Dissident: Frostland Escape

Release Date: 2025

Simulation, sandbox, isometric view, survival, Polish, indie games, action adventure, singleplayer

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A survival game in which we play the role of a prisoner escaping from a labour camp. In the Dissident: Frostland Escape crossing the walls of the gulag is only the beginning of the struggle for life, because in the icy wilderness, anything from hunger, through cold temperatures, to fauna can kill us.

Plot
Mechanics
Technical aspects

Dissident: Frostland Escape is a survival game in which we play the role of a prisoner sentenced to a labour camp. The game was developed by the independent Russian team of Tequilabyte Studio and released by Games Operators.

Plot

Dissident: Frostland Escape takes us to a labour camp, inspired by the Soviet gulags. In the course of the game, we play the role of one of his prisoners, and it is up to us alone whether we abide by the rules here or whether we decide to flee, risking our lives in the name of freedom.

Mechanics

In the Dissident: Frostland Escape action was shown from the top-down view. Before we start playing, we must choose one of the character archetypes, among which we will find a teacher, politician, soldier or artist. Each of them has individual skills that can play a key role in their fight for life. Although the decision to escape or stay in the camp is up to us here, in practice, circumstances sooner or later force us to the former. After all, we first need to spend some time on camp life at work. In this way, we give ourselves a chance to know the layout of the gulag, so that we can draw up an action plan. Worst of all, however, the introduction of the action plan is only the beginning of a murderous journey.

It is not easy to travel through icy wilderness. Firstly, our trail is quickly followed by the camp guards, who will not stop their efforts before they find us and kill us. Secondly, we are threatened by wild animals living in impassable forests, led by bears and wolves. Thirdly and finally, factors such as hunger, thirst and low temperatures can also prove fatal for the hero. Neither is the fact that the extensive map is generated in a procedural manner, so that it cannot be learnt.

All this makes it necessary for us to be constantly on guard, to gather food and water supplies, to get the wood we need to light fires (a thick stick can also be not the worst weapon to defend ourselves from the local fauna), and, if necessary, to make an escape. The constant fight for life is not without its impact on the mental state of the protagonist, who sometimes shares his thoughts with us. Knowing his thoughts is all the more useful in order to monitor his mental health; being in constant danger, he may go mad with time, which in these circumstances exposes him to inevitable death.