RimWorld is a colony management simulator driven by an AI storyteller that generates events — raids, plagues, mental breaks, cargo drops — to create dramatic stories. Every colonist has a unique backstory, skills, traits, and relationships that affect their behavior. A pyromaniac colonist might set your food supply on fire during a mental break. A bloodlust colonist might go on a killing spree. The emergent narratives that arise from these systems make every colony unique. With three storyteller options (Cassandra Classic for steady escalation, Phoebe Chillax for relaxed play, Randy Random for chaos) and robust mod support through 10,000+ Steam Workshop mods, RimWorld offers essentially infinite replayability.
Starting RimWorld can feel overwhelming. This guide tells you exactly what to focus on during your first hours so you don't waste time on things that don't matter yet.
What Kind of Game Is This?
RimWorld is a strategy game built around colonist management and storyteller AI. The core loop involves mastering these systems to progress through increasingly challenging content.
What to expect: Time investment in learning mechanics, experimentation, and gradual mastery. The game rewards patience and knowledge.
Choosing Your First Build
| Build | Beginner Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Shooter | Good (but demanding) | Position behind sandbags or walls in the killbox, focus fire on the most dangerous raiders, and retreat to hospital if injured. |
| Melee Fighter | Excellent for beginners | Stand in doorways with Shield Belt, blocking enemies while shooters fire from behind. Go-Juice boosts consciousness and movement for critical fights. |
| Doctor | Good (but demanding) | Keep assigned to doctoring priority 1, maintain a clean hospital with sterile tiles, and stockpile medicine for emergencies. |
| Crafter | Excellent for beginners | Assign to crafting full-time, target specific items for quality improvement, and use Inspiration events for guaranteed Masterwork or Legendary items. |
| Researcher | Excellent for beginners | Dedicate one colonist to research full-time. Rush Electricity → Batteries → Air Conditioning → Machining for the critical early-mid tech path. |
Our recommendation: Start with Melee Fighter. Melee colonists with Persona Monoswords or Zeushammers hold chokepoints against entire raid groups. The Shield Belt makes melee fighters immune to ranged attacks, creating invincible door-blockers. Melee is riskier than shooting but devastates raids in tight killbox corridors. The Brawler trait gives +12 melee DPS.
Avoid Researcher as your first pick. A dedicated researcher speeds through the tech tree, unlocking critical technologies like Electricity, Machining, and Fabrication faster.
First Session Step-by-Step
Step 1: Learn colonist management
Each colonist has skills (Shooting, Melee, Construction, Medicine, Cooking, etc.) rated 0-20, traits that modify behavior, and work priorities you assign. Colonists with the 'Incapable of' tag literally cannot do certain tasks. Managing work schedules, recreation time, and skill development keeps your colony functional. Unhappy colonists have mental breaks ranging from food binges to murderous rampages.
This is the foundation. Spend your first 15-30 minutes getting comfortable with how colonist management works before worrying about anything else.
Step 2: Head to Temperate Forest
The recommended starting biome with year-round growing seasons (about 40/60 days), abundant wood, farmable soil, and moderate temperatures. Raids are manageable and resources are plentiful. The only challenge is winter food management if you don't prepare.
Clear the main content here before moving on. Everything teaches fundamentals you'll need later.
Step 3: Get Your First Upgrade
Look for Sniper Rifle — it's the most accessible early upgrade. Extreme range (45 tiles) with high single-shot damage. Slow rate of fire makes it less effective in close killbox combat but dominant on open maps. The Careful Shooter trait adds huge value to sniper gameplay. Place snipers behind walls with clear sightlines.
Step 4: Understand storyteller AI
The storyteller controls event frequency and severity based on your colony's wealth and population. Cassandra Classic gradually increases difficulty with regular raid escalation. Randy Random has wildly variable event timing and severity. Higher difficulty settings (Losing is Fun, Blood and Dust) increase raid strength multipliers and reduce positive events.
This is the system most new players overlook. Invest time here early — it pays off throughout the entire game.
Step 5: Push to Desert
Hot biomes with limited growing soil and few trees. Requires solar/wind power since wood is scarce. Rich soil patches near rivers are prime farming locations. Heat management via air conditioning is critical. Fewer ambush predators but limited resources force early trading.
Essential Mechanics Explained
colonist management
Each colonist has skills (Shooting, Melee, Construction, Medicine, Cooking, etc.) rated 0-20, traits that modify behavior, and work priorities you assign. Colonists with the 'Incapable of' tag literally cannot do certain tasks. Managing work schedules, recreation time, and skill development keeps your colony functional. Unhappy colonists have mental breaks ranging from food binges to murderous rampages.
storyteller AI
The storyteller controls event frequency and severity based on your colony's wealth and population. Cassandra Classic gradually increases difficulty with regular raid escalation. Randy Random has wildly variable event timing and severity. Higher difficulty settings (Losing is Fun, Blood and Dust) increase raid strength multipliers and reduce positive events.
mood system
Colonists have a mood bar influenced by dozens of factors: food quality, room beauty, comfort, recreation, social interactions, pain, and environment. Below 25% mood triggers minor breaks (food binge, hide in room). Below 10% triggers major breaks (berserk, setting fires). Keeping mood above 50% prevents all breaks. Fine meals, nice bedrooms, and recreation variety are the primary mood boosters.
research tree
Research unlocks new buildings, items, and capabilities through a tech tree requiring a research bench and a colonist assigned to research. Key early techs: Electricity, Battery, Air Conditioning. Mid-game: Machining, Microelectronics. Late-game: Fabrication, Multi-analyzer. Research speed depends on colonist Intellectual skill and research bench tier.
caravan system
Caravans let you send colonists to trade with settlements, attack enemy bases, or collect resources from map tiles. Caravans travel on the world map at speeds determined by animals, terrain, and weather. They need food and can be ambushed. Trading caravans are the primary way to acquire items unavailable through crafting.
Common Beginner Mistakes
1. Not building a freezer early — food poisoning from spoiled meals and starvation from rotten stockpiles kill more colonies than raids do
2. Accepting every wanderer who joins — colonists with Pyromaniac, Chemical Interest, or Incapable of Dumb Labor can destroy a colony
Check traits before accepting.
3. Building inside mountains without infestations preparation — insect hives spawn in dark, warm, overhead mountain areas and can overwhelm unprepared colonies
4. Ignoring colonist mood until mental breaks happen — a colonist in a dark, ugly bedroom eating raw food will break eventually
Prevention is easier than cure.
5. Selling all components and plasteel to traders — you need these for advanced buildings, bionics, and ship construction
Stockpile at least 100 of each.
First 5 Hours Checklist
- Understand colonist management and storyteller AI
- Choose Melee Fighter as starting build
- Clear Temperate Forest main content
- Acquire Sniper Rifle or equivalent upgrade
- Reach Desert
- Build a killbox with a single entrance, sandbags inside, and turrets covering the corridor. Funnel all raids through this chokepoint to neutralize numerical advantages.
- Grow healroot as soon as possible — it makes herbal medicine (60% potency) which handles most medical needs until you can buy proper medicine from traders.
Tips for New Players
- Build a killbox with a single entrance, sandbags inside, and turrets covering the corridor. Funnel all raids through this chokepoint to neutralize numerical advantages.
- Grow healroot as soon as possible — it makes herbal medicine (60% potency) which handles most medical needs until you can buy proper medicine from traders.
- Assign bedrooms with quality beds, dressers, and end tables. A Spacious+Impressive bedroom gives +10 mood, which can prevent mental breaks during crisis events.
- Freeze your food in a walk-in freezer at -5°C to -10°C. A double-walled room with two coolers (for redundancy) prevents all food spoilage. This is priority one after shelter.
- Colonists need recreation variety — give them horseshoes, chess, and a television. Using the same recreation type repeatedly gives diminishing returns. Four different recreation types keeps mood stable.
- Mountain bases are safe from drop pod raids and siege mortars but vulnerable to insect infestations. Build under Thin Roof areas to get mountain protection without infestation risk.
- Use Zoning to restrict colonists from dangerous areas. Create an 'Inside' zone that keeps non-combatants away from the killbox during raids.
- Drug policies prevent addiction — set to 'Social drugs only' and configure Beer/Smokeleaf to max 1 per 2 days. Addiction is devastating to colony mood.
- Tame pack animals (muffalo, dromedaries) for caravans. They carry 73.5kg each, dramatically increasing your caravan capacity. Also provide wool and milk.
- Keep at least 3 days of prepared meals in storage at all times. A kitchen fire, blight, or volcanic winter can destroy food production without warning.
Frequently Asked Questions
What DLC should I buy for RimWorld?
Royalty adds psycasts (magic abilities) and Empire quests. Ideology lets you create custom religions for your colony. Biotech adds children, gene modification, and mechanoids you can control. Anomaly adds horror elements. For a first playthrough, base game is complete. Buy Royalty first for combat depth, then Ideology for colony flavor.
What is the best RimWorld storyteller for beginners?
Cassandra Classic on Medium (Some Challenge) difficulty. She provides predictable escalation with regular events that teach you game mechanics. Phoebe Chillax is too slow to learn from. Randy Random is fun but unpredictable. Start with Cassandra and switch to Randy after your first colony succeeds.
How do I deal with raids in RimWorld?
Build a killbox — a walled corridor with one entrance leading to your colony. Place sandbags, turrets, and cover positions inside. Raiders pathfind through the killbox, getting shredded by crossfire. Additionally, keep a stockpile of medicine for post-raid surgeries and always draft all combat-capable colonists during raids.
Can you finish RimWorld?
Yes, the default win condition is building and launching a spaceship. This requires completing the full research tree and gathering rare materials. Royalty DLC adds an alternative ending through the Empire questline. Most players restart with new colonies long before 'finishing' because the emergent stories are the real content.
What to Read Next
- RimWorld Builds — Optimize your build once you've learned the basics
- RimWorld Walkthrough — Full progression path
- RimWorld Tips — Advanced strategies for when you're ready
