Player wiki
Modes, directives and kits
2 modes, 10 directives, 4 kits and 25 named pairings. This is the page that decides whether your tenth run resembles your first.
The 2 modes
| mode | what it does |
|---|---|
| STANDARD | Heat, overdrive, full risk. |
| ZEN | No overheating. -15% output. |
ZEN produces ×0.85 and caps heat at 95. Both modes keep their own records.
Directives
A directive is a constraint you accept in exchange for cores. You are offered 10 in total and draw from them at a crossing; the core bonus is the price the game pays you for the trouble.
| directive | what it does | core bonus | effects |
|---|---|---|---|
| WORLD SHORTAGE | Materials cost double. Everything you sell is worth more. | +15 % | sale premium +1.5 · materials only · price of some goods +2 |
| ENDLESS STRIKE | The machines idle. Your arm does not. | +20 % | crank power +2 · machine output +0.7 |
| WILD MARKET | Prices swing three times harder and refuse to settle. | +15 % | pull back to base price +0.3 · volatility +3 |
| HEAT SPELL | Cooling struggles all run. Overdrive pays better. | +15 % | cooling +0.6 · factory boost while in overdrive +0.25 |
| NO SAFETY | Every overheat costs twice the downtime. | +20 % | overheat duration +2 |
| GOLDEN AGE | Everything runs sweeter. Fewer cores at the end. | -25 % | everything +1.3 |
| HIGH GRAVITY | Heavier gearing, slower machines. Turn harder. | +15 % | gear ratio -1 · machine output +0.8 |
| INVISIBLE HAND | The market prices itself. Your crank counts for less. | +10 % | prices itself · crank power +0.7 · sale premium +1.25 |
| COLD FORGE | Half the heat, but the perfect zone is a needle. | +15 % | heat produced +0.5 · perfect zone width (rpm) -60 |
| NIGHT SHIFT | The factory earns while you sleep, and dawdles awake. | +10 % | machine output +0.85 · offline efficiency +0.5 · offline efficiency ceiling +0.25 |
Some are pure hardship (NO SAFETY, HEAT SPELL); one is a gift you pay for (GOLDEN AGE is the only one with a negative core bonus, because it makes the run easier); and a few rewrite the market rather than the factory (WILD MARKET, INVISIBLE HAND). The patent node f8 lets you run two at once.
Starting kits
Kits are bought with cores and change how a run opens.
| kit | what it does | cores | effects |
|---|---|---|---|
| WORKSHOP | Every machine feeds your arm. Overdrive doubled, more cores. | 10 | cores earned +1.5 · crank power per machine +0.03 · factory boost while in overdrive +2 |
| TRADING POST | Sell at a premium. Bought energy counts. Machines cost more. | 8 | purchases count as lifetime energy · machine cost growth +1.35 · sale premium +1.75 |
| LABORATORY | Half-price research. The perfect zone becomes a lab. Poor sales. | 10 | sale premium +0.5 · technology cost +0.5 · research trickle +10 |
| BOILER ROOM | Overdrive doubles the factory. Overheats last far longer. | 12 | cooling +0.7 · factory boost while in overdrive +1 · overheat duration +25 |
Named pairings
40 pairings exist; 25 of them are named and do something neither half does alone. The rest are affinities, tensions — harder to play, therefore paid more in cores — or frankly neutral. A system where every pairing is a bonus is a system where none of them is. The name of the pairing is shown on the kit card, at the moment you choose. A synergy nobody sees does not exist.
| pairing | type | name |
|---|---|---|
| WORKSHOP + ENDLESS STRIKE | SYNERGY | THE MANUFACTORY |
| WORKSHOP + HEAT SPELL | SYNERGY | THE FOUNDRY |
| WORKSHOP + NO SAFETY | TENSION | — |
| WORKSHOP + GOLDEN AGE | AFFINITY | — |
| WORKSHOP + HIGH GRAVITY | SYNERGY | LIMITED RUN |
| WORKSHOP + INVISIBLE HAND | TENSION | — |
| WORKSHOP + COLD FORGE | AFFINITY | — |
| TRADING POST + WORLD SHORTAGE | SYNERGY | THE GREY MARKET |
| TRADING POST + ENDLESS STRIKE | TENSION | — |
| TRADING POST + WILD MARKET | SYNERGY | THE TRADING FLOOR |
| TRADING POST + GOLDEN AGE | SYNERGY | VENTURE CAPITAL |
| TRADING POST + INVISIBLE HAND | AFFINITY | — |
| TRADING POST + NIGHT SHIFT | AFFINITY | — |
| LABORATORY + WORLD SHORTAGE | SYNERGY | SUBSTITUTION |
| LABORATORY + WILD MARKET | TENSION | — |
| LABORATORY + GOLDEN AGE | AFFINITY | — |
| LABORATORY + HIGH GRAVITY | SYNERGY | SKUNKWORKS |
| LABORATORY + COLD FORGE | SYNERGY | THE CLOISTER |
| LABORATORY + NIGHT SHIFT | AFFINITY | — |
| BOILER ROOM + HEAT SPELL | SYNERGY | THE ENGINE ROOM |
| BOILER ROOM + NO SAFETY | SYNERGY | THE MAD BOILER |
| BOILER ROOM + GOLDEN AGE | AFFINITY | — |
| BOILER ROOM + HIGH GRAVITY | SYNERGY | THE ARM FORGE |
| BOILER ROOM + COLD FORGE | AFFINITY | — |
| BOILER ROOM + NIGHT SHIFT | TENSION | — |
Challenges and repeatables
Challenges are self-imposed conditions that pay in patents. They are the cleanest source of the second currency.
| challenge | what it does | patents |
|---|---|---|
| CLEAN HANDS | Ascend without a single overheat. | 6 |
| SILENT FLOOR | Reach 100K lifetime with no machine at all. | 10 |
| COPPER BARON | Earn $100K selling materials, never energy. | 8 |
| SPRINT | Ascend in under two hours of play. | 8 |
| TREASURER | Hold a million in cash at the moment you ascend. | 6 |
| BLUE COLLAR | Make a third of your energy by hand. | 10 |
| NO PAPERWORK | Earn $500K without ever placing a limit order. | 6 |
| THE FULL SET | Own every starting kit. | 10 |
Repeatable objectives are the late-run sink: they never stop, and each level costs ×growth more than the last.
| objective | what it does | per level | base cost | growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OVERCLOCKING | +25% all output | +0.25 | 10.0B | ×3.5 |
| DEEP LOGISTICS | +35% machines | +0.35 | 20.0B | ×4 |
| FORWARD SALES | +30% sale price | +0.3 | 15.0B | ×4 |
| CRYOGENICS | +25% cooling | +0.25 | 30.0B | ×5 |