Is this a videogame?

Yes. Fatal Frontier 1869 is the first in a new genre of Windows PC games designed by a team of games Industry veterans, creatively led by Kevin Beardslee a co-creator of World of Warcraft.

The game blends true-to-history pioneering together with exploration, survival, action role playing with optional prospecting for Gold, Ore and other buried resources.

Gold is worth real money, but so is the danger.

Recommended Specifications

Windows PC’s only (for now). We recommend minimum of 8GB of Memory and any basic graphics card. Fatal Frontier 1869 will work on nearly every PC out there, whether a laptop or a desktop.

We do recommend players use a mouse.

Is gold found really worth real money?

Yes! Every time you launch an Expedition, our software system procedurally generates the virtual Alaskan landscape and buries vast amounts of gold under the frozen dirt waiting to be found, just like in real life. Gold can be found in geological deposits, veins and clusters down at the bedrock, deep under the dirt, just like the real thing.

How and where you dig is up to you.

What does ‘procedurally generate’ mean?

Every time you set out on an Expedition the Frontier landscape is brand new and your experience will be different. It also means nobody in our team knows where the Gold is buried, so please don’t ask us where it is!

Only the software system operating behind several layers of sensible security and encryption knows where the Gold is buried on your landscape.

can I save my progress on an Expedition?

Of course! If you’re out in the Wilderness prospecting you can Save by pitching your tent and sleeping. Make sure any enemies are far away - no sleeping is allowed unless you’ve found a safe place to pitch your tent. You can also Save after sleeping in any Saloon, found in all mining Camps. If you choose to Save, you’ll exit back to the Game Lobby and the Pioneer character you ‘left behind’ will no longer be available to play with until you complete your existing Expedition.

Saving and loading is another good reason to collect multiple Pioneer characters. Players who collect different Pioneer characters can send them out on different Expeditions at the same time.

What will I need to find the gold?

Simple: Prospector’s Pass + Claims + Pick Axe

A Prospector’s Pass is essential. This can be as little as a $1-per-day. And yessir (or ma’am), this is how our team of clever folks pays our bills to keep working on Fatal Frontier 1869. You’ll find them in the Game Lobby along with the Pioneer characters.

Don’t forget to obtain Claims in the Game Lobby, just like in real life, otherwise you won’t be able to keep the Gold you find. If you want new Claims during an Expedition you may find them available in Trading Posts or mining Camps.

Finally, you’ll need to find a Pick Axe to get down through the frozen Earth to the Bedrock where the Gold sits. You can find them or trade for one in mining Camps or Trading Posts.

Don’t forget to obtain Claims in the Game Lobby, just like in real life, otherwise you won’t be able to keep the Gold you find.

You’ll also need our permission to Prospect, with a Prospectors Pass. This can be as little as a $1-per-day. And yessir (or ma’am), this is how our team of clever folks pays our bills to keep on developing Fatal Frontier 1869.

How and where you dig is up to you.

Is it hard getting gold out of the ground?

Find gold in your Claim and your skills will be tested to get all the Gold found out of the ground and safely into your backpack. This is called the “Skill Check” where dexterity and timing is required to maximize the value of your find. Failed Skill Check? You get nothing, the Gold scatters in the wind. Perfect Skill Check? You get it all. Average Skill Check? You get some … but not all.

Skill Checks are fun & easy to play … but hard to master.

How to I turn gold into real money?

Once you have Gold in your possession, you need to Extract your Pioneer ending the Expedition and bringing you back to the Game Lobby where you can withdraw your Gold and send it to your bank account.

Your money will arrive in minutes. You can withdraw all the Gold grains in one go or keep them safe in your Account.

No long waits. It’s your Gold, you had the true grit to find it. We get it to you without delay.

How do I extract my pioneer?

Two ways to return from the wilds of the Frontier:

Take the Steam Ship home. The Steamer arrives several days into your Expedition. You can find it at the dock on the Southern coast. Don’t forget you’ll need a ticket from the mining Camp, which you can earn by harvesting resources, completing Quests or finding them hidden around the landscape.

Light a Signal Fire. Take your chances and see if a ship offshore will send a rescue launch to pick you up. First, you must find a Signal Fire along the Western coast. Be warned, lighting this enormous fire is perilous! Ships at sea will see it from miles away, but so will ne’er-do-wells, bandits and cut-throats on land. Make sure you’re ready to rumble.

You choose how - and when - to Extract your Pioneer.

What happens if my pioneer dies?

The good news is that your Pioneer is not dead, just injured. Badly.

You'll need to wait for the injuries to heal or send in the cavalry, in this case the Pinkerton Detective Agency whose agents can be hired to find your injured Pioneer.

The bad news is your Pioneer character was earning XP during the Expedition, used to Level Up and become even grittier. If your Pioneer gets injured, they lose all their XP earned on the Expedition.

The better news is that you never lose Gold grains found and dug out of the ground. It’s yours once you find it and dig it out of the ground.

Where and When is the game set?

The game is set in a digital version of Alaska in 1869, just two years after Russia sold Alaska to the United States on March 30, 1867 for just $7.2M (roughly 2 cents per acre!).

At the time, the deal was mocked a “Seward’s Folly” after the Secretary of State William H. Seward who negotiated the deal, until vast reserves of first gold, then oil were discovered.

Are there different ways to play?

Yes. There are multiple modes of play.

Tutorial shows you the basics of how to navigate the wilderness, fight to survive, find buried resources or even build your wilderness shelter and erect defenses. Just a few minutes of play will teach your the basics. Strongly recommended for new Pioneers. Yes, being a gamer helps and if you are you’ll zip through this in no time.

Story Mode is set in 1867 when you play Wade Tornström, a shipwrecked harpooner who turns to harvesting and mining to buy his ticket home with a full storyline of connected Quests bringing the world’s lore to life.

Open Range mode is set in 1869, two years after the events of Story Mode took place. Open Range is the most popular mode of play and is where most of the gold prospecting will likely take place online. Open Range also offers Quests (not for the faint of heart).

Daily Challenges appear once Open Range has been explored, offering challenging landscapes with great opportunities to earn special in-game items, XP awards, bounty-based Quests and more.

Play your own way at the Fatal Frontier.

How do I get started?

Easy. Download & install the Fatal Frontier 1869 game client application from this website (once it’s live of course). Create your Account, start playing.

Adventure awaits you. Fortunes are to be found.

When will the game launch?

Not soon enough! Late Fall. Technically we went live on November 3, 2025 with in-person ‘Preview Play’ by a group of plucky Southern Californians who came to our retail location equipped with desktop PC’s for a shared experience. They played for free, learned the game for as long as they needed with experts on hand to answer their questions, then all of them (yes, everyone!) proceeded to choose their favorite Pioneers, load up with equipment and undertake Expeditions with their money risked in the search for Gold rewards. Learn more here.

Years in the making, the Frontier is about to open.

Game Lobby

Launch the game, login and you’ll arrive in the Game Lobby. Here you can review the available Pioneer characters and choose your mode of play. Play for free in Story Mode or head out into the wide Open Range. Want to prospect for gold in Open Range? Make sure you obtain a Prospector Pass + Claims = Gold Prospecting.

Game Lobby is where you manage your Pioneers, your Account, gear-up and launch an Expedition.

Level-Up your Pioneers

As you ready to launch an Expedition you’ll be prompted to ‘Load Out’ your Pioneer with additional Traits (skills) unlocked as you play. Traits can make you faster, carry more, better at combat, sneakier in stealth … all manner of skills can be earned through play.

Accumulate Experience Points (“XP”) and progressively Level Up your Pioneer. The more you play the game, the more your Pioneer will progress, unlocking additional Trait slots.

Adding Traits to your Pioneer makes your playable character more able to navigate, survive and thrive in the game world.

Be the boss of your own crew

You’ll likely have your favorite Pioneer, but having more than one is instrumental as Pioneers can be injured, wounded and otherwise deemed ‘Exhausted’. This means from time to time your Pioneer might become inoperable for a period of hours while they recover from their wounds. Having other Pioneers on your roster means you can continue playing, exploring and prospecting.

All of this means you’ll very likely want more than one Pioneer over time.

do you need to have multiple pioneers?

No, not really, but most players will want to have more than one Pioneer in their crew.

Each Pioneer is different. Some are excellent at Stealth, slipping past bandits and other enemies (Skookum). Some are expert at getting the most from blast mining (Boomstick). Some are fast-moving crack shots delivering more instant headshot kills (Clara) and others are more generalist in nature (Wade).

Pioneer characters are added from time-to-time so keep half an eye open for more playable Pioneers.

How do you keep everything fair?

Our innovative and unique software system buries the gold in a ‘deterministic’ manner, setting the stage for your very own private gold prospecting adventure, which is potentially highly lucrative!

Gold and all other resources (buried or visible, like trees) are buried by the software, not by us ‘mere’ humans. This means fairness, integrity and excitement in finding resources buried - in the case of gold - in realistic seams, veins, clusters and deposits.

It’s up to you to find the gold, it’s out there waiting to be discovered.

Legal Compliance

Yes. Fatal Frontier 1869 is legal to play in the United States because it is a skill-based game, not a game of chance. U.S. law makes a clear distinction between games of skill and games of chance.

In Fatal Frontier 1869, your ability to earn real-money value depends entirely on your skill, decisions, reaction time, strategy, and risk management within the game. Skilled players consistently outperform unskilled players, which is the core legal test in most jurisdictions. To ensure compliance we use sophisticated automated systems to ensure each Account holder is both geo-located in a valid State and Age & I.D. verified. Don’t worry, simply start playing for free and the game will let you know if you are in a State that allows skill-based games.

100% of Americans can play Fatal Frontier 1869 for free and for fun. For gold prospecting, 93% of American adults can prospect the Fatal Frontier 1869 (we don’t allow any minors to prospect for gold).