Help and FAQ

Reporting a bug

Press F8 in the game (or Esc, then Report a bug) and say what happened. The game version, where you were and your last chat lines go along with it, so you don't need to write those down. Reports go straight to the people making the game. Playing solo? They're sent the next time you play online.

The launcher

• Stable or Beta? Stable is tested. Beta gets new things first and can break; it keeps its own saves, so trying Beta never touches your Stable game.
• Updating happens by itself when you open the launcher. It only downloads what changed (usually about 1 MB) and checks every file.
• The game won't start, or an update broke it: press Repair (downloads only damaged files). If a new version is the problem, Restore previous version goes back one update. A build that can't reach its title screen is rolled back by itself.
• No internet? The launcher plays whatever is installed.

Playing online

• Logging in uses Discord. You stay logged in on that PC for 30 days.
• Lost connection? The game reconnects by itself. If you were logged in somewhere else, it tells you and stops trying.
• Your progress lives on the server when you play online, and on your PC when you play solo. They're separate characters.

Common questions

The Text tab is greyed out. New players start with blocks. Finish the chapter 1 goal Loops and choices (an if inside a loop) and read Grandpa's Typing Manual from your bag.

"This program is N lines long, but my motherboard only holds M." Better motherboards hold more lines (workbench, B), and the Expanded Memory perk adds more. With the Subroutines perk, saved scripts run with run_script() don't count against the limit at all.

Poncho stopped with "Too hot! Emergency reboot". Every line he runs warms him up. Add wait() (or a wait block) inside long loops, and look at heat sinks and the Heat Pipes perk.

Poncho ran back to the entrance in the ruins. He was scared: when he's Anxious and an enemy gets close, he drops your program and runs to the caretaker. He calms down there. Courage perks and affixes help.

Where's my mail? In the mailbox on your farm (click it), or at the Mendwell bank.

How do I get to Mendwell? Place the Waystone from Grandpa's mail (chapter 1), then click it.

Programs don't run in town. That's on purpose: Mendwell is crowded. Click the ground to walk.

Can I undo a build? In build mode, Ctrl+Z takes back your last placement with a full refund.

I threw away something by mistake. Right-click a bag slot asks before throwing anything away; once it's gone, it's gone. Report it with F8 if something vanished on its own.

Still stuck?

Ask in the Discord, or report it with F8.