RimWorld: 14 Beginner Tips (2024)

RimWorld is a fantastic strategic survival game that is incredibly complex. The sci-fi game follows the chaotic misadventures of a group of colonists as they attempt to live on a strange planet.

There is a lot to keep you occupied in this game, from keeping track of needs and desires to ensuring the entire colony is safe from frequent attacks. Rimworld is all about storytelling, and once you've got the basics down, you can begin telling countless tales upon the RimWorld. The game can have a steep learning curve, so here are some helpful tips to help you get started.

Updated June 22, 2024, by Caitlin Thursfield: RimWorld is one of the most difficult colony sim games to wrap your head around. There are lots of things to keep an eye on, from maintaining a steady food supply to protecting your colonists from brutal raids. With very little tutorial tips, it can take some time to get your bearings and start building a powerful colony. In addition to its DLCs, RimWorld has seen consistent updates to improve gameplay. To make sure you can get the best start on your first RimWorld experience, we’ve updated this list to give the most accurate and helpful beginner tips.

14 Choose A Manageable Set-up

RimWorld can be very difficult, but there are ways to make this challenging survival game more welcoming to beginners. When setting up your playthrough, the original Crashlanded scenario is your best choice. It will give you three colonists and a generous amount of initial supplies to help you survive.

Your chosen storyteller will determine the random events that take place. Go for Phoebe Chillax for your first game. Phoebe will give you plenty of time to prepare and recover from disasters. As for the difficulty, go for Community builder or Adventure Story for a reasonable challenge.

13 Pick A Good Starting Location

The possibilities are endless for this Sandbox game, and it can be a little overwhelming when looking at the world map for the first time. Clicking around the map will show you the details about each hex, such as its average temperature.

A temperate or tropical hex is an excellent choice to ensure you don't have to worry about the cold until winter. A mountainous or hilly area will offer you many natural defenses, which can be invaluable early on. Also, consider a location with a river. This will give you the chance to make watermills, which are a fantastic power source.

12 Choose Useful Colonists

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RimWorld has changed a lot since its five years in early access, but it has always kept the chaotic nature of its characters. You can never create the perfect crew. Everyone has unique flaws and skills, but it's a good idea to keep randomizing your colonists to avoid the game being too difficult. For example, a character incapable of Dumb Labour can be a real burden on the team.

You also want to make sure that you have colonists talented in Construction, Plants, Intellectual, and Crafting. A good shooter and a medical expert are also handy to have. Don't worry too much about a lack of skills, though, as your colonists will slowly improve over time.

11 Set Manual Priorities

A lot is going on in Rimworld. Pause frequently, survey your surroundings, and make sure tasks are being prioritised. As soon as your colonists land, you'll want to sort out their workload. On the Work tab, you can see what tasks everyone is assigned to do. Hovering over them will show you who is the most qualified as well.

If you turn on Manual Priorities, you can ensure that colonists will always do specific tasks first. Set Firefight, Patient, and Bed Rest as top priority. Do the same with Doctor for the person with the best medical knowledge. This ensures that no one will continue random jobs while their friend slowly dies.

A crucial part of Rimworld is building a base. You'll want to create a simple wooden shelter right away, establishing somewhere warm for your colonists to sleep in and keep safe from wild animals.

While one colonist is building, another must establish a farm right away. Once you've set up a farm, you can select it to choose what type of crop to grow. Rice is a great choice early on. It isn't the most filling but grows very quickly, so you'll always have a decent supply. Alongside rice, set up a potato or corn farm for a slower-growing but reliable food source.

9 Find And Use Rich Soil

When you're setting up your farm, it's good to make the most of Rich Soil if you have any. Rich Soil has a higher fertility that helps crops grow faster. Rich Soil is a darker brown colour, so it should be easy to spot. It's a good idea to place your farms over these patches rather than burying them beneath buildings.

Rich soil is particularly helpful for slower-growing crops, especially in the early game when you want to get an excellent food supply for your colonists quickly. If you have Rich Soil in your starting area, make the most of it, but don't worry too much if there isn't any. Regular Soil is still completely fine to use.

8 Set Up An Indoor Stockpile And A Refrigerator

A lot of items, especially food and medicine, will start to deteriorate if left outside. Build a room specifically for storage to protect them. By clicking on this zone, you will also be able to set what belongs in each Stockpile you have, allowing you to keep food separate from other items.

Speaking of food, it is vital to set up a refrigerator room. With a Cooler, you can keep it at a temperature of around -3C. The Cooler is available without any research and needs three components and 90 steel. With this room, your food will last a lot longer, allowing you to stock up for winter.

7 Build Multiple Power Sources

After establishing the basics, you will need to build power sources to progress further. There are multiple options available, and you have the components and steel required for most of them right away in the Crashlanded scenario. You could set up a wood-fired generator or even a wind turbine. Your choice.

You can power up coolers for your refrigerator, use electric stoves, and have heaters for winter. Get a battery as soon as you can as well. These are great for maintaining power overnight when wind turbines or solar panels are inactive. Be wary, though, of having your energy devices and batteries too close to your main base, as they are prone to explode from time to time. Because of this, it is a good idea to have more than one energy supply so you can have a backup in case of emergencies.

6 Separate Your Workstations

Hygiene is incredibly important for the health of your colonists. They need clean working environments to make sure that they stay healthy, feel safe, and be more productive. This is the case with the various workshops available in the game as well. It seems easy to squeeze all your workbenches into one room, but they can impact the quality of the items produced. Food-based workbenches are especially important as they require clean rooms to avoid food poisoning.

If you keep specific workbenches in separate rooms, you can ensure that it is not affected by other aspects. This is very useful for the Research Bench, as being inside a sterile room will increase a colonists' research speed. So do your best to keep your researchers comfortable, making them more efficient.

5 Always Collect Components

This next Rimworld Tip is a bit more advanced, but even when starting out, it is a good thing to be considering as you get to grips with the game. Components are a limited resource that can get increasingly more difficult to get a hold of. They are used for constructing a lot of valuable pieces of electrical equipment. They are also used for vital repairs. You want to be cautious with your stock and look out for them whenever you can.

There are a few different ways to source components. You can dig for sources of Compact Machinery or deconstruct Ship Chunks that fall from space. The most convenient way to find them is to purchase them from traders. When you are visited by a Bulk Goods Trader or an Exotic Goods Trader, make sure to buy any components they have to add to your supply.

4 Understand Colony Wealth

Colony wealth refers to how rich your colony is. Almost everything will increase colony wealth, but they’re split into three groups:

• Items
• Buildings
• People and animals

You can view the colony wealth in the Statistics section of the History tab, which is along the bottom bar. Colony wealth increases if you build higher quality buildings, like Masterworks. Higher colony wealth makes you more interesting to enemy factions, so the likelihood of raids also increases. There’s a fine line between making your colonists happy and deterring raiders from attacking. If you’re flashing your wealth around, be prepared to defend it.

3 Build Adequate Defences

You need to make sure your lovely isometric paradise is well defended. There are wooden barricades and sandbags you can construct right away. Set up an area your colonists can run to when a raid begins. With plenty of cover, you can start picking off your enemies from a distance. Also, try to make use of natural defenses. Build into the side of a mountain to ensure there are fewer directions for invaders to approach from.

You might not always kill your enemies, so have a spare room that you can assign to prisoners. They will be locked up here, and you could even try to recruit them. Extra rooms are also helpful when you have unexpected arrivals that need medical attention.

2 Keep Track Of Moods

In this strategy game, you want your colonists to be happy and fulfilled. By selecting each character, you can visit their Needs Tab, which will tell you everything that is affecting their mood.

There are some quick, straightforward ways to boost their moods. Make sure they have their own separate, well-lit bedrooms with an actual bed to sleep upon. Eventually, add a dresser, end table, and a plant pot to give those extra boosts. Eating on the floor will badly impact the colonist's mood, so make sure there is a table available for mealtimes. One last boost is making sure there are multiple recreational items for their breaks.

1 Have A Dedicated Researcher

Although it is easy to get caught up in the survival aspect of the game, it is essential to start research too. Set up a Simple Research Bench with just a bit of wood and steel and set aside some time for the character with the highest intellect to study. As researching is a constant battle, it's good to dedicate a colonist to researching, so you can keep improving.

The battery is a great one to focus on first, but after that, see what appeals to your playstyle and always make sure there's one project on the go. This will help you unlock vital tools to help you thrive in your new home.