Timberborn is a city-builder where you lead a colony of beavers surviving in a post-human world ravaged by ecological collapse. The core challenge is water management — rivers periodically dry up during droughts, and your colony must store enough water and food to survive. Unique to Timberborn is vertical building, where structures stack on top of each other like beaver lodges. Two playable factions (Folktails and Iron Teeth) offer different playstyles, and the district system lets you manage sprawling settlements across the map.
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 | Plains Map | water management basics | Iron Teeth | 1-2 hours |
| 2. Early | Canyon Map | beaver factions mastery | Iron Teeth | 3-5 hours |
| 3. Mid | Terraces Map | drought cycles + gear | Folktails or Iron Teeth | 5-10 hours |
| 4. Late | Meander Map | Build optimization | Folktails | 5-10 hours |
| 5. Endgame | Thousand Islands | Min-max | Folktails or Forester | Ongoing |
Phase 1: Getting Started — Plains Map
A flat map with a single river running through the center. The open terrain provides plenty of building space but limited natural reservoir locations. You'll need to build artificial levee-walled reservoirs since there are no valleys to dam. Good for learning basic water management.
Level/Difficulty: Beginner Key Rewards: Large building area, straightforward river access, good for first colonies
What to Do in Plains Map
- Learn water management. Water flows physically through the map following terrain height. Spend your first session getting comfortable with this.
- Pick Iron Teeth as your starting build. It's the most forgiving option.
- Build water storage before the first drought arrives — check your difficulty settings for drought timing. On Normal, the first drought hits around day 6-8, so have a dam and reservoir operational by day 5.
- Acquire your first equipment upgrade — Dam or whatever's available.
- Clear all main content before moving on.
Phase 1 Checklist
- Understand water management fundamentals
- Iron Teeth selected and functional
- Plains Map main content cleared
- Ready for Canyon Map
Phase 2: Early Game — Canyon Map
A map with deep river canyons that create natural reservoir locations. Dam the canyon mouths to store massive amounts of water with minimal building materials. Limited flat building space forces vertical construction. One of the easiest maps for surviving droughts.
Level/Difficulty: Intermediate Key Rewards: Natural dam locations, easy water storage, forces vertical building skills
What to Do in Canyon Map
- Work on beaver factions. Folktails are the nature-friendly faction with rooftop gardens, beehives, and natural power sources (waterwheels). This system becomes critical from here on.
- Farm for Dam if you haven't already. It's the key upgrade for this phase.
- Vertical building multiplies your usable space — stack housing 3 levels high to free ground space for farms and industry. Beavers navigate stairs as efficiently as flat paths.
- Complete all objectives before pushing to Terraces Map.
- Consider whether Folktails might suit your playstyle better than Iron Teeth.
Phase 2 Checklist
- beaver factions integrated into gameplay
- Dam acquired
- Canyon Map fully cleared
- Ready for Terraces Map
Phase 3: Mid Game — Terraces Map
Multi-level terrain with water flowing down stepped plateaus. Each terrace level can serve as a farming area with cascading irrigation. Complex water routing between levels is the main challenge. The vertical terrain naturally encourages Timberborn's stacked building system.
Level/Difficulty: Intermediate-Advanced Key Rewards: Natural terrace farming, cascading water systems, multi-level base building
What to Do in Terraces Map
- Master drought cycles. Droughts stop all river flow for a set number of days. This unlocks a new layer of gameplay.
- Start working toward Floodgate. It's the best equipment and becomes accessible around now.
- Beavers need connected paths to reach workplaces — every building needs a path leading to it from living quarters. Use the path tool to connect all districts. Disconnected buildings are useless.
- This area is the main skill check. If you can clear it, you're ready for late game.
- Start investing in vertical building for the tactical depth you'll need going forward.
Phase 3 Checklist
- drought cycles mastered
- Floodgate acquired or in progress
- Terraces Map fully cleared
- Ready for Meander Map
Phase 4: Late Game — Meander Map
A winding river with wide flood plains. The meandering river creates natural ox-bow lake formation opportunities. Flood plains are fertile but flood during heavy rain, so build housing on elevated ground. This map teaches floodplain management and seasonal flooding.
Level/Difficulty: Intermediate Key Rewards: Fertile flood plains, natural ox-bow reservoirs, large agricultural area
What to Do in Meander Map
- Finalize your build. You should be running Folktails or Iron Teeth with optimized gear.
- Floodgate should be your primary. If you don't have it yet, prioritize getting it.
- Plant trees upstream of your colony for long-term wood supply and water retention. Trees slow water flow, keeping more water available during the early drought phase.
- district system optimization starts here. Small improvements compound into massive advantages.
- Farm this area for the resources needed to push into Thousand Islands.
Phase 4 Checklist
- Build fully optimized
- Floodgate upgraded to max
- Meander Map fully cleared
- Ready for Thousand Islands
Phase 5: Endgame — Thousand Islands
A fragmented map with many small islands separated by water channels. Each island has limited space, requiring district management and inter-island logistics. The most challenging map due to fragmented resources and building space. Bridges and paths between islands are essential.
Level/Difficulty: Advanced Key Rewards: District management challenge, bridge building, resource logistics between islands
What to Do in Thousand Islands
- Thousand Islands tests everything. Come prepared with your best build and gear.
- Districts let you control population distribution — don't cram all beavers into one area. Create specialized districts (farming, industry, housing) connected by paths for efficient resource flow.
- The endgame loop: run Thousand Islands, optimize gear, push harder content.
- Experiment with Forester for a fresh take once you've mastered the standard builds.
- This is where district system mastery separates good players from great ones.
Phase 5 Checklist
- Endgame content on farm
- Best-in-slot gear acquired
- Thousand Islands fully cleared
- Ready for challenge content
Common Progression Mistakes
- Not building enough water storage — the number one colony killer is running out of water during drought. Always store more water than you think you need, especially on harder difficulties.
- Building population too fast — every beaver needs food, water, housing, and work. Growing too quickly means your infrastructure can't support everyone during the drought, causing mass death.
- Placing dams incorrectly — dams need to span the entire river width with no gaps, or water flows around them. Check for leaks by watching water flow after placement.
- Ignoring food variety — beavers eating only carrots have low wellbeing and work slowly. The wellbeing penalty from monotonous diet compounds with other morale issues.
- Forgetting to plant trees — wood is consumed constantly for building and fuel. Without active reforestation, you'll run out of wood mid-game and stall all construction.
Key Tips for Smooth Progression
- Build water storage before the first drought arrives — check your difficulty settings for drought timing. On Normal, the first drought hits around day 6-8, so have a dam and reservoir operational by day 5.
- Vertical building multiplies your usable space — stack housing 3 levels high to free ground space for farms and industry. Beavers navigate stairs as efficiently as flat paths.
- Beavers need connected paths to reach workplaces — every building needs a path leading to it from living quarters. Use the path tool to connect all districts. Disconnected buildings are useless.
- Plant trees upstream of your colony for long-term wood supply and water retention. Trees slow water flow, keeping more water available during the early drought phase.
- Districts let you control population distribution — don't cram all beavers into one area. Create specialized districts (farming, industry, housing) connected by paths for efficient resource flow.
For detailed build optimization, see Timberborn builds. For quick wins, check tips & tricks.
