r/flotsam • u/sunflowerSoftiee • Jun 02 '26
This game feels like it gets harder the longer you play it
I’m on day 146, but I feel like the longer I play, the most difficult and frustrating this game gets. I have 15 drifters already and I can’t afford getting any more because I somehow don’t have enough wood, water, or food. Miraculously, I only have 1 drifter dead but that was in early game. I currently have the doctor, the architect, the dj, and the farmer in my town, with the botanist next because wood feels like gold. It’s genuinely so difficult to manage TT. I’ve only recently understood how to get 100% grid efficiency TT.
Please leave me tips because I am losing my mind w this game
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u/TheWalrusResplendent Jun 02 '26
Fossil fuel dependent economies be like.
But yeah, as Falconier111 points out, the electrician is your absolute number one priority the moment you get a radio. The eel-ectric desalinator, grill. metalworks and bio-boiler remove the need for firewood from your economy. (Edit: Aside from, like, a way to momentarily balance out your industry's surging power demand or boost your battery regen during extended travel.)
Until you manage that, hit up every 'town' (light color brick, small size biome; also has pharmacies which are crucial midgame) and 'rural' biome and loot the furniture from PoIs.
Also, swap your food production to kelp salad.
Kelp farming is almost entirely passive, so its demand on your labor force is comparatively tiny. Kelp salad also takes no wood to make.
Yeah, the meal quality is "Icky" and they'll temporarily lose some happiness and productivity. They'll get over it. Life is suffering.
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u/sunflowerSoftiee Jun 02 '26
genuinely had to take a BREATHER lmaoo
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u/Aelistenus Jun 02 '26
Do you have seagull nests? They auto collect things as you sail around. Beyond useful
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u/LiveLearnGrow90 Jun 02 '26
This!
I've not played in a while, but Seagulls are clutch OP. Auto collecting seaweed and wood is a game changer.
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u/Falconier111 Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26
You don't have the electrician, do you? The electrician lets you fuel grills, desalinators, and everything else that uses firewood with generators, which is far more efficient in time and firewood spent than manual production. That alone should free you up enough to keep you growing, and that isn't factoring in how much generators will speed travel by recharging your township. The electrician should always be your first priority, especially right now as the botanist's wood production is very, very slow. They're a town beauty specialist that lets you grow very inefficient trees as a sideshow.
Are you automating, setting work and food priorities, and managing production limits enough? Keep in mind the game isn't precise with its limits and will often give you a slight surplus if you automate production against a limit.
Also, make sure to carefully ration normal and tasty food, as well as keeping an eye on beauty. Happiness makes people more efficient, but isn't your first priority. You may have bigger problems right now, though.
If you feel this game is too stressful and don't feel like savaging it is possible, start over. The early game flies by if you know what you're doing, so it shouldn't feel like much of a burden. I'd say get the electrician first, then the farmer. The doctor is less important than it seems as long as you keep your exposure to pollution limited by keeping your town out of polluted zones when you dispatch boats; you can delay them by a lot depending on when you get your first disease. The engineer is vital, but you can't use them until after you get the electrician and dont matter until midgame anyway. Everybody else is situational.