What Is This
It is 2037. The United States is not really the United States anymore. A scattering of fortified cities, miles of hollow land, and whatever order can be held together by whoever is willing to hold it.
You are not a soldier. You are a leader. You inherited a small group of survivors and a piece of ground. Your job is to keep them alive, make hard calls, and figure out who out there is worth trusting.
There is no finish line. There is no win. There is only how long you last, how well you lead, and what kind of reputation you leave behind.
The Colony Overview
This is your command panel. It updates in real time and is the first thing you should check every time you log in.
| Stat | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Population | Total number of people in your colony. Everyone eats. Everyone matters. |
| Available Workforce | People not currently assigned to a mission or recovering from injury. This is your active labor pool. |
| Morale | How your people feel about their situation. Drops when things go wrong and climbs slowly when things go right. It affects everything from productivity to how likely people are to stay. |
| Food Supply | How many units of food you have and how many days that lasts at current population. Population goes up, days go down. This is calculated live every time the page loads. |
| Fuel | Required to send parties out. No fuel means no missions. Missions cannot depart without enough fuel for the round trip. |
| Medical | Used to treat injuries and slow illness spread. Running out means injured people stay injured longer and sick people get others sick. |
| Defense | How prepared your colony is to repel an attack. Affected by how many trained fighters are present versus out on missions. |
Morale States
Morale is shown as a state, not just a number. The state changes how your colony behaves behind the scenes.
| State | Range | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| Great | 80 – 100 | People are motivated. Productivity is up. Recruitment is easier. |
| Steady | 60 – 79 | Things are holding. No major problems. Colony operates normally. |
| Strained | 40 – 59 | Tension is building. Small problems feel bigger. Watch your decisions. |
| Poor | 20 – 39 | People are losing faith. Productivity drops. Desertion risk begins. |
| Critical | 0 – 19 | Colony is on the edge. Risk of internal conflict, mass desertion, or collapse. |
The trend indicator next to morale shows which direction it is heading right now. A morale of 65 trending down is more dangerous than a morale of 45 trending up.
Food and Consumption
Every person in your colony consumes food every day. Days remaining is calculated from your current population and current food supply. It updates the moment your population changes.
Accepting new survivors into the colony immediately reduces your runway. Before approving anyone, check your food days and your next scavenge return.
| State | Days Left |
|---|---|
| Well Stocked | 7 or more |
| Adequate | 4 – 7 |
| Running Low | 2 – 4 |
| Critically Low | 1 – 2 |
| Near Famine | Under 1 |
Perimeter Defense
Your colony has perimeter towers and an inner defensive line. They are your buffer against raiders and outside threats. Understanding them is critical to survival.
How Defenses Work
When a raid comes in, it happens in stages:
- Phase 1: Perimeter — Attackers engage your tower defenses. Towers absorb damage and reduce the attacker force.
- Phase 2: Inner Defenders — If the perimeter breaks, assigned defenders fight in the colony. They can still stop a raid or inflict heavy losses.
- Phase 3: Breach — If inner defenders fall, the colony is breached. Attackers auto-loot resources and return home. A raider who loots you cannot raid again for several hours (raid shield).
Tower Levels
Your perimeter has a level that determines its durability and how many defenders it can support.
| Level | Perimeter HP | Defender Slots |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 100 | 5 |
| 2 | 180 | 8 |
| 3 | 270 | 12 |
| 4 | 360 | 16 |
Inner Defenders
Assign operatives to defend the inner wall. They do not leave the colony. While assigned, they cannot go on missions. When a raid penetrates the perimeter, they are your last stand.
You cannot assign more defenders than your current population allows, and you must always keep at least a minimum staff for the colony to function. Find the balance between defense and workforce.
Raid Shield
After a successful raid against your colony (or government enforcement action), a shield activates for a few hours. No new raids can land during this time. Use it to rebuild, recover, and prepare.
Defense Maintenance
Damaged perimeter towers heal slowly over time. Injured defenders consume medical supplies to recover. Keeping your perimeter healthy requires constant attention and resources. But a colony with no defense is a colony that will be picked clean.
Missions
Missions are how you interact with the world outside your walls. You assign people, choose a destination, and send them out. They travel in real time. The world does not pause while they are gone.
- Scavenge — Send a party to a known location to recover food, fuel, or supplies. Higher risk locations yield more.
- Scout — Send a small team to explore unknown coordinates. They may return with intel on locations or other colonies.
Travel costs fuel. Distance determines both travel time and fuel cost. A party that cannot afford the round trip cannot depart.
While a party is out, those people cannot defend your colony. Plan accordingly. Sending everyone at once leaves you exposed.
Map and Recon Grid
The map is a tactical view centered on your colony. Your colony has a fixed sector coordinate set at founding. You cannot relocate by editing coordinates.
The local grid shows nearby sectors around your home position. Use it to read your immediate surroundings and track what your scout teams have discovered.
- Home Sector — Your colony's exact location.
- Known Colonies — Colonies detected within local range.
- Discovered Sectors — Points of interest found by scout missions.
Scout missions can reveal new sectors. Those discoveries are stored and displayed on the map so you can build a long-term picture of your surrounding region.
Things That Can Go Wrong Out There
Parties face real risk. On any mission, individual members can return:
- Safe — Back in one piece. Return to their role.
- Injured — Pulled from their role until recovered. Consumes medical supplies.
- Arrested — Detained at a checkpoint or hostile location. You will have options: rescue, ransom, or abandon. Each has a cost.
- Missing — No contact. Until confirmed, morale takes a hit. They may return. They may not.
- Killed — Permanent. The colony feels it.
Your reports page will tell you what happened. Read them.
The World While You Are Away
The game does not pause when you log off. The world keeps moving. Food is consumed. Morale drifts. Missions travel. Events happen.
When you return, check your reports and alerts first. Something will have changed. Sometimes it will be good. Often it will need your attention.
Your colony follows whatever policies and assignments you left in place. Set them before you log off. A colony with clear orders holds better than one left idle.
Other Colonies
You start with no knowledge of anyone else out there. Your scouts and scavenge parties may come across signs of other survivors. When they do, you will get a report with coordinates and whatever they could observe from a distance.
What you do with that information is up to you.
- You can ignore them.
- You can send contact and try to establish a relationship.
- You can raid them for resources.
Each choice carries consequences. Alliances can save you. Raids can break you if the target hits back. Your reputation in the world is not invisible.
The World Feed — Government & Global Events
Access the World Feed from the left menu to see what is happening in the world at large. This is the FCD (Federal Continuity Directorate) broadcast network — the government's public communications channel. Every player sees the same broadcasts.
Government Activity Level
The government has a global activity level that ranges from 1 (Quiet) to 10 (Martial Law). This level affects:
- How aggressive government enforcement becomes
- The types and intensity of broadcasts you will see
- Probability and severity of government raids against high-threat colonies
- Resource seizures and territory restrictions
Activity rises when many colonies thrive (which draws attention) and naturally drifts back toward baseline over time.
Your Colony's Threat Level
The government tracks each colony individually on a 0–100 threat scale. Your threat increases when:
- Your colony has a large population
- You stockpile significant resources (food, fuel, medical)
- You maintain active military strength
A bribe can suppress threat accumulation temporarily. High-threat colonies are viable targets for government raids, especially when global activity is elevated.
Broadcasts
Broadcasts are messages from the FCD. They appear under "Transmissions" on the World Feed and typically last 24 hours before expiring. They contain:
- Updates on government operations and enforcement sweep schedules
- Warnings about movement restrictions or curfews
- Notices about supply routes, mandate changes, or compliance expectations
- Contextual flavor for what the world is experiencing
Pay attention to broadcasts. They often signal shifts in government mood and can hint at upcoming risks or opportunities.
Finding the Feed
Click World Feed in the left navigation menu (or use the shortcut key if configured). The Network Status panels show current government activity, your threat level, and when the last enforcement action occurred. Below that, you will see the Transmissions feed with the latest broadcasts.
Leaderboards
There is no winner. But there is a record. Multiple leaderboard categories run on weekly rotation so newer players can compete without needing to match colonies that have been running for months.
Leaderboards never reveal coordinates, troop counts, or current stockpiles. Doing well on a board does not paint a target on your back.