Clay

Clay is a natural solid element found in the Swamp Biome in varying quantities. It is an important midgame building and refining resource because it is one of the main inputs for Ceramic, and it can also be fed to Hatches as food. Deodorizers additionally produce Clay as a byproduct, so polluted oxygen cleanup can become a small but steady source of it when Sand or Regolith is available.

Clay is used to build several farming-related structures:

• Planter Box: 100 kg
• Farm Tile: 100 kg
• Algae Terrarium: 400 kg

It is also used in the Kiln to fabricate Ceramic. The standard recipe is 100 kg Clay + 25 kg Coal = 100 kg Ceramic. Because Ceramic is a valuable heat-resistant material, Clay often becomes more important once colonies begin scaling up industrial infrastructure, insulation, and high-temperature machinery.

A few practical notes make Clay especially useful:

• Deodorizers convert polluted oxygen into oxygen and Clay, so placing them in polluted areas can both improve air quality and generate a building resource.
• Hatches can eat Clay and excrete Coal, making Clay a viable part of ranch feeding if no better food source is available.
• Since Clay appears naturally in the Swamp Biome, it is usually most accessible early through exploration rather than through dedicated production.
• Its role in Ceramic production means that Clay stockpiles should be conserved once a colony starts relying on Kiln output.

Clay is one of those resources that looks modest at first but remains relevant throughout a colony’s development: it supports early farming buildings, enables Ceramic production, and doubles as a ranching food option.