, UND

What is Frostpunk and why I was waiting for it so much

For those who missed it: Frostpunk is a city-builder and survival game in one, while 11 bit studios itself calls it a society survival game. The world is frozen, a massive generator stands in the middle of a snowy wasteland, and around it you build the last city on Earth. Coal, food, heat, medical posts — you have to keep up with everything, and you never manage to do it all.

High-angle overall view of the city: the generator tower glows in the center, snow-covered houses stand in rings around it, beyond lies a snowy wasteland and industrial structures — The entire essence of Frostpunk in one frame: the generator in the center, houses huddled around it in rings, and only snow surrounding it. The last city on Earth lives as long as the furnace burns. Screenshot: Frostpunk on Nintendo Switch 2, UND

The game is not new: it was released on PC on April 24, 2018, on PS4 and Xbox One on October 11, 2019, and on October 29, 2024, a separate adaptation Frostpunk: Beyond the Ice by NetEase was released on iOS and Android. As for Frostpunk itself, I waited for it on Switch for about four years, long before 11 bit studios finally announced this version in April 2026. The studio announced the release date on October 5–6 and released a free demo at the same time, and on October 19, 2026, Frostpunk was released on Nintendo Switch. The developer and publisher is 11 bit studios, which also published the Switch version.

An important nuance: there is no separate version for Switch 2. It is a game for the original Switch running on Switch 2 via backward compatibility; the compatibility section in the German eShop states “Unterstützt. Es wurden keine Probleme gefunden” — “Supported. No issues found”. Honestly, it's unclear why it took so long when the game ultimately runs fine even on the first Switch. But better late than never.

Laws and decisions: the main nightmare is living people

Continuing the analogy with “Game of Thrones”: there everyone feared the army of the dead, but in Frostpunk your biggest nightmare is ordinary living people. As soon as the temperature drops to −70 °C (in my “A New Home” campaign this happened around Day 36), the “subjects” start whining, staging protests, and demanding hot soup and days off, while the universe around them is literally freezing over. Okay, I'm exaggerating about the soup: you introduce that yourself through a separate law. But the protests are completely real.

Healthcare Protest window — Urgent need for treatment: a crowd in coats carries a sick person, the player is presented with three responses — open a medical post, promise treatment, or postpone; on the right is an UND badge 'Frost −70 °C' — The “Healthcare Protest” window: the crowd demands medical treatment for the sick, and the game gives only two days to provide a medical post. In my playthrough, this protest occurred as early as Day 8 at −30 °C, and the “Frost −70 °C” badge is from the video. Screenshot: Frostpunk on Nintendo Switch 2, UND; graphics: UND

But the main thing here isn't resources, it's decisions. Send children to work? Authorize 24-hour shifts? Who gets extra rations — the sick or the healthy? All of this is written in the Book of Laws:

Child Labour — at first, children only work “safe” jobs (cookhouses, hothouses), and the next law sends them to all jobs;
Extended Shift and Emergency Shift — extended shifts, up to 24-hour shifts in any facility;
Food Additives — sawdust is mixed into the food;
Soup and Extra Rations for the Ill — soup and extra rations for the sick.

Book of Laws, Purpose section: Emergency Shift law card (can force workers of any facility to work 24 hours, discontent will rise), nearby are Child Labour nodes — Safe Jobs, Child Shelters, and Extended Shift — Emergency Shift allows forcing any facility to work 24 consecutive hours — at the cost of discontent. Nearby in the same book is child labor: the game constantly asks how far you are willing to go. Screenshot: Frostpunk on Nintendo Switch 2, UND

Every law is a compromise, and the game constantly asks: how far are you willing to go so everyone survives? So now you can legally send children to work and mix sawdust into their food — all of this right on Nintendo Switch.

The main question for any strategy game port: did the spirit of the game survive? It did. It's the same awesome economic survival game — I simply don't notice time flying by. There aren't many buildings, but management is continuous: you're constantly running out of time and constantly choosing — coal or food, medical post or workshop. There is micromanagement too, especially with automatons, and at the end stretch it can save you if you made mistakes earlier. Plus, it's an intimate drama about a handful of people around a single furnace, and the game doesn't let you forget that for a second. In short, it's a game for fans of economic strategy games — those who enjoy boiling their brains rather than mashing buttons.

Controls: L and R buttons and no mouse

Now onto what we're here for. Gamepad controls feel pleasant — I was expecting worse. But on my first launch, I thought the game was broken: I opened the build menu — and Workshop wasn't there. Just nowhere to be found. It turned out categories switch with the L and R buttons, and Workshop lives under the “Tech” tab. The game does hint at this with small L/R icons on the edges of the category bar and a control scheme on the loading screen, but I missed those hints. The gamepad onboarding is weak.

Radial build menu on Tech tab: Workshop selected costing 15 wood and 5 steel, category bar at the top with small L and R icons on the edges — Here is where the Workshop hides: on the “Tech” tab, which you must scroll to using the L and R buttons. The only clue is tiny L/R icons on the edges of the category bar, making them easy to miss on the first run. Screenshot: Frostpunk on Nintendo Switch 2, UND

Remember: R (next category). Build menu categories are scrolled using the L and R buttons, while time controls live on the D-pad: ↑ — normal speed, ↓ — pause, → — fast forward, ← — slow down.

Time controls on the D-pad sound odd, but you get used to it in five minutes, and it's actually convenient. What is inconvenient: sometimes it's hard to hit small objects with the cursor — for example, mine would skip right past a coal pile. Rare, but it happens.

Touchscreen doesn't work. There's no mouse mode on Switch 2 either: Nintendo promises Joy-Con 2 mouse mode only “in compatible games”, and in Frostpunk it didn't work for me (October 2026). For a strategy game, this is the most unfortunate omission: a mouse is practically begging to be used here.

Switch 2: stable 30 FPS

On Switch 2, the game holds 30 frames per second. I specifically took a save from the final days of the campaign when the city is most demanding (recording from 10/15/2026, Day 40) and pushed it, including at maximum simulation speed. To the naked eye, nothing drops. The counter is stricter: an average of 29.6–29.8 FPS, a few brief drops to 24–28 FPS, and two sub-second hitches down to 16 FPS — both occurring when an event window or economy panel opened (which is why the minimum counter in the shot below shows 16).

Switch 1: playable, but with frame drops

On the original Switch, things get more interesting. The same scene, the same Day 40 (recording from 10/16/2026): when zoomed out, the counter shows mostly 28–30 FPS, occasionally 24–26; zoom in — it drops to 20–26, and at maximum simulation speed there are hitches down to 12–16 FPS (in this scene, the counter briefly dipped to 10). The one-minute average is around 27–29 FPS.

The same Day 40 scene on Switch 1: FPS counter shows 16.0, the end of the framerate graph turned red, on the right red UND badge 'Switch 1: down to 16 FPS' — On the first Switch at maximum simulation speed, the same scene drops to 16 FPS, and at its worst — down to 10–12 (hence “Min:10” on the counter). These are hitches, not a constant state: the one-minute average is around 27–29 FPS (my recording from 10/16/2026). Screenshot: Frostpunk on Nintendo Switch 1, UND; graphics: UND

Sounds scary, but firstly, in my opinion, it's still better than Cities: Skylines on the first Switch — where hitching that escalated with city size was noted by a Cubed3 reviewer back in 2019. Secondly, for city-building simulators, FPS isn't everything. Nobody is shooting here; people are thinking.

Switch 2 vs Switch 1: my measurements (October 2026)
What was measured	Switch 2	Switch 1
FPS, camera zoomed out	30	24–30 (mostly 28–30)
FPS, zoomed in	30	20–26
FPS, maximum simulation speed	30	hitches down to 12–16, briefly 10
FPS, average during recording	29.6–29.8 (brief drops to 24–28 and two sub-second hitches down to 16)	≈ 27–29
Save load time (“Resume story”)	27.7 s	43.6 s
Text	sharp	slightly blurry

FPS — recordings with counter from 10/15/2026 (Switch 2) and 10/16/2026 (Switch 1), identical Day 40 scene; loading — 10/18/2026, one attempt on each console; text — identical “Prayers at work” window on recordings from 10/15–10/16/2026.

Loading: 43.6 vs 27.7 seconds

Loading on Switch 1 is also noticeably slower. On October 18, 2026, I timed loading the exact same save: from pressing “Resume story” to the first frame of the city. Switch 1 managed it in 43.6 s, Switch 2 in 27.7 s — meaning on the first Switch you'll have to wait 15.9 s longer, nearly 1.6 times as much. This was a single attempt on each console, so take these numbers as a benchmark rather than a lab test.

Battery: around three hours

Switch 2, auto-brightness, demanding city: in 20 minutes, battery charge dropped from 89 to 77 % (my measurement, October 2026). That equates to roughly 3 hours from a full charge, or by pure arithmetic — about 2 h 47 min.

Small settlement near the generator at night, Day 7, −30 °C; bottom right UND badge 'Battery 89–77% in 20 min' — My measurement on Switch 2 with auto-brightness (October 2026): in 20 minutes in a demanding city, the battery dropped from 89 to 77 %, or roughly 3 hours from a full charge. In the background is an in-game shot from another moment in the campaign. Screenshot: Frostpunk on Nintendo Switch 2, UND; graphics: UND

According to Nintendo, Switch 2 lasts approximately 2 to 6.5 hours depending on the game, putting Frostpunk closer to the lower boundary — right alongside demanding games that heavily strain the system. Except that graphically, Frostpunk isn't one of them. My conclusion is simple: dedicated handheld optimization seems to be absent here.

Graphics and readability

The visuals are cut back and rather soft/blurry. But honestly, I remember the PC version — the art style there is similar, so the loss isn't critical. Frostpunk was never about cutting-edge graphics.

Zoomed-in shot of the city on Switch 2: snow-covered bunkhouse roofs, the generator tower, and streetlights appear blurry, FPS counter shows 30.0 — When zoomed in, you can see bunkhouse roofs and streetlights blurring; the counter at this moment reads 30 FPS. Screenshot: Frostpunk on Nintendo Switch 2, UND

Looking at this softness reminds me of Cronos: The New Dawn by Bloober Team on Switch 2. The visuals there felt similarly blurry to me (a CGMagazine reviewer also noted downgrades — less volumetric lighting, lower-quality textures). To be clear: Bloober Team has nothing to do with Frostpunk; this is merely a comparison. And despite all the grumbling, big thanks to 11 bit studios for providing the review key.

Text fares better than visuals. On Switch 2 it is sharp; on the original Switch it is slightly blurry, but for me that wasn't critical. Between docked and handheld modes, I noticed almost no difference.

Split screen with identical event window 'Fear of the Storm — Prayers at work': Switch 1 on the left, Switch 2 on the right, halves labeled with UND badges — Event window “Fear of the Storm — Prayers at work” on both consoles: Switch 1 on the left, Switch 2 on the right. Compare the small description text and quote. My recordings from 10/15–10/16/2026. Screenshot: Frostpunk on Nintendo Switch 1 and Switch 2, UND; graphics: UND

Localization: no Ukrainian

There is no Ukrainian localization. The game's German eShop page lists 11 interface and text languages, and Ukrainian is not among them (10/23/2026). Unfortunately, this isn't a flaw of the port: on Steam, Frostpunk supports 12 languages, without Ukrainian either, and we found no announcements regarding Ukrainian localization for the first installment. For our audience, this is a downside we simply have to accept. By comparison: Frostpunk 2 officially features Ukrainian.

Settings menu, General tab: Language set to English, worker girl in a headscarf in a blizzard in the background — In the game menu, languages cycle in a loop, and Ukrainian is not among them. Screenshot: Frostpunk on Nintendo Switch 2, UND

Editions, price, size, and demo

As of October 23, 2026, the base game in the German eShop can be purchased for 29.99 €, and Endless Mode is already included — along with Serenity Mode for relaxed, pressure-free building. All three expansions — The Rifts, The Last Autumn, and On The Edge — are sold separately in the All Expansions Pack for 24.49 €. The Complete Edition is not available in the German eShop, but in the US eShop it is available for 45 $ (before sales tax).

Frostpunk for Switch: editions and prices, 10/23/2026 (in the US — excluding sales tax)
Item	German eShop	US eShop
Frostpunk (with Endless Mode)	29.99 €	29.99 $
All Expansions Pack (The Rifts, The Last Autumn, On The Edge)	24.49 €	24.49 $
Complete Edition	Not sold	45 $
Demo	Free	Free

Day 32 city from above at −60 °C and UND badge 'Price': 'Base price: €29.99', 'Expansions: €24.49', 'Demo available' — The “Price” badge from the video: 29.99 € for the game with Endless Mode, 24.49 € for the All Expansions Pack with all three expansions, and a note that the demo is already available. Prices from German eShop, verified on 10/23/2026. Screenshot: Frostpunk on Nintendo Switch 2, UND; graphics: UND

The game weighs only 3.6 GB — that's the download size indicated by the German eShop (October 17 and 23, 2026). In the video I said 3.7 GB, so refer to the store's figure. Age rating — USK 16.

Tip: A free demo is already available in the eShop (11 bit studios released it on October 5–6, 2026), so you can check how the game runs on your specific console before buying.

Waiting for Frostpunk 2?

This release gives hope that someday we'll see Frostpunk 2 on Switch 2 as well. For now, it's just hope, not a confirmed plan: we found no announcement of Frostpunk 2 for Switch 2 (10/23/2026). There are no guarantees: the PC version of the sequel was criticized, among other things, for performance issues. It was released on PC on September 20, 2024, and on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S — on September 18, 2025. Furthermore, 11 bit studios is working on Frostpunk 1886 — an updated version of the first game with new content scheduled for 2027; no Switch version has been announced yet.

Campaign epilogue: snow-covered city from above, rings of buildings around the generator emitting smoke, dark vignette around the edges — The city survived: campaign epilogue after the final storm — rings of buildings around the generator, still trailing smoke. Screenshot: Frostpunk on Nintendo Switch 2, UND

But after waiting four years for the first game, I'm ready to wait some more.

Verdict

I have nothing new to say about the game itself: it is one of the best economic survival games of recent years, and on Switch it remains just that.

10/10 — for fans of economic survival games

Where to play? If you have a Switch 2 — only there: a stable 30 frames and sharp text. If you only have the original Switch — it's playable, but prepare for frame drops and longer loading times. Unfortunately, mouse and touchscreen support is absent across the board, and the game drains the battery like a heavy title.

Summary

Switch 2: stable 30 FPS

Switch 1: frame drops and longer loading times

No mouse or touchscreen support

≈ 3 hours on battery

Night city from above, centered UND badge 'Verdict: 10/10 — for fans of economic survival games' — Final video badge with the UND score against the backdrop of the night city. Screenshot: Frostpunk on Nintendo Switch 2, UND; graphics: UND

Which Switch are you playing on, and how many children have you sent into the mines already? Let us know in the comments under the video or in the UND Telegram chat. And stay close to the generator.

Sources

Game, Stores, and Nintendo

News and Reviews

Blackout and Satellite Imagery

My Measurements

FPS counter recordings: Switch 2 — 10/15/2026, Switch 1 — 10/16/2026 (same Day 40 scene)
“Resume story” save loading on both consoles — 10/18/2026, one attempt
Switch 2 battery, auto-brightness, demanding city — October 2026

Author: HaBiBuB, Ukraine Nintendo Daily

Switch 2 Review Nintendo Switch Urban planning strategy Frostpunk 11 bit studios

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