Colonists

Your Colonists are the inhabitants of your colony, the (un)fortunate survivors who have lived to witness the aftermath of the apocalypse and must now work to survive through it as well.

Colonists are individual persons with varying needs and skills. They consume Food and Water to stay alive to work and procreate, keeping the colony going and growing. Having their basic needs taken care of is a critical part of the game.

Workers and carriers

You can see the distribution of carriers and workers from the top left.

Colonists can be divided into two categories: workers and carriers.

Workers are colonists assigned to buildings. As you cannot directly control the colonists, you might also need to guide them by setting Work Areas. The colonists attempt to automatically hire the best person for the job whenever you construct new buildings or edit the work slots within.

Carriers are vital for moving resources and doing construction work. If you find yourself in a situation where work does not progress, check that you have enough free carriers to carry out the tasks at hand. If not, temporarily free up some by closing some Work Slots in your buildings.

Children unable to attend school and workers assigned to some buildings (e.g. Gate, Scout Tower, growing Field) will also help out as carriers.

Conditions

Colonists will need medical assistance from time to time.

Taking care of colonists cleanliness with an Outhouse makes them less prone to catching diseases.

The many dangers of a post-apocalyptic world affect the colonists the most. They can get sick from radiation, contract diseases or injure themselves. All of these conditions will cause penalties to a colonist's health, happiness and work performance.

Physical conditions can be treated by healing them within a Medical Tent or a Field Hospital. This is crucial for a thriving colony as an untreated condition will eventually prove fatal. Having medical buildings active and a Specialist scouring the World Map for Medication can go a long way toward keeping your people healthy.

Possible Conditions

Name	Effect	Cure
Injury	Health loss, Happiness loss	Medicine, Medical assistance
Radiation Sickness	Health loss, Happiness loss	Iodine Pills, Medical assistance
Infection	Health loss, Happiness loss	Antibiotics, Medical assistance
Mutation	Health loss, Happiness loss	Medical assistance, Antibody (DLC)
Starving	Health loss, Happiness loss	Food
Dehydrated	Health loss, Happiness loss	Water
Desperate	Risk of leaving the colony	Entertainment
Hostile	Loss of control	Combat
Malnourished	Happiness loss, health loss	Meals
Filthy	Happiness loss, more prone to diseases	Hygiene buildings
Exhausted	Happiness loss	Rest
Homeless	Happiness loss	Shelters
No tools	Slower working speed	Tools
No clothing	More prone to diseases	Clothing
Unarmed	Weaker to enemies	Weapons
Anguish (DLC)	Turning hostile	Antistress, special medical assistance

Living conditions

Build shelters for colonists to raise their happiness.

Your colonists need somewhere to live in. Homeless colonists sleep on the ground but will slowly lose Happiness and even health, if they're exposed for long. Having enough Shelters for everyone is a top priority. Without a bed to sleep on, colonists will get Tired and eventually Exhausted due to lack of sleep, and they can also get sick, requiring medical attention.

Shelters range from simple Tents all the way to (circumstances considering) comfortable Houses. Upgrading to sturdier houses improves people's Happiness and provides better protection against the harsh conditions and even Catastrophes and disasters. They also encourage your populace to have children as they feel more secure and private in a proper home. Colonists move to the closest available shelters to where they work, so spreading out housing reduces the time people walk back and forth.

Ageing

A colonists life cycle includes three phases: Child, Adult and Elder.

Children: Children grow slowly and help the colony by carrying stowaway boxes and committing simple scavenging tasks. Children who have gone to School for long enough will gain the trait Educated.

Adults: Adults are capable of committing every task in the colony. They can also reproduce, given they live in decent shelters and are at least somewhat happy.

Elders: Colonists cannot live forever, and will eventually pass from old age. Elders still carry out tasks as before, but cannot get anymore children. Elders are more fragile than their younger counterparts, and life may come to an unexpected end at this phase.

Death

Old or untreated colonists will eventually meet their demise.

An inevitable part of life, Death comes to us all in the end, one way or another. It can take the form of starvation, prolonged dehydration, untreated injuries or Bandit attacks. Dead colonists are a serious liability as their corpses can potentially act as vectors for and spread disease and having dead people lying around in plain sight will make living people unhappy as well.

To prevent any such issues from arising, dead colonists must be taken to a Burial Pit for their final rest. This ensures minimal impact on overall colony happiness and health as the bodies are brought out of sight and out of mind from the living colonists while also putting them in a place where they cannot spread disease.

Specialists, if they die, are either lost in the wilderness or quickly buried on the spot by their surviving comrades. Their belongings and any resources carried by them will likewise be lost.

Traits

Colonists can have a grab bag of traits that can give them bonuses or be hindrances.

Name	Effect	Description
Educated	Production Speed +15%	Has learned how to work in a post apocalyptic world efficiently
Hairy	Cold resistance +30%	Mutation has caused excessive body hair growth
Believer	Max Happiness +20%	Religious background helps to see hope where there might not be any
Former Hunter	Damages Self when in full Health	Was left permanently injured by a terrible hunting accident
Driven	Production Speed +15%	Trouble mind that might go ballistic at any moment
Hard Worker	Production Speed +15%	Works harder than average
Minesweeper	Walking Speed -25%	One of the lucky ones clearing old minefields. Lost only part of one foot and some toes from the other
Optimist	Max Happiness +20%	Seemingly resistant to the troubles in the world
Healthy	Faster injury Recovery	Picture of health despite adverse conditions
Sloth	Resting rate -50%	Sleeps longer than others
Clumsy	Walking speed -25%	Constantly tripping over their own feet
Lazy	Production Speed -15%	Just doesn't give a damn about work
Spiritual	N/A	Believes in something larger than the human kind
Reckless	Production Speed -5%	Dives headlong into everything without thinking first
Been there	Max Health +30%	A lifetime of hardship has made the body sturdy and durable
Comfort Seeker	Max Happiness -30 living in a shelter with no power	Aspires to minimize pain and maximize pleasure in life
Tough	Max Health +20%	Built like a brick house, able to endure many hardships
Daydreamer	Production Speed -5%	Has a hard time concentrating on the task at hand, dreams of better times
Clawed	N/A	An encounter with a ferocious beast left its mark; scars across the face and a mutilated nose
Suspicious	Happiness penalty when survivors join the colony	Distrustful of new and unfamiliar people
Loiterer	Walking speed -25%	Tries to take things easy whenever possible
Competitive	Walking speed +20%	Has to be first everywhere, best at everything, or at least the fastest
Punctual	Walking Speed +20%	Finds comfort in organization, punctuality and schedules
Farmhand	+15% as a Farmer	Loves to see things grow and blossom
Genetic Lottery	Faster injury recovery	Blessed with remarkable genes
Ritualistic	N/A	Has structured their day around strict religious routines
Picky	Hunger rate -15%	Very selective about what they eat, gets by with less
Martial Artist	Max Health +30%	Sees themselves as a professional fighter, aims constantly for maximum fitness
Glutton	Twice as hungry	Eats more than they should. Does not care if someone is left without food
Horrors of the Past	Production Speed +5%	It is difficult to think anything but the horrors they'e witnessed. Hard labour helps to take the mind off things
Obsessive	Production Speed -15%	Handicapped by compulsive thoughts and small rituals
Resigned	Production Speed -15%	Has completely given up and doesn't see the point in anything anymore
Paranoid	Production Speed -5%	Suspects everything and everyone, jumpy and irrational
Authoritarian	Production Speed +15% with over five specialists in the colony	Believes in control, leadership and discipline
Hyperactive	Needs more time to get Educated	Has a tough time focusing on one thing at a time
Green Thumb	Production speed +5%	Feeling dry dirt between the fingers is the best feeling in the world
Luddite	N/A	Prefers old ways and abhors new technology
People Person	Happiness boost when survivors join the colony	Enjoys meeting new people