'Farthest Frontier': Survive plagues, looters and more medieval chaos

Berlin (dpa) — The focus of "Farthest Frontier" is on the survival of a small community. Players must collect wood and stones to build their first rudimentary huts. But it doesn't stop at simple construction projects in this challenging strategy game.

Soon the game requires you to plan entire infrastructures: roads, warehouses and defence systems. Meanwhile, the weather rages outside, and every season brings new challenges.

Long periods of drought can destroy the harvest and turn the fields into dusty wastelands. To prevent this, you have to dig wells and build up water supplies. Your decisions have long-term effects and require forward-thinking.

Cultivating the fields is much more than simply clicking and harvesting. The fertility of the soil, changing crop rotations, and the right choice of plants at the right time of year determine the success of the harvest — one wrong step can quickly result in a bad harvest.

The gameplay not only requires strategic thinking, but also a keen sense of resource management. If you neglect clean water and hygiene, diseases such as the plague or cholera spread quickly. Preventive measures such as quarantine zones and healing stations must then be taken to protect the settlement’s inhabitants.

You need to defend as well as build

Defence is also essential. Without guards, palisades and well-thought-out strategies, the settlement will be defenceless against looters and wild animals.

A single attack can destroy everything that’s been painstakingly built up, which is why vigilance is essential, even if the situation appears peaceful.

The seasons and weather conditions in "Farthest Frontier" have a significant impact on the fight for survival. When the lakes freeze over in winter and the fields lie fallow, the settlers have to live off the supplies they painstakingly gathered in summer.

If you don't collect enough wood, you risk the population getting sick or even freezing to death in the bitter cold. Sudden storms or an unexpected frost can destroy the harvest and freeze the ground, so every decision can be a matter of life and death.

The game offers a harmonious atmosphere and appealing, detailed graphics that convincingly depict the medieval setting. The animations credibly bring life in the Middle Ages to the screen and create a captivating world that looks rugged and authentic at the same time.

"Farthest Frontier" is a real gem for lovers of historical construction strategy games, combining challenging gameplay with an intense medieval feel. The game is available for PCs for around €30/$30 and is suitable for players aged 12 and older.