Oxygen Not Included Beginner’s Guide

Oxygen Not Included is a survival simulator where players take control of colonists trapped on an asteroid. The duplicants, as Oxygen Not Included calls them, have no memory of how they arrived on the asteroid or what they are supposed to be doing. It is the player’s job to run the colony and ensure the survival of the duplicants. Releasing in 2019, it has become one of the best examples of the genre.

But for those who have not yet tried out the game, it can be tricky to get to grips with everything. That’s why this beginner’s guide for Oxygen Not Included has been made, giving tips and strategy hints for the game.

Getting started

There are many different tips for Oxygen Not Included. After all, the title has plenty of different systems and gameplay features to understand. So, to ensure that players get the very best beginner’s guide for Oxygen Not Included, this article is split into different sections. Players who need help with specific sections should skip to those subheadings. However, the rest of the guide will provide some interesting learning for Oxygen Not Included even for experienced players.

The first few steps when starting a new game are vital to building a successful colony. It is important not to expand too quickly and overstretch. This will just mean that players don’t have enough resources to do what they want to do and slow down production. Instead, users should focus on gathering easy resources. That means avoiding things like polluted water and oxygen sources. Stick with ones that are easy to acquire and don’t accept too many new duplicants. Wait until you are sure your oxygen supply can support the extra demand.

At the start, it is a good idea to first build an Outhouse so duplicants can use the toilet. Other important buildings include Cots to provide sleeping quarters. These two buildings should be a high priority as they stop duplicants from getting stressed. It also stops them from having negative debuffs during the early stages when players need to get the most out of every colonist.

Choosing the right duplicants

Duplicants in Oxygen Not Included have skill points and traits that make them unique from each other. It also means that players need to think carefully about which duplicants they recruit. In that respect, it is important that every colonist chosen has a specific role in mind. For example, the early parts of Oxygen Not Included include lots of builds and digging projects.

So, at first, it is good to pick duplicants that are good at learning, building, and operating machines. Try to pick at least one digger, constructor, researcher, and operator for each new colony. As you progress, you can then begin to specialize in other areas, picking duplicants with skills in cooking and medicine, for example.

There are also certain traits that are useful or detrimental to the performance of a duplicant. Positive traits are almost always good to have, although some are better than others. On the other hand, some negative traits can be more damaging than others. The following traits are generally not too big of a problem for duplicants to have:

Pacifist

Small Bladder

Gastrophobia

Irritable Bowel

Squeamish

Yokel