Permafrost

What Permafrost is

Permafrost is a story-driven open-world survival game set after a global catastrophe has buried the planet under snow and ice. It's made by SpaceRocket Games, a Polish studio, and published by Toplitz Productions. After a popular demo and a delay from its planned August date, it entered Early Access on October 9, 2026, on Steam, GOG and the Epic Games Store.

Cold is the main enemy. You need warmth, shelter, food and the right clothing just to stay alive, and the world adds survivors, raiders and rival factions fighting over what is left. A dog companion can scout ahead, warn you about danger and carry supplies. There is a main story with plenty of side quests, base building, and co-op for up to four players.

What happens in this series

The series started on the first days of Early Access, so it shows the game as it launched. Episode 1 is about simply surviving the first stretch in the snow. From there the story pushes you to repair the world's broken links: a bridge that needs copper before it can be fixed, a tower that needs repairing (with a visitor who turned out not to be a real skinwalker), a new quest zone that cost blood to reach, and most recently a mountain pass, along with the question of whether there are guns on the other side.

The channel also played the Permafrost demo before release. Those videos are in a separate demo playlist if you want to compare the two.

Where to start

Start with Episode 1. Permafrost is story-based, and each repair opens up the next area, so the episodes make the most sense in order. New episodes are being added as the run continues.

Reviewed October 2026. Game details are taken from the official store page and the developer's announcements. Episode descriptions are based on the videos themselves.