May Developer Letter

It’s May! How has everyone been? Here, it feels like summer has already come rushing in. It’s very hot… and humid. How are things where you are? I hope it’s more comfortable there.

We were so busy with development that we completely forgot, but we ended up missing the April developer letter! Please accept our apologies for sharing this news belatedly like this. We have more or less wrapped up work on the Im Seokdae administration, and we are now developing the Jo Mimi scenario. Based on the previous Choi Soonja and Im Seokdae scenarios, we would like to try something a bit more experimental this time.

Ruler

Frostrain is a game that is quite difficult to define by a single genre. It clearly has roguelike deckbuilding elements, but when you look closely at the game, it also has a strong strategic side. So this time, we wanted to further strengthen that “strategy game” aspect. Deckbuilding will still remain at the core of the game, but we have added a stronger touch of strategy.

This also aligns with the direction Frostrain 2 has been aiming for. Looking back, in the Choi Soonja scenario, managing happiness was the top priority. In the Im Seokdae scenario, you had to manage happiness along with a new parameter called “tension.” Well, although that tension management ended up failing after we received feedback that it depended too heavily on RNG.

So this time, we wanted to improve on those points. There are three resources you will need to manage! They are Economic Stability, Political Stability, and Military Stability, each representing one of the three main pillars Mimi must pay attention to while governing train society.

Economic Stability is simple. It represents livelihood. If the civilian economy collapses, it becomes difficult for the government to survive. Historically, many regime changes have been triggered by collapsing livelihoods. Because of this, when Economic Stability reaches 0, you must print currency and inject it into the market. This may help you endure the immediate crisis, but it ultimately devastates the market, consuming a large amount of happiness and requiring even more happiness each time it is repeated.

Political Stability represents Mimi’s political security. After Im Seokdae, an engineer with powerful charisma, Mimi inherited the position of Engineer. Without any democratic process whatsoever. If she fails to calm the dissatisfaction surrounding this, emerging rival factions will rise up, establish an independent government, and paralyze the administration.

Lastly, Military Stability represents Mimi’s standing within the Red Frost Knights, who rose to become the most powerful faction during Im Seokdae’s rule. Every regime needs an army. But in chaotic times, an army can transform into a warlord faction. Likewise, if they are not kept under proper control, they will attempt to seize control of the engine room, and Mimi will be reduced to a mere puppet.

Challenge

Other scenarios progressed in a fixed way according to the story. For example, in the Choi Soonja scenario, the “Children of the Engine’s Opposition” event was guaranteed to occur, and in the Im Seokdae scenario, the “Operation Preparation” event appeared. This is not a bad thing. But we wondered whether things could be a little more varied, and so we prepared the Jo Mimi scenario in a different direction.

(The image is from a work-in-progress build and may be changed later.)

Using the stability values mentioned above, Mimi can take on various “Challenges” in different situations. The more stability you have accumulated, the greater advantage you gain in the success rate of that Challenge. However, each situation requires a different type of stability, so it will be difficult to overcome every crisis with only one stability value.

Pledge

As a ruler, Mimi can make Pledges.

Steam post image (The image is from a work-in-progress build and may be changed later.)

Once you fulfill one Pledge, you can proceed with another. Each time you successfully complete a Pledge, you receive a reward, and every Pledge presents different randomized conditions and rewards.

Through this, Mimi can acquire the stability, supplies, artifacts, and other resources needed by train society. Therefore, it is important to judge at every moment which Promise you are best able to fulfill right now, and which reward you need the most.

New Artifacts!

Here are the newly added artifacts! What kinds of artifacts will appear this time?

Hmm, there seem to be a lot of cookie shapes. It looks like there may be something related to cookies. Hmm, yes. No one hates cookies. Cookies are popular in train society as well. Perhaps this will finally be the time when everyone can eat cookies to their heart’s content!

Closing

And so, we are seeing off another May. The official release is not far away… We ask that you stay with us until the very end, and with that, we will bring this letter to a close. We read every single comment and reaction! Although we cannot respond to every message, we are endlessly grateful to everyone who leaves us words of encouragement each time, and we wish you the best of luck!

Then, we will see you again next time. See you in June!

Sincerely, nemonan