I’m something of an expert on the early game of RimWorld. Over the past 700 hours of gameplay, I can’t imagine how many times I’ve restarted my colony. But hey, my loss is your gain. Here’s how to succeed in the RimWorld early game!
First Things First: Your Base
I’m a big fan of building underground. I guess it’s my experience with Dwarf Fortress or my choice of Gimli as my favorite Lord of the Rings character, but something about being deep within a mountain fills me with a sense of comfort and opportunity. You do not have to build underground. You may not want to until you have a bit more experience. There are plenty of nasties lurking inside a mountain.
Upon dropping onto the planet and gaining your bearings, scout out the map to find a suitable location for a base. You want somewhere easily defensible, with plenty of space for crops (more on that momentarily!), and away from entry points and hostile animals—an excellent central location, with sightlines in most directions.
You’ll likely only have wood available for now, which is too bad. Wood is highly flammable—potentially spelling your doom. That’s part of why I typically build underground, in limestone, as the rock won’t catch on fire and burn my colonists in their sleep.
In any case, your colonists require:
- Somewhere to sleep
- A place to eat
- A place to relax
- A research table
- Various workbenches to craft
I would prioritize these requirements in this order, from top to bottom, to gain a foothold on your newfound planet.
A bit of light would certainly help, too.
As for the design of your base, use your imagination. There is no wrong answer when it comes to base designs in RimWorld. If you want a square, build a square. If you wish to have odd angles and corners, go crazy, Picasso!
Prioritize Food
After you lay down the foundation of your base, which can be as simple as a single room with a shared living space, it’s time to focus on food production.
You drop into a map with some food—Packaged Survival Meals—but only enough to keep your colonists alive and satiated for a short period. Within a week or two, you’ll wind up starving and in dire need of a solution. Instead of turning to cannibalism, focus on either hunting or growing food.
Your map, if you spent a bit of time looking around, should have plenty of fauna. Some, like deer and boar, you can hunt relatively quickly with the provided rifle and revolver the game graciously gives you. But avoid hostile predators like wargs. They’ll tear your colonists to pieces!
Personally, I love the quiet lifestyle, which is why I focus on farm plots. You can grow a lot of food in a relatively small plot. That food is consumable raw or becomes a main ingredient in various cooking recipes for greater sustenance and happiness.
If all else fails, you can eat the companion animal that came along for the trip in the drop pod. If you’re past that point, prioritize your weakest colonist. You’ll want to choose someone who contributes little to the community’s overall well-being. Just make it quick, yeah?
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Best Crops to Grow in RimWorld
From a purely food production standpoint, not even considering the money-making opportunities mass farming provides, you should focus on growing:
- Corn
- Rice
- Potatoes
These three crops provide all of the sustenance your colonists require and grow relatively quickly. Corn is the slowest, requiring 20 days to grow, but offers the best food/money value overall. I usually opt for Rice in the early game of RimWorld, as it’s quick and provides a large number of food units on the very first harvest. A bit of Rice goes a long way in the beginning. Potatoes, like Corn, take some time to grow but prove hearty in most conditions and can satiate many colonists.
Start Researching
Depending on your chosen starting scenario, you’ll begin the game with minimal technological advancements. Sometimes, it’s little more than the ability to craft a bow and arrow and basic cooking workbenches, like a campfire.
As such, I recommend plopping down a Simple Research Bench, which will grant you access to the expansive Research Tree. As you progress deeper into the various branches, you’ll inevitably unlock the ability to craft and use laser weaponry, drop nuclear bombs, and power your base with thermal energy, to name but a few of the advancements in store.
But for now, focus on gaining some ground. It’s time to get out of the loincloths and into a suit of power armor.
What To Research First
It takes time to research anything in RimWorld, so focus on the most important projects first:
- Battery
- Solar Panels
- Microelectronics
A Battery will allow you to store generated electricity, ensuring your base remains active and lit up at all hours. The Solar Panels harvest energy from the sun itself, a far more efficient way of producing electricity. Lastly, Microelectronics provides access to EMP tools and weaponry, Hi-Tech Research, and Orbital Trade.
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Don’t Ignore Recreation Needs
You’ll have a lot on your plate during your first playthrough of RimWorld, and surviving the early game can feel overwhelming and challenging. It’s easy to focus on the basics, like building a base, exploring power, and harvesting crops for food. But what about the overall well-being and mental health of your Pawns?
Your colonists require a specific amount of downtime daily to avoid a Minor or Major Break Risk. Trust me when I say that you want to avoid these fits, as without the appropriate mods, it can lead to the downfall of your colony.
I recommend placing down a Wooden Horseshoes Pin just outside your main base early on. It’s just a tiny bit of wood, which you can easily acquire by chopping down a single tree nearby, and provides some downtime for your colonists.
How Break Risks in RimWorld Work
A Mental Break Risk in RimWorld occurs when your colonist becomes overly stressed due to their conditions. They become outright hostile, attacking other Pawns, damaging your base, and destroying goods. Unfortunately, there is a chance that they destroy something explosive, like artillery shells or a nuke, both of which will detonate and take your whole base with them.
There are a handful of Minor and Major Breaks, and they vary in severity. The best way to deal with the more destructive Breaks is to subdue the Pawn by temporarily arresting and locking them in a cell. Alternatively, attack the broken Pawn and knock them out cold. It’s more extreme and potentially has lasting consequences for their relationships, but it can prevent total destruction.
On the topic of managing and thriving in the RimWorld early game, I could continue endlessly. I just might. Part two coming soon?
The Guide Hall adores colony sim and base-building games, with RimWorld reigning supreme, and will continue supporting the game and community in any way possible!