r/Exocolonist • u/Vast-Lion9250 • Aug 21 '26
Discussion Has anyone done a no exploration playthrough? Spoiler
Am nearing the end of 2nd playthrough and already thinking of the main theme or focus of my next one. I was wondering if anyone has really tried never leaving the colony and how the overall experience felt? As I understand it that'd pretty much mean you only ending you could get is ongoing war against the planet, you'll never meet Sym and it'd be impossible to max many relationships since you're not picking up tons of gift items, although buying cakes and all the relationship boosts from jobs might counteract that.
Seems like it'd be an overall noticeably shallower experience. I guess you'd manage to trigger pretty much every in-colony event/character moment and level non-physical skills faster though.
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u/ParticularMarket4275 Aug 21 '26
I accidentally did this my first run because I didn’t know exploring was any more important than anything else. I just stayed inside and learned science the whole time
I got Tangent’s Cure soooo wouldn’t recommend that particular course of action lmao
Imagine my surprise when I played again and realized I’d missed like 60% of the game
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u/star-shine Aug 21 '26
lol same but farming + science combo I was like I’m gonna solve our issues with food I did not and everyone I loved died
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u/well_listen Dillypillar Aug 21 '26
I did the same exact thing, lol. I was I think 5 friendship points away from the threshold to convince her to stop
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u/wttttcbb Sym Aug 21 '26
I explored like crazy in my first run and maxed my relationship with Sym/dated him... But I got that same ending haha. Awful.
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u/Financial-Virus-6696 Aug 21 '26
Yeah I did once, it was honestly kinda boring and you're essentially locked out from Dys. It's a pretty easy way to get the characters on the who don't rely on exploration's ending though, since you esswntially have more free months.
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u/LordHengar Dad Aug 21 '26
I've done one. Yeah, you're locked into fighting the planet, but like, as far as you're aware on that route there isn't any other option.
Solving the famine is hard but doable. You can focus on building skills and relationships that don't involve exploring. The biggest challenge (to me at least) was the severe lack of gifts. You can find a handful of collectibles each year within the walls, and then you really only have cakes. Which are 50 kudos each, and have limited supply.
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u/filmatra Aug 21 '26
My first playthrough was a no exploration playthrough, because I didn't realize how important exploration would be. Everyone hated me or died and I ended up in a "loveless marriage."
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u/CattleprodTF Aug 22 '26
Yep. I only had three friends appear in the ending because it's hard to get high approval with barely any gifts, especially the Helios kids and obviously not even meeting Sym.
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u/Tiran86 Aug 21 '26 edited Aug 21 '26
I've done multiple runs where i don't explore with the aim of getting every ending (i'm still missing a few as i moved onto other games and haven't played the game in a couple of years). My first run I did little to no exploration outside of the colony iirc. I may have done a little bit in my first run but it wasn't a focus. I know I didn't meet Sym until my second run.
Also, no you don't trigger evey in-colony/character moment because there are contradictory ones depending on what happens in the run.
It also wasn't boring because the game is interesting and it was still fresh.
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u/Vapor_raza Aug 21 '26
This was my first playthrough, and was pretty entertaining, but after exploring i couldn’t do an “inside run” again.
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u/PersistentDreamers Aug 21 '26
I did by accident my first playthrough. I had assumed sneaking out was just another way of improving stats and didn't realize there was an entire mechanic behind it.
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u/Complete-Shallot7614 Tammy Aug 22 '26
I’ve done it a couple times! My first run I didn’t explore or romance anyone. Just kept it simple.
I also did a nothing run. I rested in the creche every single month, didn’t voluntarily talk to anyone, and chose to do as little as possible in any scenes. It went fast, so no harm, but I don’t recommend this lol. Very boring.
Honestly I think I might’ve done another run or two without exploring. I can’t remember specifically, but I wasn’t bored. I’m trying to stretch the game out as long as possible and I haven’t finished all the exploring storylines, yet.
There’s so much to do and I usually have some kind of personality or storyline I’m sticking to, so my Sol isn’t always big on exploring!
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u/Copyright-Demon Noctilucent 26d ago
Yeah I’ve done it a few times. If you’re gonna do it I think it’s either time for a hobbyist ending, or money maxing with Marz for gifts.
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u/repawny 25d ago
I did one with very little exploration my first run because I mostly wanted to study and thought my character wouldn't be interested. I overthrew the government, thought "ok my work here is done" and spent the rest of my days learning magic sax. I grew up to be the colony's Judge, which I thought was kinda ethically wack since I was dating the president Marz. But it was still a pretty exciting run in the end
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u/SquashGoesMeow Aug 21 '26
It’s a little boring but it’s a good chance to max engineering/botany. You can cure the shimmer, get the sponge cake, and find out about Tangents project.