The world of Frostpunk was already frozen over when we first got put in charge of one of humanity's last cities, but the next DLC will take us to an earlier point, before everything was quite as chilly. The Last Autumn is set during the construction of the life-saving generator that heats Frostpunk's city, when you could still see grass and all the water hadn't become ice.
Instead of looking after a group of starving, desperate survivors, you'll be running a team of engineers building the generator. That doesn't mean it's doing away with its survival themes, however, as the site is far from civilisation and will have to deal with a bunch of new crises. Thankfully there's also a new Book of Laws to let you mould your wee society, along with more steam-powered tech and buildings.
It's a pretty bleak prospect, given the inevitability of the big freeze and the end of the world, but bleak is Frostpunk's raison d'être. The main scenario starts off initially pretty hopeless, but this time we'll see its actual descent as the planet starts to freeze. Fun!
The Last Autumn is due out on January 21, and you can pick it up as part of the season pass or on its own. The final DLC, Project TVADGYCGJR, will also appear next year. In the meantime, you can grab the base game for 60 percent off on Steam.