Rimworld is the quintessential colony simulator that lets you get away with just about anything. Arms dealing? Check. Animal husbandry? Got you covered. War crimes? You better believe it. As a rule of thumb, if it’s something you wouldn’t do in real life, then you can probably do it in Rimworld. This sandbox formula serves as the perfect foundation for an endless amount of stories.
We all have a story about how our first colony fell apart, or an anecdote about the hilariously questionable actions taken on behalf of our colonists. The path towards a successful colony is a well-tread road, so everyone can find something to relate to when diving into the Rimworld experience.
7 Practice 'Involuntary Organ Donation'
Rimworld has earned several amusing nicknames amongst its community. Organ Harvesting Simulator is a popular one, and it resonates with the game's freedom to perform invasive medical procedures. While it may seem morbid, the nickname is actually rather appropriate. Whenever you capture an invading (or visiting) pawn, they are placed into a designated prisoner room.
Those role-playing morally good colonies will likely release or recruit these prisoners, but there is another more profitable option. You have the ability to receive an involuntary organ donation from these prisoners, the results of which can be sold for a hefty profit to any exotic goods trader. While it is certainly morally dubious, it’s something that every Rimworld player tries at least once.
6 Build Increasingly Elaborate Defenses
As the quadrums steadily pass, your AI storyteller will throw increasingly difficult raids at your colony. Unless, of course, you play using Randy Random; he does whatever he wants. Regardless, every player has a moment where they begin to obsessively plan out their perfect defensive setup. Maybe it was because your favorite colonist caught a stray bullet, or your poor pet boomalope found themselves on the wrong side of a sandbag.
Whatever the case, Rimworld sieges can become a pretty entertaining tower defense game with the right fortifications. Most players opt to create long winding hallways filled with floor traps, but the sky’s the limit in terms of your creativity.
5 Push Colonists To Their Breaking Points
Life on the Rim is unforgiving. Oftentimes, the only thing that separates a colonist from contentment, and a total mental breakdown, is the horror of eating food without a table. This doesn’t even account for all the different personality traits that influence a colonist's demands and disgusts. Managing moods feels like walking along a balancing beam.
That’s why it’s no surprise that every Rimworld player has had to deal with major breakdowns. The results will vary, but one of the worst outcomes is a colonist who goes violently berserk and gets accidentally killed by an overzealous warden.
4 Not Having Food For The Winter
Seasons and temperature play a huge role in your crop-growing cycle. Crops will wither and die if exposed to extreme temperatures. That’s why it’s encouraged to stockpile food before the cold season. Unfortunately, with so many random events and raids happening at a given time, it’s easy to fall behind on the food quota. For example, a series of badly timed cold snaps can decimate your expected harvest and leave you without any food to store.
This turns the game into a mad dash to secure food, and desperate times will call for desperate measures. Every player can remember a time when food shortages in the Winter turned their colony into survival of the fittest.
3 Download A Ton Of Mods
After a couple of hundred hours, Rimworld can start to feel a little repetitive. You can wrangle with your unpredictable colonists only so many times before it loses the original charm. Thankfully, the game has a thriving modding community on the Steam Workshop. There are thousands of mods, and they cover just about every aspect of the game. Custom weapons, new furniture, and additional factions are just a small slice of what is available.
The constant uploads made to the modding community are a testament to how many players love to play with mods. Jumping into the rabbit hole of modding is something that every passionate Rimworld player does eventually.
2 Start A Drug Farm
Organ-related antics aren't the only lucrative hustle in Rimworld. Another more peaceful option is growing your own drug crops. These drugs come in a wide variety of flavors, including hallucinogenic Psychite tea or adrenaline-pumping Go-juice. Factions will happily trade silver for drugs, and given the simplicity of the whole process, it is a healthy source of income for many players.
Channeling the spirit of Breaking Bad’s Walter White is a viable path for surviving hard life on the Rim. Just be careful about which of your colonists have access to the fruits of your labor.
1 Become An Interior Designer
Colonists are fickle beings, and many have a long list of desires regarding their living accommodations. It needs to be the right temperature, clean, pretty, spacious; the list goes on. In order to avoid unnecessarily stressing out the whole colony, every Rimworld player needs to tap into their inner interior designer. To keep colonists happy, a four-by-four tile box won’t cut it anymore.
You need to focus on providing air conditioning, statues, carpets, and a whole range of recreational activities. You would think that function takes priority over form after crash landing on a planet, but colonists actually have steep aspirations for their home aesthetic.