Colony survival & problem solving
RimWorld Guides Hub
Start with the problem in your colony. Find the check that matters, understand the tradeoff, and see which expansion the advice requires.
Find your next task
Browse colony problems first, or jump to the expansion you are playing.
Start & manage a colony
RimWorld guideSurvive Your First Week
For a standard Crashlanded start, secure reachable food and medicine, assign essential work, and build a small roofed shelter before expanding.
Open guide →RimWorld guideFix Colonists Who Won’t Work
Select one pawn and one job.
Open guide →RimWorld guidePrevent and Handle Mental Breaks
Read the lowest-mood pawn’s Needs tab and fix the largest avoidable recurring penalties first.
Open guide →RimWorld guideChoose a Storyteller and Difficulty
Choose a storyteller for pacing and difficulty for pressure.
Open guide →RimWorld guideFix Research That Won’t Progress
Research needs an available capable researcher, the right project and a usable bench.
Open guide →RimWorld guideFix Mod Load Order and Compatibility Errors
Back up the save and record the current mod list before changing anything.
Open guide →Food, power & temperature
RimWorld guideStop a Food Shortage
Separate an immediate food rescue from the next harvest.
Open guide →RimWorld guideFix a Freezer That Won’t Stay Cold
Find out whether your RimWorld freezer is losing power, trapping exhaust or taking in more heat than its coolers can remove.
Open guide →RimWorld guidePrevent Repeated Food Poisoning
Check the cook, kitchen cleanliness and food source separately.
Open guide →RimWorld guideHydroponics or Soil?
Use soil when suitable land and the growing season already meet your needs.
Open guide →RimWorld guideFix Power Outages and Prepare for Solar Flares
First check whether there is a solar flare.
Open guide →RimWorld guidePrevent Heatstroke and Hypothermia
Move the affected pawn out of dangerous exposure and compare their own comfortable temperature range with the place they are working or resting.
Open guide →RimWorld guideFeed Pen Animals Through Winter
Check whether animals can reach food they can actually eat before adding more feed.
Open guide →Health & recruitment
RimWorld guideRecruit Prisoners
Capture the pawn into a valid prison, select the prisoner’s Recruit interaction and give an available warden access.
Open guide →RimWorld guideTreat Infection and Improve Immunity
Compare infection severity and immunity in the Health tab, then prioritize timely tending, bed rest and appropriate medicine.
Open guide →RimWorld guideImprove Surgery Success
Before an elective operation, check the surgeon, permitted medicine and patient’s bed/room conditions.
Open guide →RimWorld guideConvert a Pawn’s Ideology
With Ideology active, identify whether you are converting a prisoner or a colonist.
Open guide →Raids & travel
RimWorld guideWhy Raids Get Bigger
Larger raids can reflect colony wealth and population, storyteller settings and adaptation—not just the day count.
Open guide →RimWorld guideFix a Caravan That Won’t Move
First distinguish a caravan still forming on the colony map from one already on the world map.
Open guide →DLC systems
RimWorld guideUnlock and Use Psycasts
Royalty psycasts need the right psylink level and a learned ability, plus enough psyfocus and manageable neural heat.
Open guide →RimWorld guideSet Up Your First Mechanitor
Biotech’s first mechanitor needs a mechlink and a pawn who can perform the required research and mech work.
Open guide →RimWorld guideBuild and Implant a Xenogerm
Before assembling a xenogerm, check what the recipient already has.
Open guide →RimWorld guideImprove Children’s Learning and Growth
Give children access and time to satisfy learning, then watch their learning need and growth progress.
Open guide →RimWorld guideBuild Containment and Reduce Escapes
Read each entity’s containment requirement and compare it with the actual holding room.
Open guide →RimWorld guideWhen to Activate the Anomaly Monolith
Check the Anomaly mode first.
Open guide →RimWorld guideBuild and Launch a Gravship
Check the whole flight system: grav engine, pilot console, thruster, fuel tank and connected substructure.
Open guide →RimWorld guideSurvive Space and Fix Vacuum Problems
In Odyssey space travel, check pressure and temperature separately.
Open guide →Version & sources
Sources & what may change
- Applies to
- RimWorld PC 1.6.4850; required DLC is labeled on every guide.
- Last verified
- 2026-09-04
- When to check again
- A relevant patch, expansion change or correction to the linked documentation.
Official promotional screenshots identify the game; they are not tested build plans. Guides are documentation-reviewed, not in-game test reports.
Portions of the materials used to create this content/mod are trademarks and/or copyrighted works of Ludeon Studios Inc. All rights reserved by Ludeon. This content/mod is not official and is not endorsed by Ludeon.