Navigating the law system in Frostpunk 2 isn’t easy. The game features four key types of laws: Survival, Society, City, and Rule. To propose, vote on, or discuss any bills from these categories (which turn into laws when passed), you’ll need to first secure victory in your Vote of Confidence election.
Once the Council is operational in Frostpunk 2, passing laws is essential for managing the city effectively. Below are some of the best laws to implement early, ensuring the city’s smooth functioning and stability.
Weather-Adjusted Shifts
To gain support from your citizens, you can introduce the Weather-Adjusted Shifts law, which allows flexible work hours depending on weather conditions. This boosts productivity, efficiency, and morale. By shielding workers from extreme weather, injury and illness rates are lowered, ensuring long-term sustainability as resource collection and production are maximized during favorable conditions.
To enforce this law, you’ll need to closely monitor weather patterns to make timely adjustments. Although dynamic shift changes can add complexity to city management, the benefits of workforce safety and efficiency make it a valuable tool in harsh environments.
Weather-Adjusted Shifts
Family Apprenticeship
Once things settle down, you’ll typically face an event that requires you to pass a Childhood Law or risk a gradual increase in Crime. Between the two choices, Family Apprenticeships are usually the better option unless you’re aiming to steer the city toward Reason early on.
Workforce shortages will be a recurring challenge in the game, and Family Apprenticeships help by boosting the percentage of your population that can work. While Mandatory Schools offer a tempting Research Speed bonus, the Heatstamps penalty it comes with is difficult to manage, especially on Steward difficulty or higher, where your base income is already limited.
Family Apprenticeship
Harvesting Funerals
One important Law will help you move past the early game and set the foundation for your new city—deciding how to handle the dead. The Reason Cornerstone has been somewhat overlooked, but choosing Harvesting Funerals will please factions that follow it.
Organ transplants not only lower the city’s Disease rating but also give a small boost to Research Speed, making this a solid choice overall. You might consider switching to Ceremonial Funerals if you anticipate a high number of deaths, such as during an upcoming Whiteout or when entering Winterhome in Story Mode. Ceremonial Funerals can reduce the Trust penalty from casualties, and you can switch back afterward.
Harvesting Funerals
Chemical Additives
Unlocking Chemical Additives in Frostpunk 2 increases the efficiency of buildings and districts that produce food, helping your population survive during times of shortage. It allows more food to be made from the same amount of ingredients, easing the pressure on other food sources and freeing up resources for other needs.
However, it does cause a small amount of Disease in the city. Fortunately, this can be managed by combining it with laws that improve healthcare, reducing the impact of the Disease.
Chemical Additives
Paid Essentials
At the next Council meeting, head to the City Laws section and propose the Paid Essentials law. While it may not be the most compassionate option, this game prioritizes strategy over empathy. Approving this law boosts your overall Production Efficiency and, crucially, increases your weekly Heatstamp income.
The income boost is particularly valuable since, until you’re able to produce enough Goods to meet your city’s needs, you’ll face an income penalty. Passing Paid Essentials early on helps mitigate this issue.
Paid Essentials
Heat Recycling
After unlocking Machine-Centric Shifts, the next node on the Resource Ideas Tree becomes available. This node contains one of the most efficient Ideas in the game, so it’s a good strategy to prioritize it and push the vote through right away.
Heat Recycling lowers the Heat Demand of all Housing Districts in the city, leading to significant fuel savings due to the large number of districts you’ll likely construct. Additionally, this adaptation idea can help appease any factions that are unhappy with machine-centric shifts.
Heat Recycling
