Against the Storm is a roguelike city-builder where you establish settlements in a perpetually stormy fantasy world on behalf of the Scorched Queen. Each run drops you into a new procedurally generated map with different biomes, species compositions, and available buildings. You must balance the Queen's Impatience (a loss timer) against Reputation (a win condition) while managing three to four different species with conflicting needs. Between runs, the meta-progression Citadel grows with permanent upgrades. It's the game that answered the question: what if city-builders had permadeath?
This walkthrough takes you from your first session to endgame content. Each phase has specific goals, priorities, and milestones. Follow this path to avoid common traps that stall most players.
Quick Progression Summary
| Phase | Area | Focus | Build | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Start | Royal Woodlands | roguelike city building basics | Beavers | 1-2 hours |
| 2. Early | Coral Forest | reputation system mastery | Beavers | 3-5 hours |
| 3. Mid | Marshlands | blueprint drafting + gear | Humans or Beavers | 5-10 hours |
| 4. Late | Scarlet Orchard | Build optimization | Humans | 5-10 hours |
| 5. Endgame | Sealed Forest | Min-max | Humans or Foxes | Ongoing |
Phase 1: Getting Started — Royal Woodlands
The starter biome with balanced resources, moderate weather, and standard Glade difficulty. Dense forest provides abundant wood, and wildlife is manageable. The Royal Woodlands teach core mechanics without extreme challenges. Most new player runs should start here.
Level/Difficulty: Difficulty 1-3 (beginner) Key Rewards: Abundant wood, standard resource distribution, balanced species composition
What to Do in Royal Woodlands
- Learn roguelike city building. Each settlement is a self-contained run lasting 30-90 minutes. Spend your first session getting comfortable with this.
- Pick Beavers as your starting build. It's the most forgiving option.
- Pick blueprints that match your species composition — if you have Lizards, prioritize buildings that produce Skewers or provide warmth. Mismatched blueprints waste production capacity.
- Acquire your first equipment upgrade — Cookhouse or whatever's available.
- Clear all main content before moving on.
Phase 1 Checklist
- Understand roguelike city building fundamentals
- Beavers selected and functional
- Royal Woodlands main content cleared
- Ready for Coral Forest
Phase 2: Early Game — Coral Forest
A wetter biome with more rain (better Rain Collector output) but also more flooding risk. Coral formations provide unique trade goods. The damp environment means crops grow faster but wood rots if stored improperly. Moderate difficulty with unique resource opportunities.
Level/Difficulty: Difficulty 3-5 (intermediate) Key Rewards: Enhanced rain collection, coral trade goods, faster crop growth
What to Do in Coral Forest
- Work on reputation system. You win by earning Reputation points (filling the Reputation bar before Impatience fills). This system becomes critical from here on.
- Farm for Cookhouse if you haven't already. It's the key upgrade for this phase.
- Complete easy Orders first for quick Reputation — Orders like 'Produce 10 Planks' or 'Have 20 Villagers' give Reputation that counters rising Impatience. Ignore expensive Orders until you have infrastructure.
- Complete all objectives before pushing to Marshlands.
- Consider whether Humans might suit your playstyle better than Beavers.
Phase 2 Checklist
- reputation system integrated into gameplay
- Cookhouse acquired
- Coral Forest fully cleared
- Ready for Marshlands
Phase 3: Mid Game — Marshlands
A swampy biome with limited dry building space and poisonous miasma from certain Glades. Resources are spread across more Glades, forcing aggressive exploration. The Marshlands test your ability to manage disease and limited building area. Bring species with disease resistance.
Level/Difficulty: Difficulty 4-7 (intermediate-advanced) Key Rewards: Unique marsh resources, rare herbs for medicine, challenging terrain management
What to Do in Marshlands
- Master blueprint drafting. After discovering Glades (forest clearings), you choose from randomized building blueprints. This unlocks a new layer of gameplay.
- Start working toward Trading Post. It's the best equipment and becomes accessible around now.
- Impatience rises with time, so don't dawdle — every minute spent optimizing your base is a minute closer to losing. Get production running, complete Orders, and move on. Perfect is the enemy of good in this game.
- This area is the main skill check. If you can clear it, you're ready for late game.
- Start investing in storm cycle for the tactical depth you'll need going forward.
Phase 3 Checklist
- blueprint drafting mastered
- Trading Post acquired or in progress
- Marshlands fully cleared
- Ready for Scarlet Orchard
Phase 4: Late Game — Scarlet Orchard
A biome with aggressive wildlife and burned-out ruins containing valuable salvage. The Scarlet Orchard has the best potential loot from ruins but the most dangerous Glade events. Opening Glades can spawn enemies or environmental hazards. High risk, high reward.
Level/Difficulty: Difficulty 5-8 (advanced) Key Rewards: Ruin salvage (advanced materials), dangerous but rewarding Glade events
What to Do in Scarlet Orchard
- Finalize your build. You should be running Humans or Beavers with optimized gear.
- Trading Post should be your primary. If you don't have it yet, prioritize getting it.
- Trade excess goods at the Trading Post for both money and Reputation. Selling 40+ of a resource you don't need converts dead stockpiles into win-condition progress.
- species management optimization starts here. Small improvements compound into massive advantages.
- Farm this area for the resources needed to push into Sealed Forest.
Phase 4 Checklist
- Build fully optimized
- Trading Post upgraded to max
- Scarlet Orchard fully cleared
- Ready for Sealed Forest
Phase 5: Endgame — Sealed Forest
The hardest standard biome with extreme storm intensity, limited resources, and the most dangerous Glade events. Sealed Glades can contain curses that affect the entire settlement. Only experienced players with strong meta-upgrades should attempt Sealed Forest on high difficulty.
Level/Difficulty: Difficulty 7-10 (expert) Key Rewards: Maximum Citadel meta-currency, unique challenges, prestige rewards
What to Do in Sealed Forest
- Sealed Forest tests everything. Come prepared with your best build and gear.
- Glade events can be dangerous but give powerful rewards. Read the event description carefully — some require specific resources to resolve, while others spawn enemies. Prepare before interacting.
- The endgame loop: run Sealed Forest, optimize gear, push harder content.
- Experiment with Foxes for a fresh take once you've mastered the standard builds.
- This is where species management mastery separates good players from great ones.
Phase 5 Checklist
- Endgame content on farm
- Best-in-slot gear acquired
- Sealed Forest fully cleared
- Ready for challenge content
Common Progression Mistakes
- Ignoring Impatience until it's too late — the red Impatience bar fills with time and negative events. Once it fills, you lose the run. Always monitor Impatience and prioritize Reputation-earning actions.
- Opening too many Glades at once — each opened Glade can spawn events that consume resources or time. Open Glades one at a time and resolve their events before exploring further.
- Neglecting species-specific needs — unhappy species lose Resolve and leave. Even if you don't like managing multiple species, providing basic food and housing for each prevents population collapse.
- Hoarding resources instead of trading — stockpiles of 100+ Planks or Fabric sitting in storage earn nothing. Trade excess resources for Reputation and money at the Trading Post.
- Choosing blueprint buildings you don't have ingredients for — a Bakery is useless without flour, which requires wheat, which requires a Farm. Check production chains before drafting blueprints.
Key Tips for Smooth Progression
- Pick blueprints that match your species composition — if you have Lizards, prioritize buildings that produce Skewers or provide warmth. Mismatched blueprints waste production capacity.
- Complete easy Orders first for quick Reputation — Orders like 'Produce 10 Planks' or 'Have 20 Villagers' give Reputation that counters rising Impatience. Ignore expensive Orders until you have infrastructure.
- Impatience rises with time, so don't dawdle — every minute spent optimizing your base is a minute closer to losing. Get production running, complete Orders, and move on. Perfect is the enemy of good in this game.
- Trade excess goods at the Trading Post for both money and Reputation. Selling 40+ of a resource you don't need converts dead stockpiles into win-condition progress.
- Glade events can be dangerous but give powerful rewards. Read the event description carefully — some require specific resources to resolve, while others spawn enemies. Prepare before interacting.
For detailed build optimization, see Against the Storm builds. For quick wins, check tips & tricks.
