Water Fort

Water Fort is a recreational building for aquatic critters. When an adult aquatic Critter has access to one, it will regularly stop to rest there and gain the Cozy buff, which gives a temporary +1 Happiness bonus for 1 cycle. The fort is used by Pacu and Pokeshell, and even wild Critters will take advantage of it. Wild Critters become happier after using it, but their reproduction speed and metabolism are unchanged.

A Water Fort only functions when all 9 tiles of its footprint are fully submerged in liquid. The liquid type and liquid quality do not matter for the building requirement itself. In practice, though, Pacu need enough liquid depth to reach the fort: the liquid should be above 0.35 of their full tile height, or they will not be able to swim to it. This makes Water Fort especially useful in Pacu ranches, where it can raise happiness without duplicant labor. A tame, ungroomed, cozy Pokeshell reaches a total happiness of 0, which means it uses its base reproduction and metabolism rates. That allows sand production ranches to operate without grooming if the extra eggs are not needed.

In short, Water Fort is a low-maintenance way to improve the mood of aquatic ranch critters. It is most valuable in setups that already keep Critters submerged, since it rewards them with periodic relaxation rather than requiring any direct interaction from duplicants.