How does the architect mode work? RimWorld Guide

In the architect's panel, you can decide on the most important decisions concerning development of the colony.

You can use the panel to construct new buildings, pieces of furniture, and give orders concerning space management. Once you go to architect mode, additional options will become available:

You can give additional orders to your colonists - they can chop down trees, hunt animals, or move resources.

Orders - use it to give orders to your colonists. Some of the most important are: digging, gathering resources, or selecting the type of animals that they are supposed to hunt. Remember that if left alone, your colonist will hardly do any work, so you should select the right activities for them. Remember! Certain objects and items may have a red cross beside them, which means that by default none of the colonist can select them. You need to manually select such an item and press the hand icon - only then will your colonists be able to use certain supplies, take back the items etc.

Structures - this will allow you to select walls, doors etc.

As you progress, you will be able to add more items in your colony.

Furniture - as the very name suggests, it contains objects and furniture associated with accommodation. Among the most basic objects is the bed, in which assign colonist will sleep.

Defense - objects in this group will protect your colony from all sorts of attacks. Watchtowers, walls and traps are just some of the available options.

The higher the quality of the floor, the more expensive resources will be required.

Floor - this section will allow you to decide how the floor will look like in different rooms. The quality of the floor can affect e.g. the sense of aesthetics of your colonists. Just bear in mind that higher quality will come with more expensive resources.

Ship - you may construct components of your ship. It's one of the last and enduring elements of the gameplay.

In the zone tab you can decide how you want to manage a given area. When you select an area as a stockpile, remember to surround it with a wall and secure properly.

Zone - a very important panel - you can select where certain areas such as fields, stockpile of resources or living quarters should be located. When you select an area, you may choose additional options: what should be farmed, what resources should be omitted while gathering, or does an area require a roof.

You can use a large room as a production sector of your colony

Production - another essential section where you can craft object used to create tools, new technologies, or design a kitchen for your colonists.

When investing in an object that generates power, remember to build batteries that will store produced energy.

Energy - this will allow you build objects associated with energy and electricity, required by many devices.

Other - here you will find different objects that were not listed in the previous categories. Some of them will include tombstones, solar lamps etc.

Make sure that your colonists have access to entertainment. Add a pool table, chess or a TV to make them feel better.

Entertainment - this section is devoted to objects that will make your colonist forget about the tough life in the colony.

Temperature - use these objects to control temperature across the rooms. It's very useful, as your colonists will often complain that they are too cold or too hot, which will eventually affect their state of being, and make them sick. Apart from that, setting low temperature in a room (and turning it into a freezer), will prevent food from spoiling.

Keep in mind that objects will be blocked at first and only by the means of new technologies can they be unlocked.