Frostpunk and Rimworld: Video Games that Explore the Sublime - Stevie Hardwich

    Frostpunk and Rimworld are single-player games that focus on man vs nature survival. In Frostpunk, the setting is an alternate timeline in which an apocalyptic global cooling event happened during the industrial revolution. You are in charge of a small group of survivors and a generator you use for heat. You need to keep people working to keep the generator heating your town. Not only do you have to keep a town of people from freezing to death, but you must also give them hope. Without hope, they stop working or remove you from the town. 

In Rimworld, you are similarly in charge of a settlement. The setting is set in the far future with advance space travel. Your group of survivors crashed into a planet on the outskirts of society, a world on the rim. You are in charge of keeping your survivors alive and content. If they aren't happy, they can stop working or become a danger to themselves and others. 

    Both of these games take place in difficult circumstances. The player is forced to find a way to keep their people hopeful, and if they don't their colony will fall to despair and become unmanageable. What keeps people from falling into despair? In both games, holding proper funerals keeps people hopeful. In Frostpunk, you can implement organized religion and hold weekly services.

    Games like these force the player to find a way to cope with the horror. People in your settlements face death and illness, and you have to convince them that this suffering is worth it. That they should keep living through the pain, as things might get better.