Walkthrough: Step-by-Step Early-to-Midgame Guide
Timberborn is a city-builder where you guide a beaver settlement through cycles of normal weather and periodic droughts. Early planning, water management, food production, and staged construction priorities determine whether your colony survives the first droughts and grows into an advanced faction stronghold.
Opening (Days 1–3): secure basics and population
- Immediately place a Lumberjack Flag, Log Pile,
- Build your first housing unit so new beavers have beds and work can begin without excess stress.
- Start an Inventor (or appropriate science building for your faction) to produce science points for early unlocks.
- Assign one or two beavers to gathering and one to water pumping. Keep early workforce lean so resource consumption stays low.
Early expansion (Days 4–12): stable food, water storage, and production
- Add a second Lumberjack Flag and a Forester to increase wood production and allow continuous reforestation.
- Begin farming: place a Farmhouse and about 15–20 potato plots on irrigated land. Irrigation ensures reliable yields before droughts.
- Build Small Water Tanks and begin stockpiling water. Aim to accumulate a comfortable buffer before the first drought window (guideline: enough to last through the initial drought period).
- If playing Iron Teeth, build a Breeding Pod by day 3–4 to start population growth; it requires water and berries so ensure those supply lines exist.
- Build supporting buildings like a Campfire (or other leisure) to keep beaver stress low and expand housing to support ~12–15 beavers as you approach mid-game.
Mid-game preparation (Days 8–18): durable infrastructure and drought prep
- Construct your first dam across the narrowest part of the river to control water flow and create predictable reservoirs.
- Start stockpiling logs specifically for emergency drought construction (floodgates, tanks, pumps, and dams). Reduce non-essential construction to conserve timber.
- Unlock and build a Lumber Mill to produce planks once you have enough logs. Planks and metal are often needed for more advanced buildings.
- Research and plan for upgrades such as Large Water Tanks and Floodgates; these are key to surviving droughts.
- Ensure food storage has at least a multi-day buffer (aim for at least around 10 days of food supply before a major drought).
- By day 15, check your water reserves and adjust priorities if tanks are not filling at expected rates.
First drought and survival (Days 19–25): triage and management
- When drought hits, immediately monitor reservoir and tank levels. Prioritize watering essential pumps and divert beaver labor to firefighting (repairing and maintaining water infrastructure) and water transport.
- If reservoir drains too quickly, reduce working hours or set production buildings to idle to decrease consumption.
- Ration water to critical buildings and people: keep pumps operating, maintain essential farming irrigation if possible, and let low-priority tasks pause.
- Use Floodgates, Dams, and stored water to buy time. Repair damage quickly; failing infrastructure accelerates collapse.
Faction-specific notes: Iron Teeth opening
Iron Teeth begin with the Deep Water Pump available. Position it over the deepest part of water sources to use its full reach (it can reach multiple tiles deep).- Iron Teeth lack free wind power but have the Engine for reliable power; the Engine consumes logs—ensure two Lumberjack Flags are active before building an Engine so fuel doesn’t compete with construction logs.
- Iron Teeth can stack Log Piles vertically; use stacked Log Piles to save space and compact storage.
- Breeding Pods are central to population growth for Iron Teeth; build one early and supply it with water and berries.
Logistics and goods routing
- Use Distribution Posts and Drop-off Points to organize item flow. To create a route: select the Distribution Post, choose "Add a new route," then select a destination Drop-off Point and the good to send.
- Drop-off Points appear red in the Distribution Post’s district when creating routes, but you can still route to them. If beavers cannot distribute goods after creating a route, an '!' marker and message "Beavers can't distribute goods" will appear—check pathing, access, and whether the Distribution Post or Drop-off Point is blocked or disabled.
Map creation and custom scenarios
- In the Map Editor, start by choosing map dimensions, sculpt terrain, and carve river channels. Place water sources and trees to ensure suitable starting resources.
- Place a starting location marker for the beavers and configure drought cycle settings to define map difficulty.
- Playtest multiple times to ensure rivers flow properly and the starting area has enough resources to survive the initial drought window.
- When satisfied, save and upload your map to the Steam Workshop or mod.io.
Practical checklist for a successful early walkthrough
- Day 1–3:
- Day 4–7: second Lumberjack Flag,
- Day 8–12: first dam across narrow river point,
- Day 13–18:
- Day 19+: execute drought triage plan, prioritize water distribution and infrastructure repair.
Follow this staged approach to get through the dangerous early cycles and set up the reserves and infrastructure you need to expand into advanced buildings, sustained production, and long-term settlement growth.