Frostpunk Complete Unlocks: Golden Path

May 2024 · 5 minute read

A comprehensive walkthrough on the unlock conditions for the Golden Path hidden achievement

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Contents

Hidden Achievement Guide, Expect Spoilers Ahead

Global Unlock Rate: 1.9% of players

This guide is intended to give you a comprehensive checklist for determining whether or not your current playthrough will qualify for Golden Path, so you never need to go through the frustration of repeatedly reloading old save files just to walk away empty-handed!

Getting it can be tough, so we’d recommend it as a personal challenge once you’ve played through the New Home scenario several times already. Due to its complex conditions Golden Path is unlikely to unlock through normal gameplay especially on higher difficulties.

Certain other achievements will also be unlocked alongside Golden Path if you haven’t already received them from previous playthroughs:

Golden Path – All Unlock Conditions

The last two requirements for this unlock are undoubtedly the toughest and have generated a lot of confusion among achievement hunters in the months since Frostpunk launched. As players have few ways to track whether they have been disqualified from these conditions until the very end of the game, it often results in a lot of guesswork about what went wrong.

So what kind of playthrough will actually meet every condition?

The Hidden Requirements List

This section covers every Law and game action that might affect whether you can meet the Golden Path unlock conditions. Check it carefully when planning your playthrough!

If you make any of the following BANNED choices, it may be necessary to go back many days in your save files to correct it or start a new playthrough entirely:

All Laws which register incremental progress toward killing citizens must be BANNED:

All Laws which “Cross the Line” must be BANNED:

Captain’s Words, New Faith, and New Order will remain locked without these Laws. If you make any of the following AVOIDED choices, the disqualifying events can be prevented by reloading the most recent autosave to change your actions in the preceding hours:

All Laws which have the potential to kill citizens through events should be AVOIDED:

All gameplay choices which have the potential to kill citizens should be AVOIDED:

All conditions which have the potential to trigger Needs Crises should be AVOIDED:

Some known bugs may also kill citizens and can only be resolved by reloading to a much earlier save file:

Ending

That covers all the requirements for Golden Path! Despite a lot of intense speculation among achievement hunters, any other Laws you decide to use outside the ones listed shouldn’t have any negative effects on your playthrough even if they make you a bit squeamish to use (for exactly the right reasons) when trying to keep your survivors alive.

With a bit of luck, your next New Home ought to land you in the 2% of players to ever unlock this hidden achievement! 

Small trivia bit: The icon for Golden Path shows the player after climbing atop a difficult mountain, not waving a flag from further down a ‘golden’ path! It’s tricky like that.

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Written by ExplodeySquirrel

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