Permafrost Getting Started: Steam Survival Game First Hours

Permafrost launched in Early Access on October 9, 2026, and this permafrost guide covers the first session in the order you actually meet it: what the game is, who you play, what it costs, and what to do before the first nightfall. If you have not loaded it up yet, treat this as the permafrost beginner guide to read first.

What Permafrost is

Permafrost is a story-driven survival sandbox set in a frozen post-apocalyptic open world, developed by SpaceRocket Games (SpaceRocket Games S.A.) and published by Toplitz Productions. The setting is a near-future Earth locked in endless winter after a series of catastrophes that culminated in the shattering of the moon.

The developers describe a grounded, tense survival experience shaped by silence and scarcity rather than constant gunfire and fantasy tropes. The loop is exploration first: cross frozen cities and wilderness, survive brutal weather, move through faction-controlled territory, hunt, scavenge, craft and build a network of shelters. The cold is your true enemy. A dog rescued from the ruins travels with you, scouts ahead, warns of danger and carries supplies. Progress is exploration-gated, so restoring abandoned shelters, repairing broken machines and reclaiming fragile technology is what opens the map up.

Who a Rook is

You play a Rook: an engineer with the skills to rebuild the world and very little wilderness experience, pulled into the frozen landscape by a radio signal from a long-lost friend. That gap between fixing a machine and staying alive is the character's core problem, and it matches the opening hours.

Launch facts, price and platforms

On Steam the introductory offer is 20 percent off: $19.99 instead of $24.99, with the offer ending October 23, 2026. The Companion Edition bundle is listed at $29.68 discounted to $23.74 and includes Permafrost plus the Official Companion app. Other bundles exist, including Medieval Dynasty x Permafrost and Order of the Sinking Star x Permafrost.

The first hour

The starting area is relatively safe, and that is the trap: you will run out of food quickly if you do not leave it early. Learn the gathering and crafting basics, then push out before the safe zone goes dry.

1. Finish the tutorial so you know the controls, gathering and the basic craft loop.
2. Scavenge the starting area for food and wood while it is still safe.
3. Leave the starting area early. It is safe, but its food does not last.
4. Settle a base and keep a supply of wood there.
5. Before dark, light a fire where you intend to sleep. You cannot sleep unless you are adequately warm.
6. Sleep through the night, then sort your inventory in daylight.

Planning the first night

Sleep is gated on warmth. You cannot sleep unless you are adequately warm, so a lit fire near where you sleep is a requirement at night rather than a comfort. Keeping a supply of wood at your base is the standard preparation, because a fire that dies in the small hours leaves you cold and awake.

Confirmed now versus still in development

The Early Access window is planned to run for at least 12 months, and the developers say the price will very likely increase during it and that the lower starting price is a thank you to early players. The current build has most of the planned core features implemented: several biomes, hundreds of items, building blueprints and crafting recipes, the starting point of the narrative plus side quests, and cooperative multiplayer for up to four players fully implemented. The full version is planned to add more biomes, quests, NPCs, enemies, equipment and vehicles.

How to buy and where to play

Permafrost is sold on PC through Steam, GOG and the Epic Games Store. On Steam the app is 2254990, and the store lists single-player and online co-op. The developers call the multiplayer symbiotic 1 to 4 player co-op survival: play solo, or survive alongside up to three friends, and co-op does not simplify the world. The official Discord at discord.gg/toplitz is the primary community hub. No macOS or Linux requirements are published, and Steam Deck compatibility is listed as Unknown.

What to read next

• Survival Basics: the six meters, warmth and sleep.
• System Requirements: the official minimum and recommended specs.
• Multiplayer and Co-op: how 1 to 4 player survival works.
• Crafting Guide: blueprints, recipes and what to build first.

Sources

• Permafrost on Steam: store facts and price.
• Release date moved to October 9, 2026 (Toplitz Productions)
• Permafrost deep dive (Toplitz Productions): Steam, GOG and Epic on October 9, 2026.
• Permafrost game page (Toplitz Productions)