ALL WILL FALL Beginner's Guide

Before You Start: What Makes ALL WILL FALL Different

ALL WILL FALL is not your typical city builder. Before clicking 'New Game', there are three fundamental differences from games like Anno, Cities Skylines, or Frostpunk that will catch new players off guard if they go in blind.

First: buildings fall down. This isn't a metaphor — the game's physics engine means an unsupported structure will literally collapse into the ocean. Every time you place a building, the simulation recalculates load distribution. Ignore structural integrity and you'll lose hours of progress to a cascade collapse.

Second: your colonists have factions. They aren't interchangeable workers. Workers gather resources, Sailors explore the ocean, and Engineers do research and operate cranes. Each faction has independent happiness, and an unhappy faction goes on strike. A strike can cascade into colony failure faster than any structural collapse.

Third: the ocean is alive. Tides rise and fall on a real cycle. At low tide, new resource deposits and land appear. At high tide, some of those areas flood. You have to plan your expansion around the tide, not despite it.

Keep these three pillars in mind at all times. Every decision in ALL WILL FALL flows from physics, factions, and tides.

Day 1 — First 10 Minutes Priority Build Order

When you start a new game, you have a small starting platform, a handful of colonists split across all three factions, and a limited supply of wood and scrap. The first 10 minutes determine whether your colony thrives or collapses by Day 5.

Your immediate priority is food and water. Without food, colonist happiness drops at -10 per day across all factions. Without water, the penalty is -15 per day. Build a Fishing Pier first — it requires only 4 wood and produces 2 food units per day per assigned Worker. Then build a Rainwater Collector (6 wood, 1 scrap) for your water supply.

Second priority is housing. Colonists without shelter lose happiness at -8 per day. Build basic Worker Huts to house your Workers and Sailors on Day 1. Engineers can sleep in Worker Huts initially, but plan to replace them with Engineer Quarters by Day 5.

Third priority — and this is the one most beginners skip — is a Recreation Deck. Workers' happiness is uniquely sensitive to Entertainment. Without recreation, Workers will be at 40% happiness by Day 7 and approaching strike territory. A basic Recreation Deck costs 8 wood and 2 scrap. Build it on Day 1 alongside your housing.

Resist the urge to expand your platform immediately. Widening your raft base before you have production running will consume all your starting materials and leave you unable to meet colonist needs. Wait until Day 3-4 before expanding horizontally.

Understanding the Four Core Needs

Every colonist in ALL WILL FALL has four needs that must be met to maintain happiness: Food, Water, Shelter, and Entertainment. Letting any one of these drop to zero for a faction triggers a happiness spiral that is difficult to reverse without significant investment.

Food is produced by Fishing Piers, Hydroponic Farms (mid-game), and Kelp Processors (requires Sailors). Each colonist consumes 0.5 food units per day. A single Fishing Pier with one assigned Worker produces 2 food units per day, meaning it can support 4 colonists indefinitely. Build a second Fishing Pier once your colony exceeds 8 colonists.

Water comes from Rainwater Collectors early game and Well Pumps (if your scenario has accessible bedrock) mid-game. Each colonist consumes 0.4 water units per day. Note: water production is weather-dependent. During clear weather events, Rainwater Collectors produce at 50% efficiency. Build 2 collectors per 10 colonists to buffer for dry spells.

Shelter requires each colonist to have an assigned bed. Unhoused colonists lose -8 happiness per day. Different factions prefer different housing types — Workers are satisfied with basic Huts, Sailors prefer Sailor Bunks (provides +10 morale bonus), and Engineers strongly prefer Engineer Quarters. Mixed housing works but produces no faction-specific morale bonus.

Entertainment is the most neglected need by new players and the most punishing to ignore. Each faction has different Entertainment buildings they respond to. Workers love Recreation Decks and Taverns. Sailors respond to Fishing Piers (as leisure) and Distilleries. Engineers gain happiness from Workshops, Libraries, and the Observatory. Build at least one Entertainment building per faction within the first week of in-game time.

Working With the Tide Cycle

The tide cycle in ALL WILL FALL runs on a fixed schedule that varies by scenario. In the default sandbox, a full tide cycle (low to high and back) takes approximately 20 in-game minutes at normal speed. At low tide, the ocean recedes by 2-4 tiles around your platform, exposing resource deposits: wood debris, metal scrap piles, bone fragments, and occasionally rare components from sunken structures.

The most important habit to develop early is pausing when low tide begins and scanning your surroundings for new deposits. Send Workers to gather from tide-exposed resources immediately — they will be submerged again at high tide. Certain resources (deep-water kelp, offshore salvage) are only accessible by Sailors in boats regardless of tide level.

High tide has its own benefits. Trading vessels from other survivor outposts arrive at high tide and dock at your Trade Pier (build one as soon as you can afford it). These ships bring resources you cannot produce locally, especially mid-game materials like electronic components and steel alloys. Missing a trade ship because you didn't build a Trade Pier costs you significantly in the mid game.

In storm events, the tide behaves erratically — high tide can surge higher than normal, flooding structures that are normally above the water line. Always build your ground-floor structures at least 2 tile-heights above normal high tide level. This is particularly important in the Flood and Tornado scenarios where tide surges are a primary threat mechanic.

All Will Fall — New Start Layout Full Gameplay Guide

10 Most Common ALL WILL FALL Beginner Mistakes

1. 1. Building tall before building wide

   Expand your raft base to at least 6×6 tiles before constructing a second floor. Stability before height.

2. 2. Ignoring the stress overlay

   Open the stress overlay from the build menu every morning in-game. Red zones need immediate support columns.

3. 3. No Recreation Deck on Day 1

   Workers go on strike by Day 8 without Entertainment. Build a Recreation Deck immediately after basic housing.

4. 4. Over-assigning Engineers to production

   Engineers do not gather resources efficiently. Keep at least 1 Engineer staffing the Research Station at all times.

5. 5. Not building a ship for Sailors

   Sailors without a boat lose -5 happiness per day. Build a basic Raft Boat by Day 10 even if you don't need it yet.

6. 6. Placing heavy machinery on upper floors

   Smelters, Generators, and Storage Silos are extremely heavy. They belong on the ground floor or on pile foundations, never on elevated wooden platforms.

7. 7. Missing the tide deposit windows

   Pause the game when low tide begins. Manually assign Workers to gather from exposed deposits before the tide returns.

8. 8. Spending all Influence on events

   Bank Influence until you can recruit all three faction leaders. Their passive buffs are worth more than any single event choice.

9. 9. Not using Undo after a placement mistake

   The Undo buffer holds 20 actions. Use it immediately after any misplaced building — don't try to demolish and rebuild.

10. 10. Skipping the Workshop

    Engineers without Workshop access lose -8 happiness per day. This is the fastest passive drain in the game. Build a Workshop before Day 5.

First Research Priorities — What to Unlock First

The Research Station is unlocked after you build a Workshop and assign an Engineer to it. Research in ALL WILL FALL is divided into four trees: Production, Construction, Exploration, and Survival. Each requires specific materials to complete and takes real in-game time proportional to the number of Engineers assigned.

Your first research unlock should always be Improved Fishing from the Survival tree. This increases Fishing Pier output by 40%, which dramatically relaxes your food supply pressure and lets you reassign Workers from food gathering to production. The research costs 10 wood and 5 scrap and takes approximately 8 in-game hours with one Engineer.

Your second research priority depends on your scenario. For most scenarios, Concrete Mixing (Production tree) is the most impactful second unlock — it enables Concrete production, which is necessary for stable multi-floor structures and eventually for pile foundations. Without concrete, your mid-game expansion is severely limited.

Resist unlocking Exploration tree items until your colony is stable. Scout Ship Blueprint and Ocean Mapping are valuable but require Sailor investment that diverts attention from your production base. Stabilize food, water, and housing for all factions before sending Sailors exploring.

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