The Planet Crafter – Newcomer’s Tips and Tricks

Suggestions for newcomers, based on over 70 hours of game playing in The Planet Crafter. Of course, you can also leave your tips and suggestions in the comments below.

Getting Started

Game premise: As the player, you are a convicted person who has chosen to be sent to a barren planet, and must terraform the planet before you can leave the planet.

Starting situation: You are in a capsule on an airless, barren planet with one tool and a few resources, and you have no map or guide to help you find needed resources.

Beginning needs: Find food and water, do not run out of air, and gather needed resources.

Suggestion 1: Always keep aware of your food, water and air status in lower left corner of your heads up display (HUD).

Suggestion 2: Complete the objectives that appear in the upper left side of your HUD. Don’t ignore them. As you complete each objective, new ones appear on the HUD. The last objective to appear (Reach blue sky) will take a long time.

Suggestion 3: Don’t build your first base near the capsule where you start. Build it on higher ground. The reason for this will become clear later in the game.

Suggestion 4: After building your first living compartment structure, expand it to at least a 4X4 structure. Build a few containers to store items for later use (and to free up slots in your inventory).

Suggestion 5: Do not ignore meteor showers. They leave various ores, sometimes rare ores.

Suggestion 6: Search any container you find. They contain loot that you can use (sometimes immediately, sometimes later in the game).

Suggestion 7: Occasionally check the Terraformation Screen that you build in you base. It will let you know the status of your planetary oxygen, heat, pressure and terraformation. Knowing that status is important for carrying out Suggestion 8.

Suggestion 8: Pay attention to the Blueprint Screen that you build in your base. It will let you know what items you are able to build or fabricate and give you important information about what level of oxygen, heat, pressure, or terraformation that you need to reach before locked tech becomes available.

Next Step

After establishing your first base, set your next priorities on how to improve your terraforming efforts.

Suggestion 9: Unless you hope to stay alive by always finding food in scattered containers and wreckage, you need to become able to grow food. Look at Blueprint Screen to locate the locked Food Grower tech. Build Heaters to boost your planetary heat level to unlock the Food Grower tech.

Suggestion 10: Explore, explore, explore. You need to do this to find containers with valuable loot, to explore wreckage and caves to find valuable loot, and locate rare ores and locations to mine for rare ores (later in the game).

Suggestion 11: Until you unlock the ability to manufacture larger oxygen tanks, stay close to your living compartments where you can refill your oxygen.

Suggestion 12: Even with the largest oxygen tanks, you will have to keep alert to how much oxygen you have left. One way to extend your ability to explore is to build single living compartment structures at various points as safe havens to replenish your oxygen while exploring and add at least one container in each to stockpile resources and loot you find while exploring. [The idea is based on the example of the American Pony Express (1860-1861) and early American stagecoach companies (1800’s) that set up a chain of stations or stops along the routes for food, water, fresh horses, and rest.]

Suggestion 13: Be patient. This game is not a sprint, but a marathon.

What to Look Forward

With patience and perseverance, you can survive, improve your situation, and terraform the planet.

You will be able to unlock technology:

You will be able to build a larger base:

You will be able to build an advanced industrial infrastructure:

Be patient and stick to it. Enjoy the challenge and watch the growing results of your efforts.