Your first colony

An example colony with bedrooms, a workshop, crops and a fenced animal area. View full screenshot

Wildhold is a colony survival game. You choose what should be built and produced; your colonists choose jobs using their work priorities, needs and schedules. Pause whenever you need time to plan.

Create a game

Choose New game, give the colony a name, and pick a seed and difficulty. A seed determines the starting map. Peaceful removes raids, but hunger, illness, weather and fire still matter. Normal is the standard challenge; Hard brings stronger, more frequent raids.

Establish the essentials

1. Pause with Space and look around the starting supplies. Select each colonist and inspect their skills and health.
2. Open Zones > Stockpile and paint a storage area near your camp. Select it to check its accepted items. Keep Haul enabled in Work so supplies get moved there.
3. Choose Architect > Orders > Chop trees and drag over nearby trees. Wood is delivered to blueprints by workers.
4. In Architect > Structure, build a small room with walls and a door. Drag walls diagonally to outline a room. Constructors roof enclosed rooms automatically when supports are close enough.
5. Add one Bed per colonist, a Torch, and a Table with Chairs. Select beds to assign owners.
6. Paint a Grow zone on fertile ground and choose potatoes. Grow enough for everyone, but keep immediate food available: a new field takes time to mature. Harvest ripe berry bushes or hunt while you wait.
7. Build a Cooking hearth, select it and Add bill for simple meals. Choose Until X to maintain a small reserve. A workstation needs a bill, ingredients and a capable worker.
8. Open Work and make sure someone can Grow, Cook, Construct, Haul and Doctor. Lower priority numbers mean more urgent work.

Before you speed up

Check that food is accessible, beds can be reached, and construction materials are available. A colonist may stop working to eat, sleep or recover. If a task stalls, inspect the thing and try a right-click prioritize order with an undrafted colonist.

Build a research bench once basic survival is stable. Keep the kitchen clean, prepare weapons before raids, and grow cotton or gather leather for warm clothing before winter.

Where to go next

• Controls for mouse, keyboard and touch
• Food and farming
• Work priorities and schedules
• Troubleshooting a stalled colony

The screenshots in this guide use a staged example colony. They illustrate the interface and buildings; your starting map will look different.