Fatal Frontier 1869 Review – Survival, Gold & Real Cash
Fatal Frontier 1869
Okay, I have been super behind as I've been doing lots of other things.
So, without further ado.
Today we are looking at Fatal Frontier 1869.
I did not know what I was getting into with this game. Fatal Frontier 1869 is a survival PvE game with a twist. That twist is that you can earn real CASH. From a co-creator of World of Warcraft, you'll get sucked into this western-themed game. Developed and published by Paydirt Games, Inc., Fatal Frontier 1869 takes you into 19th-century Alaska, where you have to survive the wilderness, fight enemies, explore, and prospect for real gold.
Surviving the Frontier
In this top-down game, you have to survive the elements, and by elements I mean lions, tigers, and bears. Well, maybe just bears, wolves, and bandits.
There are different characters you can get; most are paid to buy. You get some basic supplies and have to earn money by either completing quests in town or by selling items you find. Your basic items are weapons, a shovel, a pickaxe, health items, and food.
In the shop, some things cost silver; others cost greenbacks. Be careful of what currency you are using. Silver can be earned; greenbacks are bought.
You don't really know what is in an area until you explore it. You get 80 claims, 500 greenbacks, and a 72-hour Prospector's Pass.
Editor's note: The game's current official FAQ lists the new Pioneer offer as a 72-hour pass, 80 Claims, and 1,500 Greenbacks, so the 500 figure may have been different when I played.
Finding Gold
Because of the limited time to use your claims, I would level your character as much as you can before using your claims. This would maximize getting as much real cash as you can.
Don't do like I did and just blindly use those claims.
The best way to find where the gold is to blow up the area or use your shovel to dig first. Then you can claim the ores with your pickaxe.
To get the gold, you'll have to do a quick action task to maximize your rewards; fail, and you get nothing. You get two tries. There is a higher and a lower hit spot that will allow you to get the gold; miss those areas, and you get none.
The game makes the prospecting itself part of the challenge, rather than simply having you click on a spot and automatically receive gold. According to the developers, the gold deposits are procedurally generated for each expedition, and their locations remain fixed for that expedition.
What Happens When You Run Out of Supplies?
You'll have to sell other items you find, like coal and wood, to be able to buy supplies from the shops.
The goal is to survive and leave on the ship before it leaves. Complete your drop so that you can take your gold with you.
And that's where the extraction part of the game comes in. You aren't just wandering around collecting everything you can find. You have to make it back out with your haul. If you don't survive the expedition, all that work can be for nothing.
That was probably one of the things I found most interesting about the game. You're constantly having to decide whether it's worth going a little farther, looking for a little more, or getting yourself back to safety.
My Biggest Issue: Cashing Out
I did not like how you claim the funds. They ask for your Social Security number, which I get—it's so that one person can't just make multiple accounts—but they could have done a license number or something else.
I personally did not cash out my funds because of that.
I even reached out to support to ask about it; they assured me they don't save that data.
Now, I don't know if they have changed it, as I played this months ago and am not just writing about the game. So, if you're reading this later, definitely check the current requirements before making your decision about whether you want to participate in the real-money side of the game.
Is Fatal Frontier 1869 Worth Playing?
But I enjoyed the game even without the getting-gold part.
It reminds me of other games, how much more you can do now that your character has leveled up throughout each playthrough.
That is also why I would describe Fatal Frontier 1869 more as an extraction survival game than a traditional roguelite. You head out on an expedition, explore, gather resources, fight, prospect, and then try to make it back safely with what you found. Your Pioneer can also level up and gain Traits that improve things like combat, carrying capacity, movement, and stealth.
So, even if you aren't interested in the real-money gold aspect, there is still a survival game underneath it all.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Fatal Frontier 1869 was definitely a game I didn't expect to enjoy as much as I did.
The real-money gold aspect is obviously the biggest thing that makes this game different from other survival games, but you don't have to make that the entire reason you play. You can explore, complete quests, fight enemies, gather resources, level up your Pioneer, and just see how long you can survive out in the Frontier.
I would definitely recommend checking out the game for yourself if this sounds like something you would enjoy. Just make sure you understand how the claims, Prospector's Pass, currencies, and real-money prospecting work before you start using your resources.
Where Can You Play Fatal Frontier 1869?
This is a PC game and is available directly through the Paydirt Games Launcher rather than through Steam or another traditional PC storefront.
You can check out the official website here:
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