Beginner's Guide to The Planet Crafter: Tips and Tricks

In The Planet Crafter, you will take on the role of a brave astronaut tasked with creating livable conditions from scratch on an unknown planet. This process is much more complicated than it may seem at first glance. You will need to gather resources, build a base, and combat natural disasters. In this guide, we will cover the basics to help you quickly get acquainted with the game and create everything necessary on the planet.

Your adventure is divided into two stages — «First Steps» and «Free Play». In the beginning, tips on what to build first will appear on the screen. This will help you learn the basic mechanics and types of resources. Once you reach 175,000 terraforming points, the sky will turn blue, and the tasks will disappear. From this point, you will have to act independently.

In free play mode, there are also small stages. They are not explicitly separated, but you will clearly understand when it's time to start water extraction or greening.

To progress, regularly check the list of available blueprints displayed on a special screen on the workbench. They unlock automatically after certain conditions are met. Accordingly, if you want to unlock a more spacious backpack or improve your drill for terraforming, you must timely complete mini-tasks.

Your astronaut has a special device that performs several useful functions. Most importantly, it can collect resources scattered around the planet with a special beam. In the early stages, there will be a few basic materials:

As you progress further, the variety of elements used will increase. Note that your «cutter» does not collect ordinary stones. Thanks to this, available resources are easy to collect and are clearly visible on the uniform yellow-orange expanses.

Immediately after landing, your capsule will have a storage box and a crafting station. Opening it, you will find available recipes and the resources needed for creation. One piece of material equals one unit.

The initial inventory is extremely limited, so store extra resources in the box to save time.

By unlocking new recipes, you can improve existing items, but to do this, you must remove them from the hero and move them to the inventory.

Note that all functions of the device in the astronaut's hands are controlled by chips, which also take up space in the backpack. Like other items, they need to be crafted. Only after obtaining a certain chip can you build or demolish buildings.

Despite not being limited by time, you will need to act quickly at the beginning of the game. The reason is that you're only provided with enough food for a few days, and without it, your character will start losing vitality.

The situation with water and oxygen is a bit simpler. By collecting a sufficient amount of ice, you can easily obtain clean water at the crafting station. Oxygen is automatically replenished at the base but is quickly consumed during exploration. To increase your supplies, create an oxygen tank. Over time, you can upgrade it, making resource expeditions much safer.

Food is stored in special containers, which you cannot replicate at the beginning of the game. Blue boxes scattered across the territory contain a couple of additional rations, but you shouldn't rely on them. Instead, seeds, which can also be found in various locations around the base, are much more important.

Once you've obtained seeds, place them in a heater for further maturation. Unfortunately, this method won't completely solve the food problem, as growing vegetables takes quite a bit of time.

The first thing you need to do to start changing the planet is to initiate the terraforming process. To do this, you need to build a drill and power it with energy from a wind turbine. Both machines are crafted from the most basic resources, so it's better to craft several right away. The more drills working simultaneously, the faster you'll accumulate terraforming points. After reaching 175,000, the sky will turn blue, rain will appear, and you'll be able to plant grass.

If the turbines don't provide enough energy, the automatic operation stops. Keep an eye on this to avoid wasting time.

After creating the construction chip, you can start working on your base. The main room is the living quarters. However, you cannot use it immediately after installation. You need to craft a door separately.

Once you have access to the living quarters, you can replenish your oxygen supply. This significantly expands the territory for exploration. Inside, you can build everything available in the initial capsule.

Very soon, you'll realize that one section is not enough for comfortable operations. To expand the base, select «create a new room» and build it adjacent to the already existing one. The sections will automatically connect, giving you two rooms.

At a certain point in time, the planet's available space may become flooded. To avoid unpleasant consequences, choose elevated areas for your base, and install iron frames under the sections, raising them above the ground.

During exploration, you will regularly find blue and gold chests. Some of them are well hidden, while others are simply scattered across the map. Inside the chests, there are many useful and rare materials.

Like many things in Planet Crafter, the mini-map can only be obtained through construction. You will need a rocket launch pad, one of which will provide you with GPS. To access the data, create an interface display. This allows you to see the map of your base and the surrounding territories.