Base camp guide
The camp is the only thing that compounds. Here is the routine and the upgrade order that makes it pay.
Camp is your only compounding investment. Set up the cooking pot, keep a stash, and spend early clay on base expansion and the arsenal before comfort items. Move camp with the backpack when a new area makes the old route too long — that is what the backpack was designed for.
What camp is for
Camp is the safe hub between expeditions. It is where you cook, craft, store materials and decide what to carry next. The official screenshots show a campfire, a cooking pot, storage chests and work surfaces in the same room. The game's loop only works if you treat camp as part of the run, not as a menu you visit when convenient.
The camp routine
- Before you leave: cook a meal, fill water, repair or replace tools, and choose one goal for the trip.
- When you return: deposit materials, cook the next batch, and spend clay on a compounding upgrade.
- Before you sleep or log off: leave key items out of the backpack and note the route you want to test next.
What to upgrade first
| Order | Upgrade | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cooking setup | Food buffs affect every fight and every route |
| 2 | Base expansion | More camp capacity for the systems you use every run |
| 3 | Arsenal upgrade | Better tools shorten the next material gate |
| 4 | Storage / comfort | Nice once the first three stop being the bottleneck |
Public reviews describe clay as the material that expands the base and upgrades the arsenal. Exact costs are shown in-game; we do not publish a cost table without verification.
When to move camp
The developer's Dev Blog #10 says the backpack was designed mainly for packing up your belongings and moving camp to another campsite. That is the tell: if your route to the new content is long enough that you are spending a meal and most of your water just walking, move the camp. A camp near a shortcut is worth more than a camp with a nicer view.
The clay-to-camp-expansion loop and the backpack's camp-moving purpose are described in public reviews and the developer's Dev Blog #10. Specific upgrade costs and camp tiers are not verified here.
Camp in co-op
Assign one player to own the camp between runs: cooking, storage, and the next upgrade. The other players can scout or gather. This avoids the classic co-op failure where everyone returns with a full pack, nobody cooks, and the group leaves again under-buffed.
Camp mistakes
- Upgrading comfort before capacity. A prettier camp does not get you deeper.
- Never moving camp. If the walk back is the run, the camp is in the wrong place.
- Storing quest items in the backpack. The stash is for materials; key items stay with you.
- Leaving with an empty pot. Cooking is part of the pre-run checklist, not an afterthought.
Related pages
Cooking covers the pot and buff timing. Clay covers the material that funds the first upgrades. Inventory explains when the backpack is worth the sprint penalty.