Terrace Nine: A Heating Plan That Survives Your First Winter
Most first cities in Terrace Nine die of a heat deficit around day forty. Here is a layout that does not, and the reasoning behind every part of it.
Guides that assume you are an adult
No twenty-minute videos, no padding, no "step one: open the menu". Our guides lead takes a system apart, works out what actually matters, and writes down the shortest useful version of it.
Cinderfall: How to Survive the Opening Act Without Wasting Points
The first eight hours of Cinderfall are its worst, largely because the tools that make combat work are still locked. This approach smooths the ramp.
Overgrowth Protocol: Reading the Numbers the Interface Hides
Supply throughput decides every game of Overgrowth Protocol and the interface buries it three menus deep. Here is how to keep track of it.
The Hollow Ward: Getting Past the Two Puzzles That Stall Everyone
A spoiler-light walkthrough of the second-act puzzles most likely to end a playthrough, written to preserve the atmosphere rather than spend it.
Frostline Transit: Surviving Your First Five Runs
The early hours of Frostline Transit are its tensest stretch. Here is how to come out of the first five runs with a working truck and a fuel margin.
How to Read a Score: Four Pillars, Explained
Every review on this site breaks down into Structure, Systems, Atmosphere and Staying Power. Here is what each one means and why we split them up.
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House rules
What a guide has to do before it goes up
01
Finished first
Nobody writes a guide to a game they have not completed. If the advice only holds for the first three hours, we say so in the opening line rather than letting you find out at hour twelve.
02
Reasons, not recipes
Every recommendation comes with why it works. A build that stops working after a patch is useless; understanding the breakpoint behind it survives the patch notes.
03
Spoilers flagged
Guides to story-led games stay spoiler-light by default, and anything unavoidable is marked before it appears. Atmosphere is part of what you paid for and we try not to spend it for you.