Your starting island has no enemies and nothing on a timer; even if you get hurt, you lose nothing. In this chapter you gather resources by hand, make your first tools, build a workbench and break open the island's biggest target, the copper vein.
Start With Your Hands
Your hands are enough to break wood, stone and berries; you don't need to wait for a tool. Hold left click and hit trees and rocks. Every hit pays credits instantly; the full materials drop when the resource breaks. Don't worry if you clear out an area — resources come back on their own after a while, and nowhere runs out for good.
Planks, Tools, Workbench
Turn wood into planks instantly from the Q catalog (1 log = 4 planks). The axe (2 planks, 2 stone, 2 fiber) and the pickaxe (3 planks, 3 stone) are queued from the catalog too: they take a few seconds, finish while you walk and drop into your bag — you don't need to stand at a bench for your first tools. Tools multiply your hits: bare hands deal 1 damage, an axe or pickaxe deals 3. Make the workbench (6 planks, 2 stone) by hand; while holding it, left click to place it, R rotates it, right click picks it back up.
The Copper Vein
The biggest, shiniest vein on the island is copper, and it can't be broken by hand — not slowly, not at all. You need a pickaxe first. The order is: break rock → gather stone → make the pickaxe → hit the vein. If this is where you're stuck, the answer isn't on the map; it's in your inventory.
Research at the Monument
Every island has a Monument; open it with E. Machines are researched there: you pay credits first, then hand in the required materials. The starting island's Monument sells three rungs: Logistics (Chest, Collector), Power (Charcoal Burner, Solar Panel) and Breaking (Breaker). Tools, materials and food need no research.
Unlock the Next Island
Once you have enough credits, open the Expedition screen with M and buy the next island; the first costs 6,000 credits, and each one after that about twice as much. A new island brings a new biome, new materials, tougher resources, enemies and a dungeon underneath; the new materials also need a higher-tier tool.
The wrong tool doesn't stop you, it only slows you down — you can break rock with an axe at half damage. Ore veins are different: each one has a tier, and only a pickaxe of that tier or higher opens it. On the starting island the only vein is copper. If you're hitting a vein and nothing happens, the message on screen tells you which pickaxe opens it.