Planetbase: Complete Colony Guide

A practical guide to building a colony that doesn't suffocate: the opening build, the resource chains, colonist and bot management, planet-by-planet notes, disasters, milestones, and the challenges.

Researched September 2026 — current as of Planetbase version 1.4.2 (October 2025 maintenance update). Madruga Works is now developing Planetbase 2, which is a separate game. Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

Oxygen, water, power — in that order of panic. Colonists die fastest without oxygen. The Oxygen Generator needs water and power, so a failed Water Extractor or a dark night can suffocate your base.
Build power storage early. Solar Panels only work in daylight. Add Power Collectors so the base survives the night; add Wind Turbines where the planet has wind.
Keep everything compact. Walking distance is the hidden cost of every structure. Short connections between domes and a central hub make your colonists far more productive.
Food is a chain, not a building. Vegetables grow in a Biodome; meals are cooked from them at a Meal Maker in the Canteen. Without both, people starve with full vegetable pads.
Manage immigration. The Landing Pad brings in new colonists. You can stop immigration when you're short on oxygen, food, or beds — you should, often.
Engineers build and repair; Workers do everything else. Biologists grow food, Medics heal, Guards fight. Keep the ratio balanced to your current bottleneck.
Storage placement matters. Put Storage near production so carriers don't cross the whole base.
Start on the Desert Planet. It's the easiest (landing there is the first achievement), and it unlocks the others through milestones.

The Core Survival Loop

Need	Main source	Depends on
Power	Solar Panels, Wind Turbines, Power Collectors (storage)	Sun or wind; Collectors for night
Water	Water Extractor, Water Tank for storage	Power
Oxygen	Oxygen Generator	Water + power
Food	Biodome (vegetable pads) and meat production, cooked at the Canteen's Meal Maker	Water + power + Biologists
Metal	Mine	Workers or Driller bots
Bioplastic	Processing Plant	Starch from the Biodome
Spares, Semiconductors, Guns, Medical Supplies	Factory and other production components	Metal/Bioplastic

The base only works when all chains keep up with population. Almost every collapse is one link breaking — typically power at night — and cascading into water, oxygen, and then everything else.

Opening Build (Desert Planet)

A reliable first-10-minutes order:

Solar Panels (several) and a Power Collector.
Water Extractor.
Oxygen Generator.
Airlock plus a small dome for the core interior. Connect everything with short corridors.
Storage next to the airlock so supplies from the lander have a home.
Dorm (beds) and a Canteen with a Meal Maker.
Biodome with vegetable pads.
Mine and a Processing Plant once food and oxygen are stable.
Landing Pad only when you can support newcomers.

Rule of thumb: before letting more colonists in, check the resource panel for surplus oxygen, water, food, and at least one free bed per incoming colonist. If any of them is at zero growth, hold immigration.

Colonists and Bots

Colonist roles

Role	Job	Tip
Worker	Hauling, mining, manufacturing	Most numerous; don't let them idle for lack of work areas
Engineer	Construction and repairs	Keep a buffer so broken structures get fixed during disasters
Biologist	Farming in Biodomes	One per few pads; food production scales with them
Medic	Heals the sick and injured at the Sick Bay	Needed once you're past a small outpost
Guard	Defends against intruders	Need guns from the Armory; more important on later planets

Colonists have health, morale, and other needs. Welfare depends on food, rest, oxygen quality, and comfort buildings like the Bar. The "High Spirits" achievement asks for 100 colonists at 95% welfare, so comfort matters at scale.

Bots

Bot	Role
Carrier	Hauls resources
Constructor	Builds and repairs
Driller	Mines metal

Bots are built in a Robotics Facility, consume power, and need Spares for maintenance. They don't breathe or eat, so a bot-heavy base is much more resilient on hostile planets. The "Robo Colony" achievement requires 25% bots at 100+ colonists; the "Cyber Miner" achievement asks for 6 Driller bots and 2 working Mines.

Mid-Game: Trade, Techs, and Security

Starport and traders. Trade ships bring goods and let you buy techs. Sell surplus manufactured goods for coins ("Capitalist" requires 1,000 coins held at once).
Techs. Eight techs can be bought from traders; buy the ones that fix your current bottleneck (food, power, or production) first. Genetically modified crops (the "Genetic Engineer" achievement asks for GM tomato and GM onion pads) boost food output substantially.
Medical care. A Sick Bay with a Medical Cabinet to store Medical Supplies keeps injured colonists alive after accidents and attacks.
Security. Intruders arrive as the base grows. Build an Armory, produce guns, and keep Guards on duty. "Police State" is 20 armed Guards at once.
Meteor defense. Build Telescopes and Lasers to spot and shoot incoming meteors. "Steel Dome" asks for 3 operational lasers, telescopes, and telescope consoles.

Planets

Planet	Key conditions	Notes
Desert Planet	Sunny, sandstorms	Easiest start; solar is reliable
Frozen Planet	Cold, low sun, blizzards	Wind matters; blizzards hamper power and exterior work
Gas Giant Moon	No wind, long nights	Power storage is critical; very unforgiving
Storm Planet (Class S)	Constant thunderstorms, erratic energy generation	Added in 1.1.0 (March 2016); requires 12 milestones to unlock. Build Lightning Rods — they protect structures and harvest energy

Each planet has a "Landing" and a "Base" achievement (100 colonists). Storm Planet has a community Steam guide dedicated to surviving it; it's the hardest map in the game.

Disasters

Disaster	Where	Response
Sandstorm	Desert	Solar output drops; keep Power Collectors charged and stock up beforehand
Meteor	Various	Telescopes + Lasers; Engineers ready to repair
Solar flare	Various	Keep colonists inside; don't schedule long outdoor work
Blizzard	Frozen Planet	Power and exterior work hampered; plan storage and power reserves
Thunderstorm	Storm Planet	Lightning Rods; redundant power

The universal answer is reserves: extra power storage, full water tanks, stockpiled meals, and spare Engineers.

Milestones and Prestige

Milestones (population, production, and building goals) chart your progress on each planet, and your total completed milestones unlock later planets.
Prestige structures: the Pyramid is an intermediate prestige structure required before you can build the Monolith. "Hyper Megalomaniac" requires Monoliths on all planets.
Massive structures: "Megastructures" asks for all of them; "Hoarder" asks you to fill a Massive Storage to over 90%.
"Absolute Domination" requires every milestone on every planet.

Achievement Checklist

Planetbase has 30 Steam achievements. Most fall out of normal play; plan for these:

Achievement	Requirement	Tip
Space Farmer	20 Vegetable boxes in your base	Stop cooking for a moment and let vegetables pile up in Storage
Cyber Miner	6 Driller bots and 2 operational Mines	Needs a Robotics Facility and steady Spares
Stargazer	5 operational Telescopes at once	Pairs well with Steel Dome (3 lasers, telescopes, consoles)
Overpopulation	350 colonists in one base	Needs a big bot workforce and several food/oxygen chains
Robo Colony	100 colonists with at least 25% bots	Convert hauling to Carrier bots early
High Spirits	100 colonists at 95% welfare	Comfort buildings and never-empty food/oxygen
Landing / Base pairs	Land on each planet; reach 100 colonists on each	The Storm Planet pair is the last and hardest
Express Outpost / Express Colony	100 colonists in under 30 days / 250 in under 60	Start on the Desert Planet with a planned layout
Challenger / Hyper Challenger	One / all built-in challenges	Includes the two timed challenge achievements below

Challenges

The game includes built-in challenges (added in version 1.2.0, June 2016: custom scenarios with set starting conditions and goals) and, since version 1.3.7 (May 2019), a visual Challenge Editor made by a community member plus an in-game Workshop uploader for sharing scenarios on the Steam Workshop. Named built-in challenges include Starport Atlantis, Dark Moon, Mining Station Alpha, and Frozen Cage. Two achievements are speed goals: finish Starport Atlantis in under 15 days, and Dark Moon in under 70 days. "Hyper Challenger" requires all built-in challenges.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Letting immigrants in too fast. Most early collapses come from population outgrowing oxygen or food.
No night-time power storage. Solar-only bases die at night.
Spread-out layouts. Colonists waste their shifts walking; productivity craters.
Forgetting Spares. Structures and bots degrade; without Spares, Engineers can't fix them.
Too few Engineers during disasters. Damage piles up faster than it can be repaired.
Ignoring morale. Unhappy colonists work poorly and can become problems.
Building a Starport before the base is stable. Trade is powerful, but visitors still need oxygen.

Advanced Tips

Hub-and-spoke layout. Put Storage, Canteen, and Dorm in the middle with production spokes around them.
Bot conversion. Replace hauling Workers with Carrier bots once you can afford Spares. Bots don't eat or breathe, which reduces pressure on every survival chain.
Batch your expansions. Add a new chunk of power, water, and oxygen before opening immigration, not after.
Watch the resource chart, not the stockpile. A shrinking stockpile tells you the problem before it's lethal.
Speed achievements. "Express Outpost" (100 colonists under 30 days) and "Express Colony" (250 under 60 days) reward aggressive-but-balanced expansion. Plan the layout first, then scale power and food ahead of each immigration burst.
Mods. Community mods are listed in a Steam guide ("List of Mods"); check they're compatible with 1.4.x, since version 1.4.0 (September 2024) moved the game from Unity 5.0.4 to Unity 2022.3 and switched to physically based rendering, so mods made for older versions may not work.

Planetbase 2

Madruga Works is in the final stretch of developing Planetbase 2, a separate game rebuilt from scratch, with regular dev updates on the Planetbase Steam page (dev update 09 on September 10, 2026 showed the Terra Dome, Recreation Dome, Meat Farm, and Security Center). None of its systems — nuclear power, vehicles, rocket fuel — are in the original game.

FAQ

Why are my colonists suffocating? Oxygen Generators need both water and power. Check the power chain at night and the water extractors first.

How do I unlock the other planets? Complete milestones on earlier planets. The Storm Planet needs 12 milestones.

What should I build for food? A Biodome with vegetable pads, Biologists to farm it, and a Canteen with a Meal Maker to cook.

How do I stop immigration? Use the Landing Pad's controls to close immigration temporarily.

Are bots worth it? Yes, once your Spares production is stable. They reduce oxygen and food demand.

Is Planetbase still updated? Only with maintenance updates (1.4.2 in October 2025 fixed resolution selection and a Unity security issue). Active development has moved to Planetbase 2.