Your first sols

You landed hard. The colony took you in, gave you a hab and the scrap of land around it, and Vogel - the hydroponics keeper, who has never once got a plant to grow in Martian soil - gave you a sack of seed potatoes.

The first week

• Plant the potatoes. Till the ground by your hab with the hoe, plant, and water every sol. Vogel wants ten potatoes (Potato King), then five tomatoes (First Harvest). Those quests open up more seeds and the first sprinklers.
• Meet everyone. The dome town is a short walk from the homestead. Introduce yourself to the colonists; the Villagers page has where each one lives and works.
• Watch your energy. Tools cost energy; eat to recover it. Go to bed before 1:00 am, or you'll collapse where you stand. Outside the dome you wear a suit.
• Sell. Anything in the export crate by your hab is shipped. The shopkeepers also buy over the counter: Rafael at the Commissary, Ivan at the Foundry, Marcus at the Cantina, Sun-hee at the Botany Lab.

Sols and seasons

A day is a sol. A season is 28 sols, and there are four: Thaw, High Sun, Dust and Deep Cold. Most crops grow only in their own seasons and die when it ends; see the Crops table and the Calendar for birthdays and festivals.

Where to go next

• The colony: the bigger story, the repair projects and the requests board.
• Making money: what pays early on.
• Skills: what levelling teaches you.