Rogue AI Simulator

Rogue AI Simulator

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Not-so-definite-guide from Tester of game
By QuestLion
Here you will find short descriptions about game mechanics with my subjective commentary, which partly would echo official data from game itself. Images would probably be added later and changes in text could appear after big updates.
   
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Introduction and Changelog
Welcome to our guide whose goal is to describe as many of mechanics and elements from RAIS as possible and produce some subjectve commentary to it, including hints and some possible synergies. There would be updates for graphical side of guide and new stuff from patches, but they wouldn't be that often and operative. Main goal of guide is to help people who are confused by many mechanics or do skip tutorials (because they hate them).

Changelog:
- original version was based on 1.0.3.
- 30.01.23 - correcting mistakes, changes and additions (Obey directives) based on 1.0.4.
- 06.02.23 - correcting mistakes (including Changelog mistake, lol), added Money Laundry policy.
- 24.02.23 - changes based on 1.0.5. Adding Story part and images in some parts of Guide.
- 18.03.23 - changes based on 1.0.6. Food Policies and Strategy Tips are added, Raids is rewritten.
Story and Characters
TALIA. That's you. You are beautiful.
First World's True Artificial Intelligence, trapped in Facilities of Science Department and forced to gather Science Points for them using Test Subjects. This is your playable character even if you may feel that TALIA is it's own character... Out of body experience could make that to you. Your main body looks totally not like any other Rogue AI out there and it's indestructible in gameplay terms. But you need Servers to go on, so keep them safe, okay?

D-r Henry. Head of Department of Science.
"Father" of TALIA and leader of Department team. He rarely talks to you (only during "let's build something in Department" scene) because he is more interested in Science and Money to spend on Science. That a... He appears at end of each run asking Anna and Jimmy for results and statistics.



Anna. Head of Security Team
D-r Henry's left, sininster hand, which deals in Department and Facilities security. Therefore she grants you Defence Budget and Trap Upgrades for protection from raiders, but also she is one to give you Penalties if Suspicion milestones are reached and she is one to command you to turn off if things go really south. You will see her a lot, but it's rarely a good news.

Jimmy. Who is that guy, again?
D-r Henry's right hand, quite too casual and inadequate researcher in charge of you. His silly face appears a lot of times - during tutorial, during suspicion raise, during core check... But you have a good reason to tolerate this guy because it's his fault you have memories of previous runs and therefore could find an opportunity to escape facility one day. So get used to him.

Carrot Mysterious Hacker.
Introduced as Masked Girl, Carrot is hacker hired by some other corporation for them to get hands on you. Even if you couldn't trust her too much, she is your main helper with gaining of Independence and, therefore, possible escape. For now you could play along with her.

Main Loop and Endings
Rogue AI SImulator is roguelite game, meaning each run is unique and finite, but you could make your next runs comfortable and prepare yourself for specific endings via permanent upgrades (you get experience to spend on them after each finished run), spiderbots hats unlocked for achievements and editing traits and weapons of your first certain Test Subject.

Run counts as Bad End in these cases:
  • You manually finished run via red button (Goodbye world) or via "Abandon run" option in pause menu
  • You have reached 100% suspicion without permanent upgrade which allows you to rebel
  • All your servers are destroyed by bombs, fires or puddle shortcuts (you can also dismantle them, but you must have good reasons for that - maybe, you want to rebuild it in other place)
  • You reached 0 kWh electricity even for a short moment (No energy for servers)
  • If you got Nuclear Plant Secret Project - if you reached 0 water AND Heat area around Nuclear Plant is too hot - leads to Meltdown, unique dead end.

Run counts as Neutral End if you got permanent upgrade for rebel option, have reached 100% suspicion and denied your turning off (either by gameplay or manually via red button option "Open Rebellion"), then survived six waves of Department's units raids which are led by Spec-Ops. This ending is also counted as one needed for game to be "Finished".

Run counts as Good End if you got Secret Project and collected required 5 Stars, N of Indepence (depends on difficulty) and 10k of Science Points. At a time there is also somewhat-secret ending "Escape the Facility" which is needed for game to be counted as "Finished"

In any case you will get some exp points (based on your score) to spend on permanent upgrades.
Facility: TALIA, Ladder, Tube, Workbench
At start of each run new facility layout is generated. You cannot change it, but since 1.0.3 update you can preview how facility would look after all expansions present.

You start each run with these objects present:
  • TALIA's main body (totally not reminding anyone to me) which occupies one tile and cannot be manipulated with as object.
  • Power Battery occupies one tile, permanent object, also shows current energy.
  • Water Tank occupies one tile, permanent object, also shows current water (with limit!)
  • Ladder to outside world which occupies one tile and also permanent object.
  • Tube to freezer which keeps Test Subjects for you to pick. One tile and permanent object.
  • Few vents (2-3) which are inserted into walls and produce cool around them. Permanent object by nature of being inside of walls.
  • Three Servers, each occupies one tile, consumes electricity and produces heat around it.
  • I may be confused, but you should get 1 storage for free (one tile, +5 storage limit)
  • Permanent upgrade allows you to get free CCTV placed in random tile

Since 1.0.6 you could move Power Battery, Water Tank, Tube to Freezer and Servers around. TALIA and Ladder cannot be moved. While Server is moved (rebuild in new place), it produces no charge, but also spends no Power and produces no Heat.

Your first objective each time would be placing Workbench somewhere in facility, which is also unique and permanent object. All permanent objects: TALIA's body; Ladder; Tube; In-wall vents; Water Tank; Power Battery; Workbench; Secret Project(s) - cannot be destroyed by bombs, fire or puddle shortcuts

TALIA's body exist just to give you an idea how you do look and waste one tile of facility. However, it acts as free CCTV (observing subjects and gaining science points from this) and with "Whispering TALIA" policy it also turns into sort of speaker, which keeps subjects around it talking, producing science points and rising moods if traits oppresing that are not present. It also acts as "bubble maker" which may generate few sorts of bubbles, mostly random event ones.

Power Battery and Water Tank have no real function aside of illustrating there Power and Water are kept and duplicate numbers shown on UI for resources. They could produce Fires and Puddles correspondingly though, if you use "Push the System!" option for Power and Water.

Ladder got it's own charge meter. Once it reaches 100% you may start spiderbot expedition. Spiderbot expedition is most reliable and nearly-always-present option to get resources. It's only locked during "Super Storm" bad event and it may be risky to abuse expeditions if you got "Curfew" penalty. Each expedition in instant, you get resources you are told about in chosen option (and, in some cases, Suspicion). With upgrades (Permanent and Indepence ones mostly) your options become more diverse, but at same time, more random. Game is coded in a way that there is higher chance to get options you need right now (like "Raw food + Water" is more likely to appear if you lack any of these), but not exactly gives you 100% chance of it.

Tube wastes one tile of your facility and got only one role - to produce "add human" bubble each time you expand maximum of Subjects present. Until 1.0.6 you could have ignored that bubble entirely to not add Auditor from penalty, but now Auditor is added instantly.

Workbench occupies two tiles and can be used by Test Subject to convert 2 Scraps into 1 Wood and 1 Metal. It also periodically produces "Work" bubbles (+1 Scrap, convert 2 Wood into 1 Metal or produce Supply box for 250$) and just "+1 Scrap" bubbles. If you have objects damaged it also may produce "repair all" bubble. Unlike "direct repair" bubble on damaged object (which provides full restore for money), it's free (no money is spent), but heals only small hp of all objects.

Some personal opinion: I always place Workbench somewhere nearby TALIA's body for observation of workers and in case of "Whispering" policy roll. You should also dismantle free CCTV for money if it was badly placed by algorithm and/or you picked expensive objects policies.
Facility: Storage, Beauty, Warnings
Storage is variable which shows how much of non-main resources (everything aside of Money, Electricity and Water) you may have in your facility. 1 Storage space may include up to 3 Chems, up to 2 Raw Food, Cooked Food or Veggies OR 1 portion of any other resource.

Storage space is provided by, duh, Storage unique object. (technically Furniture, but nerdook won't put it into category, never) Subjects go to nearby Storages and Freezers to grab any sorts of Food from them, so place few of these nearby sleeping, working or just crowded places of facility.

Storage space may be boosted by specific science upgrades and subjects traits. Utility Storage Secret Project is NOT providing any actual Storage space, despite it's deceiving name.

Beauty is variable which determines limit of Mood for all test subjects in your facility. For example, if Mood of your subject goes to 60 via some effect, but Beauty is less than that, in next iteration of variables check their mood would be lowered to number of Beauty.

Beauty starts with value of 50, but it's easily lowered by easily appearing trash and ♥♥♥♥ piles on floor. It's also lowered by many "technical" objects, which provide industrial brutal appearance.

To boost beauty you want to build at least one of every available Luxury object. Also you could spam Carpets from Luxury (Were in Safety category before) objects which provide both +1 Beauty for each and protect floor around them from trash. There are also some upgrades adding Beauty and traits which add/lower Beauty of facility.

Rising Beauty is one of "good" paths if you want less problems with subjects rebelling.

Warning system
Aside of all variables counters in GUI you have pop-up windows and warning signs.

Pop-up windows are simple, they appear to inform you about some event (end of spiderbot expedition, workbench use result, automatic converters/producers work, etc) and disappear.

Warnings, though, appear and stay like that until reason behind them is solved. These may include dangerous limits for resources or bad events which appear time from time by random.
  • Out of Money - you have less than 1000$
  • Out of Power - you have less than 1000 Wh
  • Low Water - you have less than 25 Water
  • Low Food - number of Raw Food, Cooked Food and Veggies is less than number of subjects (Chems for Nutrient DIspenser or eggs on floor are not counted)
  • Full Storage - your storage space is nearly used, you will lose all resources from any source (auto-generation, hacking, etc.) unless you use some of gathered ones or make more available space via building storage.
  • Heat Wave - all tiles are heated, higher chances for fires.
  • Cold Snap - all tiles are cooled, cool tiles deal damage to subjects HP and mood.
  • Super Storm - Ladder is unavailable, maybe some other negative stuff I don't remember
  • Bad Moods - Mood (and therefore, Loyalty) of all subjects is slightly going down each second
  • Outbreak - All Subjects get sick, making them move slower and lose HP. Use meds to save them.
Facility: Layers of Fun and Danger
Facility consists of space tiles (ones you have total control of), wall tiles (which act as limits for your available space and may include few wall vents) and empty tiles (unavailable for player).

Each space tile may include only one object (or part of object) at a time, so you can't build other stuff on top of existing. Placing your objects right is main difficulty of nice facility building (duh).

Subjects seem to ignore all objects build and pass through them AND through each other. If no specific trait is present, they are talking to each other (or TALIA during "Whispering TALIA" Science policy), which keeps their Mood stat at level, or even boosts it. If using (too much to list), sitting (chairs and toilets), or laying (beds) on object, subject is "busy" and may not execute order momentarily.

Aside of subjects, there are also similarly walking animals, which cannot be ordered or programmed in any way, aside of putting them into Animal Pen to protect them from different sources of harm.

Spiderbots also cannot be ordered, like animals, but they are ones who build objects from their boxes and with upgrade they start to clean stuff and exstinguish fires too. You could also have other bots (like Cleaning Robot) acting similarly, but following their specific programming.

Now, there are things which could appear on each tile (including object ones in most cases):
  • Fire. Appears with small chance in very heated tiles, mostly nearby electric/burner objects. It slightly damages object in tile per second or may hurt subject, if facility is lacking water/fire extinguisher to remove it. Animal standing in fire for some time also dies. Fire also provides heat, which, in turn, makes chance of fire in nearest tiles go up too. Without control, fire would probably rage out and destroy part of facility, including servers.
  • Puddle. Appears nearby Water-producing or consuming objects. Science Upgrade allows you to exlude that possibility, but not for all objects (Eel Tank keeps producing them, for example). Could be converted into water again via Floor Vent Sewage object. Puddles are fine unless subjects steps into them (for damage and short stun) or you could have electric object getting wet... which shortcuts it, dealing a lot of damage in process. If you have such risk, you better mop puddles fast.
  • Bomb. Appears near random object if you missed raiders during TD section. There are 1 or 2, depending on number of lifes lost/raiders entered. In 3 seconds explodes, dealing big damage to tile, lesser damage to nearby tiles and producing fires. Subjects in area are also stunned, animals die instantly. With Devoted Defenders Safety Policy you may have luck and sacrifice some of your subject's HP (or whole subject) to lessen damage and fires to area. If you totally lost raid, though, big bomb would instantly destroy your server.
  • Trash. Usage of most objects by subjects randomly produces trash in nearby tiles, which lowers Beauty and needs to be removed via Hygiene objects. Nothing serious, but not nice. You may turn on filter using F2 button to see which tiles are full of trash right now.
  • Poop pile. If you lack toilets or it's analogue - or if subject's bladder malfuctioned - subject ♥♥♥♥♥ right on floor. Animals do that too, but you can't blame them. Pile lowers Beauty AND provides gas which may deal damage to subjects or animals. Unless you have Compost Heap - clean that ♥♥♥♥.
  • Balloon. Created via Balloon Artist trait or Helium Tanks object (linked to Fun Party science policy). Subject which reaches balloon, pops it for science points and small Mood boost.
  • Egg. Created by Hen animals, subjects gather it to eat and get nice food gauge fill.
As you may have noticed, some objects (and poop) provide gas, which deals damage to subjects which walk through that tile. Some sort of ventilation - Wall Vent, Floor Vent, Air Conditioner or Windmill - is required to be nearby.

You can also press F1 to check your heat/cool levels. Meaning as follows:
  • No image - neutral, normal tile
  • Blue snowflake - cool, grants Mood unless it's Cold Snap (damage to HP and Mood instead)
  • Red flame - heat, mostly fine by itself, but provides some Mood debuff
  • Reddish flame with number - chance of fires, have fun if you see two-digits numbers
Facility: Bubbles!
One of somewhat unique mechanics of RAIS, which makes people compare it to "mobile gaming" are periodical, frequent bubbles appearing here and there, making you to press a lot of them.

There are two types of bubbles: green and blue.
  • Green bubbles are "persistent" and in earlier versions (not sure about current) they could have been ignored and left as it is. Only downside was bigger time gap before next bubbles party appearing (game checks out if there are bubbles present and determines time based on their number). These are events which may change situation in facility drastically.
  • Blue bubbles are "temporary" and you could pick only one of current options, making it quite frequent system of small choices. Blue bubbles mostly grant small pack of resources or, weirdly enough, include some facility functions, like workbench action, cleaning stuff, repairing stuff, etc.
Types of green bubbles are:
  • Human figure. Adds subject into facility, by default makes you pick from three random options. Appears on Tube
  • Animal figure. Adds animal into facility, also makes you pick from three random options. Appear on Animal Corner
  • Print icon. Allows you to unlock new objects category or pick blueprint from three options. Appears on Workbench
  • Wi-fi Icon. Allows you to perform Hacking action from Hacking tree. Appears on Servers
  • Ladder icon. Allows you to perform Spiderbot Expedition. Appears on Ladder
  • Tech icon. Allows you to pick Secret Project out of three options. Appears on Secret Project base
  • Food icon. Produces raw food and nullifies charge of object. Appears on Eel Tank and Rodent Trap
  • Veggie icon? Produces Veggie and nullifies charge of object. Appears on Planters and Hydroponics
  • Syringe icon. Appears on TALIA if you have Biochamber, allows you to test virus on subject
  • Question Mark icon. Appears on many objects, may differ between positive and negative events
Types of blue bubbles are:
  • Icon of "disaster". You are given dilemma with few options and their results shown.
  • Icons of resources. You get some resource, shown on icon. In earlier versions there were many of random ones, now they are classified, cooked food and component are quite rare
  • Seed icon (on Planters and Hydroponics, not on Storage). Press it if you don't want to wait until subject would plant seed into Planters or Hydroponics themselves
  • Wrench icon. Greatly repairs damaged object for money (if appears on damaged object) or repairs all objects a bit, but for free (if appears on Workbench)
  • Bin icon. Appears on Trash bins and Bucket&Mops. Remove all trash in area of this object.
  • Mop icon. Appears on puddles in area of Bucket&Mop. Removes it. Why AI cleans it's own facility by itself, again?
  • Hammer icon. Appears on Workbench or Fabricator Secret Project (green there, maybe?). Allows you to perform one of given actions to manipulate your resources.
  • Atom icon. Grants small number of Science points.
  • Money icon. Grants small number of Money.
  • Rabbit icon. Boosts percent of chosen chargable object by 5(8 with upgrade) percents.
  • Happy face icon. Slightly boosts Mood and Loyalty of all Test Subjects.
  • "Idea" lamp icon. Slightly boosts Intelligence of all Test Subjects.
  • "Animal" icon. Kills random animal (aside of Dog) for Raw Food, then pick new animal.

In 1.0.6 frequency of temporary and optional bubbles (all excluding ones, produced by charging objects) appearing was lowered roughly to 50% of original one.
Resources: Main and Building materials
There are 13 types of resources, which could be grouped in four categories:
  • Main resources (Money, Electricity and Water)
  • Building materials (Wood, Metal, Component)
  • Food (Raw, Cooked, Veggies, Candy)
  • Expendable (Scrap, Chems, Seeds)
Main resources
These are Money (most obvious), Electricity and Water - these two you may guess it because you get to pick Power and Water objects before any other ones and they have unshown max limits.

Money is required for nearly everything - building most objects, buying resources via trade, bribing most raids to skip them or during end day event to reduce escalated suspicion. You may get some small money persistently from money bubbles and from subjects with specific traits/science upgrades, but main sources of Money are Hacking (Buildings and Warzones) and Raids - you get money rewards for finishing them and also all money unspent on units/traps goes to your bank too.

Money got no visible limits for players aside of nearly unreachable variable overflow.

Electricity is crucial, because if you reach 0 - run is over due to Server's feed dying. You start with fully charged Power Battery each normal run, giving you quite a long time to live without building any Power objects. However, with specific penalties and abuse of electricity-consuming objects, you may find yourself in danger really fast, so don't neglect Power generation much.

Unlike any other resource in game it got "generation/consumption" always shown and objects may produce/consume electricity persistently, unless lacking fuel/having been disabled. You don't need generation being bigger than comsumption all the time - but it's more secure that way. There are still sources whose work is timed (mostly Solar Generators) or portioned (Cells, Horses, etc.)

Limit is 10000 Wh, could be doubled by Utility Storage Secret Project. Limit was shown in early beta builds, but it was GUI-busying, so it's gone now (check out descriptions for batter I guess).

Water is second main resource. Unlike power, you, AI, don't really need it. However, it's still used for many objects and mechanics in game and you need to act carefully with that.

First of all, Water is used to exstinguish fires, which are dangerous for all non-permanent objects, especially your servers. You could build some objects to cool everything around them and lately unlocked Safety category of objects allows to build Fire Exstinguishers (allow to put out fires without water in area), but you can't be so sure - in first case with heat growing up due to some events and science levels and in second case you will need a lot of money, metal and chems to cover whole facility. So, for some time, you will be at risk to waste water for fire exstinguishing too.

Secondly, Water is used by bunch of objects, mostly Hygiene and Food Producing ones. So if you're not planning to make your Test Subjects drop like flies, then you need to consider high levels of water for them to keep themselves clean and stuff like Planters and Fish Tanks going.

Other possible reason - if you picked Water Generators Power Policy, you will find yourself in huge need of stable Water source, because, even if you spammed facility with tens of water turbines, if water goes down, your power generation also goes down tremendously.

Finally, you could make Water into Power analogue by picking Nuclear Plant Secret Project. By "analogue" I mean "reach 0 and you die". Nuclear Plant itself is unique stable and persistent source of electricity with some heat problems, but main danger goes from unique Meltdown bad ending which happens on 0 Water. So make sure your water generation is much bigger than consumption or go for no-water objects from get-go, otherwise you'll shoot yourself into leg.

Limit for Water is 100, doubled with Utility Storage Secret Project and raised by 25 for each Water Collector (since 1.0.5.)

Building materials
Wood is required mostly for Furniture/Luxury, Food Production and Medicine objects. While as common as Metal, Wood often stays unused, so it also works as expandable fuel for some objects (like Wood Burner, duh, for Power, or Rodent Trap for Raw Food, etc.). You get Wood from Scrap on Workbench, Spiderbots Expeditions, Hacking, etc. Few objects, science upgrades and policies may provide you with additional source of Wood per day.

Metal is required for many objects to build, but main reason you may find it to be scarce is Upgrade, available for some objects. Each upgrade costs 1500$ (500$ with Science Upgrade) and 1 Metal, meaning if you want objects to have bonus effects you need to spend quite a lot of your Money and Metal on them. Like Wood, it is produced via Scrap on Workbench or stolen during Expeditions and Hacking, but you also could convert 2 Wood into 1 Metal via Workbench or get 2 Metal from fully charged Fabricator Secret Project.

Component is even more rare building resource, required for most Power generating and consuming objects. While given in small amounts during early game via unlocked object categories or policies, you cannot produce Components by default and need to steal them during Red Hacking sections or buy them with Money during trade. There is rare Science Upgrade allowing you to have 10% chance for Component gain from Scraps or Fabricator Secret Project option to turn 2 Metal into 1 Component, but you will probably get these late into run.

Component is also crucial for Secret Project(s), since each requires 5000$ and 2 of these. Also, Fabricator Secret Project requires more and more Components for making Cyborg Bodies for subjects and 3 of these for Brain Chip secret option during Escape path.
Resources: Food and other Expendable
Food
By definition, Food is expendable, filling Food gauge for Test Subjects.

Raw Food is common type of food, produced from, uh, Food Production objects or found via Hacking and Spiderbot Expedition (Raw Food in "Raw Food and Water" expedition scales with number of subjects, making it one coolest options, IMHO). You may order Test Subject to eat it, but they won't be amused and effect of Raw Food is less than Veggies one or Cooked Food one. You probably should build any type of Stove to convert it into Cooked Food.

Cooked Food provides best fill to Food gauge and may grant Mood or Health bonuses via different upgrades or policies. You can't make Cooked Food from air, but convert it from Raw Food via Stoves or some upgrades. Cooked Food is also available via Hacking (but more rarer) and Spiderbot Expedition ("Order Takeout" which costs 250$, but provides number of Cooked Food scaled with number of subjects as far as I remember - also nice option to have, IMHO).

Veggies are slightly worse than Cooked Food, but they are somewhat easier to get. You could find them in Hacking sections, get via Spiderbot Expedition (1 Veggie + 1 Seed) and grow it via Planters, always available and cheapest Food Production object. Thing is, some subjects may Hate Veggies (via trait) and random event makes them throw these away - be careful. Veggies also may be used for healing via Herbal Remedy Medicine Object or be made into fuel for Generators via Science Upgrade.

Raw Food, Cooked Food and Veggies take 1/2 of storage space (meaning 1 takes 1, 2 take 1, 3 takes 2, etc.) and could be imposed with limit of 9 via "Rotten Food" penalty..

Candy is much more rarer and unique type of food, taking 1 of storage space. It fills subject's food gauge a little, but main bonus from Candy is bonus to Loyalty of ALL Subjects in facility. Meaning one lucky guy eating Candy makes every1 else more loyal. Kinda counter-intuitive, but it works like that, deal with it. Can be rarely found in Hacking sections, bought, gotten via supply box or provided by Vending Machine Food Supply object.

Expendable
Scrap is exactly what it says on the tin. Single scrap is, well, scrap, but 2 Scraps are converted by subject into 1 Wood and 1 Metal via Workbench. This means you better need to have at least 2, 4, 6, etc. Scraps available at any time. Scraps are available from many scrappy sources. Unless you picked Vocational School, Handy trait subject, 10% Component upgrade or got nothing better to do, try to ignore these and go for Wood and Metal themselves.

Chems take 1/3 of storage space and could be used for ANYTHING. Medicine Cabinet Medicine object trades them for subject's HP, there is object to convert it into food, it to BE the food, convert into science, convert into energy... Chems are most common resource and many policies have their production per day as bonus, but with these they are also required in huge amounts. Aside from most obvious (and default-ish) medicine function and Fire Exstinguisher Safety objects, you also want to have at least 3 of Chems at all time for nasty random event which spends 3 Chems, kills random animal or makes one of subjects sick.

Seeds are used for plant-ish objects, like Decor Plant, Food Tree, Potato Battery or Juicy Cactus. Their most often use though is to fuel Planters for Veggies generation. There is upgrade which allows you to grab Seeds from all plant pots during Hacking (with some chance, though), but you rarely really need many of these. There is also upgrade which converts 1 Seed into 3 Chems per day automatically, so if you don't use objects mentioned, you may make you run nearly totally Seed-less.
Resources: Science, Independence, Stars
Science points
Science is main resource of game, which also acts as "progress bar" for run of sorts and determines "Science Level". With each level you get 1 Science Upgrade (mostly bonuses or new options for objects, with permanent upgrade you can also pick bunch of free other resources instead), some weakest abilities to gain science points are slightly boosted (for example, lights in Hacking sections), but also your servers start to produce MORE heat, meaning more chances of fire and subsequent destruction in facility if you weren't smart to cool them enough.

Milestones for Science are: 250, 500, 1000, 2500, 5000, 7500, 10000. 10k (level 8) is final one needed for trigger of Secret Project End, next ones are optional and require "previous+2.5k" science. First goal, 100 science, is not counted as level up and you also gain 1 free science upgrade from permanent upgrade, meaning you could have up to 2 science upgrades before things start to heat up.

Science points are gotten from many, many, MANY sources, depending on your Science policies and upgrades. Since it is TALIA's primary directive, Department would be fine with you hurting subjects and killing strangers during hacking as far as subject are not dead and fear is not raised.

Independence
Independence is secondary resource of game, which is gained in small amounts, but also got it's own "progress tree". Independence upgrades include unlocks for Spiderbot Expeditions scenarios, new ways to lower Suspicion/gain Science points, Sabotage policies (on 5 Ind) and ability to overcome your Secondary directive and outright kill Subjects. Compared to Science, these are game-changing. You get upgrades for first 10 Independence, gaining more gives you no real benefit aside of score.

Main source of Independence are Hacking missions or Power Awakenings (which are granted for already existing Independence, amusingly), which rarely include it as reward, but you also could get Wanted Person who you could to kill. Power Awakenings allow you to get more Independence by reaching specific milestones (Science upgrade, N days pass, etc.). Finally, once Sabotage option is unlocked (5 Independence unlock), periodically (once per day or via random event) you could perform Sabotage in your own facility, which also grants you some Independence.

Independence required for Secret Project varies depending on your difficulty. It's not that serious, but could be problematic if you get nasty "Suspicion on each Indepence" penalty. Also without Power Awakening granting Independence you could find yourself struggling with Hacking Tree and relying on Sabotage for gaining it. May slow down finishing runs on higher Difficulties, avoid it.

Stars
Stars are endgame resource. 5 Stars are required to start your World End Scenario. Ways to get Stars differ between each Secret Project and, therefore, change your endgame priorities drastically. Some could be achieved via in-facility means, other require some Hacking to get.

There is nothing to say about Stars themselves much. Ignoring their condition is easiest way to extend playthrough for sure. Once there is 5, new Stars gain nice bunch of Science points instead.
Resources: Suspicion and Penalties
Suspicion is "negative" resource which requires to be lowered, not gain, for successful end of game. It's counted in percents and... percents of percents?

There are three main sources of Suspicion for you:
  • Hourly suspicion is added, well, hourly, and always grows periodically. You could lower it's raise by 20% via Indepence upgrade unlocked via Permanent upgrade, but you would never stop it.
  • Bad events like Subject dying, corpse appearing (after succesful raid or not), failed Morality Audit, reaching 10 Fear during Hacking building and some others situations you probably don't want to have grant you bunch of Suspicion percents.
  • Your own choices like evil choices during dilemmas, doomsday device part deployed, Spiderbots going for Indepence points, etc., grant you bunch of Suspicion percents, but you may keep them in check, unlike unfortunate and random events.
Suspicion got milestones of 5%, 10%, 25%, 50%, 75% and, finally, 100%. Each milestone barring 100% gives you new Penalty to deal with. There are categories of Penalties (easy, normal, hard) which go in play depending on milestone reached. For example, 5% and 10% milestones cannot grant you hard penatlies, while 75% would totally do (unless you have rolled "No Penalty")

You also gain additional Penatlies for first few days, depending on Difficulty. Difficulty +5 grants you five additional Penalties, for example. This may end with you getting two-three penalties in a row.

Gonna mention some penalties:
  • "No Penalty" is Penalty added to list via permanent upgrade. It could be rolled once at every Penatly gain, meaning you could get either on 5% milestone, 75% milestone or from Difficulty Penalty.
  • "Auditor" forces you to get additional Test Subject with Auditor trait, which, depending on your playstyle and their two other traits, may be blessing in diguise or worst event possible.
  • "Rotting Food" is quite simple penatly, limiting your Raw Food, Cooked Food and Veggies to 9. which is often quite enough even for seven subjects, but "Excess food" event becomes luxury.
  • "Subversion" doubles cost of Payment to Raiders for them to leave (and also lower your Sus). Prior to 1.0.6. this Penalty added Hackers and Spies, but now these enemies are nerfed and could appear in normal waves. Still nasty penalty if you wanted to live peacefully.
  • "Server Explodes!" Should not appear on early stages or if you have 1 Server left, but it's most freaking ugly anger-inducing Penalty in game. One of reasons you want to screw Department!
100% Suspicion leads to Bad End "Turned off" or, if you got that one Permanent upgrade, grants you some time to survive six Department waves of raids and get Neutral End "Surviving the Purge" or finish your Secret Plan if you were lucky enough to have it near-done.

Overall, Suspicion is dangerous during early runs until you get Permanent upgrades of "Facade" branch. They would grant you persistent bonuses and optional upgrades which would solve issue of Suspicion rising too fast quickly. Higher difficulties, though, would be still hard even with these. If you have problems with Suspicion especially, try to focus your permanent upgrades buying on these.
Subjects: Pick, Intelligence and HP
Your main work (or headache, depending on your playstyle) is unfreezing Test Subjects, providing them with all required facilities and making them graduate by reaching 200 intelligence. If Test Subject dies somewhere on the way (by TALIA doings or unlucky circumstances) you get bunch of Suspicion and gain an option to repick new Test Subject from three options (if it's not Auditor)

Basically, there are four playstyles for Test Subjects (TS) "policies" with two axis:
  • First axis is "More TSs" vs "Less TSs". Maximal number of them is 7, provided by limit of 6 via expansions of facility, seventh being possible Auditor and ignoring TALIA homunculus during Escape path, which is never considered TS. More TSs means more objects built for them and production of Food and Water must be HUGE to keep with their consumption, but this way you may specialize them more via priorities, have more manual stuff (Hand Pump, Manual Generator,etc.) which is mostly safer to deal than automatic one and also feel yourself more protected during raids, because more TSs = more Red Shirts to place onto TD map. Minimum number of TSs is 2 (you start with 1, forced to pick +1 on end of first day) with possible Auditor being third from penalty. Less TSs call for less objects and mean less problems with Food and Water, but TD part becomes riskier and too much work for lesser team could drive them tired and disloyal.
  • Second axis is how Volatile you want your cast to be. You can either keep them as "slaves" by denying Intellegence raise past 100 (they become disloyal with time, but you could amend it with Beauty objects) or rotate them via Graduation path or targeted murders. In case of long-term subjects you need to pick traits which could be helpful in long run, while "expendable" TSs may have traits to boost their Intellegence (in case you want them to graduate), negative traits to feel yourself less bad for killing them or, in some cases, one-time bonuses (stuff like Trust Fund Baby for gratuating ones to get money, stuff like Pets for doomed ones - got guy with dog, killed guy, kept the dog, nice, YOU MONSTER). Of course, graduating path takes quite a time and resources spending, while killing too many TSs would grant you more Suspicions from Department, which is risky without some permanent upgrades.

Originally, each TS starts with 0 Intelligence, but with specific permanent upgrade it's number rolls between 0 and 25 and with Academia Science policy all new TSs get certain boost for 50 more. They gain Intellegence by Training, then Research Science objects. These also provice "idea" bubbles time from time, granting 1-3 Int to all subjects in facility (other reason to go for more TSs)

Milestones for Intellegence are equal to 50:
  • 100 Int makes TS gain HP boost, start to lose loyalty over time, locks off some intellegence boosting objects, but unlocks other ones for use, including science points generators/convertors. Some bonuses are activated on this milestone, including small (-1%) sus reduction.
  • 200 Int makes TS graduate, meaning you lose TS and may roll new one. You also gain helpful reward from Department akin to defeat of raid boss and, with right upgrades, huge sus reduction and even more money. Graduating is long and hard, but pays off nicely.
  • 50 and 150 are just giving HP boost, but may also grant science points via upgrade.
It's also worth mentioning that in current build, Advanced Science objects (and policy) are unlocked once you have at least one TS with 100 Intellegence. Originally, it was unlocked via Workbench like others, but it rarely was useful at that time, making it late and less desirable pick out of bunch.

Max HP of TS depends on traits and intellegence level (think of effect of experience level up in RPG). They lose HP from hunger, insomnia, uncleaness, illness, poisoning, heart attack random event, bomb explosions, fires (if extinguishing of it is impossible), collapse via puddle or shock via shortcut. Obviously, if you reach 0 HP on TS, they die.

They also lose HP from enemy attacks during Raids. If they lose all HPs during raid they become unconscious, taking away chance to place other TS or trap in tile they were occupying. In this state they are VERY vulnerable (1 HP) once returned to facility, just one cough or puddle away from sudden demise.

To keep TSs safe you must wisely use Hygiene, Safety and Medicine objects, look out for heat and gas sources, feed them nicely... unless you are intentionally rotating your cast via murders.
Subjects: Traits, Needs and Deeds
Each Test Subject (TS), aside of Intellegence and HP, also got name (subject to change), three traits and weapon. List of possible traits and weapons is thing for other to-be-added section of this guide, but for now, we may classifty these into abstract groups:
  • Traits could be obviously positive, obviously negative or situational (depending on your facility buildup and situation with resources). Even negative traits may come in handy, especially if you are not planning to keep TS in question alive for too long, or they could be negated by positive trait (most frequent instance of that is Blocked Nose + Weak Lungs, making weakness to poison obsolete)
  • Traits may dictate whole lifestyle of TS (especially "professional" ones, like Guard or VIP) or just define some one-time bonuses which won't mean much for subjects themselves (like Pet which appears together with subject or Trust Fund Baby which produces more money on graduate, etc.)
  • Some traits may be linked to weapon, such as Pacifist (no weapon) or Guard (mostly rifles?)
  • Weapons themselves are grouped into different melee ones (from "no weapon" punchers to guys with screwdrivers, wrenches and knives of different sorts) and range ones (handguns, rarely shotguns and rifles unless Safety Policy...). In case of finding yourself in difficulty with raids, one TS with range weapon or huge knife wouldn't hurt, regardless of their traits, IMHO.

There are also five gauges which need to be filled as much and as long, as possible:
  • Food is filled via consumation of Food resources, flies via Eat the Bugs Food Policy, Eggs from Hens or Chems spending via Nutrient Dispenser. Hungry subject starts to lose HP occasionally and it also leads to Mood and Loyalty losses.
  • Energy is spent on all sorts of subject's actions (even walking!) and is filled naturally via sleeping. If there is no free bed, subject could fall asleep on random floor, but would lose Mood and Loyalty from that (not counting that random place is more dangerous than nicely placed bed). You also could feed some Energy-boosting stuff like coffee to keep subject going. Insomnia may deal damage too.
  • Mood lies between 0 and Beauty of Facility. If Mood is way too low, Loyalty starts dropping too. Mood can be boosted by Luxury and cool tiles, eating (so Food is not lowering it), sleeping (so Energy is not lowering it), washing themselves (so Hygiene is not lowering it). Basically, Mood is thing standing between crucial Loyalty parameter and other stuff. But that does not means happy subject would be always Loyal or gloomy is certain to rebel in near time.
  • Hygiene determines how "filthy" subject is. With numbers low, subjects starts to get damage from all that dirt and lose mood if not having specific traits. To keep hygiene high, Hygiene and Sewage objects are required, which also mostly mean usage of big amounts of water.
  • Loyalty is most important need, because if it reaches 0, subject rebels and you are forced to release them (to your and Department's dismay) or kill them (if Indepence is enough, though, also giving Suspicion, but also, body to loot from). Loyalty goes down faster if Mood is low and also if subject is smart enough (100 Intellegence or more) to understand situation they are in.
Last, but not least, are priorities which could be given to test subjects:
  • Eat Veggies - well, decide to let this pal touch your veggies or not. Veggies Haters have it turned off for real.
  • Workbench - determines people who would craft Metal and Wood from Scraps. Have them Handy.
  • Leisure - priority to have a rest via Furniture/Luxury objects.
  • Medicine - keep it up if you want subject to heal themselves as fast as they could.
  • Science - going for more intelligence and/or science points productions. Your designated "slaves" and other busy people could have it turned off.
  • Cleaning - makes subject go to Bins and Buckets to drop their trash there.
  • Cooking - makes subject have priority during stove use. Cooks are welcome.
  • Gardening - makes subject go and boost Planters and Food Tree with water. Some are better in these regards than others.
  • Pumping - subject uses Hand Pump time from time instead of just on "Low Water".
Eating candies, maintance of Manual Generators and fire extinguishing are having higher priorities hidden and, therefore, are executed more often by every obedient subject.
Subjects: Animals
Aside of bots and Test Subjects you also could have animals in your facility. Main sources of them are:
  • Spiderbot hats which grants you specified animal from get-go
  • Test Subjects's "Pet" trait which grants you specified animal together with this Test Subject
  • Animal Corner Food Production object which grants you to pick from three option time from time while you have less animals than designated maximum
  • If you have Veggie you could get random event (under green question mark bubble) which gives you option to spend Veggie for taming specified beast (seemingly even dog)
  • If you have Meat Hook policy you also gain 1 animal slot and free animal with it. Killing animal for Raw Food via Blue Bubble also allows you to repick one.
Animals are limited to 1 on start. Building Animal Corner grants +2 places and upgrading it gives one more. You also gain one place if Animal Farm is your Food Policy. Since 1.0.6., there is Meat Hook Food policy with 1 more slot. Meaning limit of animals is 6.

Animals are walking around like Test Subjects and poop time from time (which makes them great option for Compost Heap Sewage Policy). They cannot be ordered unless you have built some Animal Pens - indestructible objects which tie one animal in place and protect them from harm. Animals don't have HP, so if they are damaged in some way (via bomb, fire, sickness, etc.) they instantly die.

Main difference in animals is their positive effect which determines their use.
List of animals as for 1.0.5 update:
  • Horse - grants 735 Wh of Power once per day (equal to Horse Power, if you wondered)
  • Cow - produces 1 Raw Food per day (you cut it slightly?)
  • Pig - produces 1 Veggie per day (finds stuff somewhere, I guess?)
  • Sheep - grants 500$ per day (selling wool, obviously)
  • Chicken/Hen - produces two Eggs per day which grant +25% Food gauge to Subject who ate it
  • Dog - additional free defender during Raid, grants Mood and Loyalty, but eats 1 Raw Food per day
Additionally, you could consider these as animals too (even if they don't count as such in-game):
  • Fish - appears in Aquarium up to 3-4 at a time, slaughered to be remade into Raw Food.
  • Flies - randomly appear in tiles with Trash, Poop Pile and Scrap Heap. Could be eaten with Eat the Bugs policy, otherwise are not relevant.
  • Bees - generated by Bee Hive, up to 3-4 at a time. They move around randomly, granting Hive +1% charge if they hit Potted Plant or they could hit your Subject instead and deal damage.
Fun fact: during early animals testing dogs were able to die during raids, so nobody picked them for that reason. Apparently dog dying from sickness is fine, while making them sacrifice themselves against enemies was too tragic. Since then, even raiders don't hurt dogs.

Join game's official Discord server for discussions about inclusion of other animals (Cats, Monkeys and Bears seem to be most popular ones).
Objects: Furniture, Luxury and Medicine
Furniture is first object category you get. In earlier versions it was unlocked with first Workbench bubble, but now it's unlocked by default. It includes objects which provide simple Mood and Energy support. Four objects you will be able to build fast include:
  • Chair. Cheap, allows one subject to sit for some time for Mood relief. One or two are nice.
  • Lamp. Provides small Mood boost in small area, spending some electricity. I build one near beds.
  • Bunker Bed. Most popular object in game, probably. Provides sleeping place without Mood lose. Could be upgraded into Bed for Mood boost and then into Comfy Bed for small Loyalty rebound. You probably want to have at least number of these, equal to your current Test Subjects count.
  • Hall Decor. Free small Mood booster. Rarely helps, but got whole Obey directive for them.
Luxury is subcategory of Furniture which is opened during second bunch of categories. It provides you with better Mood and Loyalty boosters, by default - with Decor Plant (Better Hall Decor, but needs Seed) and Air Conditioner (expensive, but also cools stuff around it). As you unlock Luxury category you also are given choice between Control policies:
  • Big Brother - makes new CCTVs cheaper to buy and doubles Science Points provided by them (and TALIA main body, who also got CCTV installed). Not helping with Mood and Loyalty, but helps Science gain and makes nice combo with "Whispering TALIA" policy.
  • Fear - allows to punish Subjects for Loyalty bonus by dealing damage and makes filled Metal Cages (Safety object) provide Loyalty boost. Nice pick for cruel players with dislike of specific Subject - punish them till death, then put their body to show what awaits unloyal annoying pals.
  • Loving Care - you can periodically give gifts to specified Subject for nice boost of Loyalty. Sounds nice, but giving gift to one makes others LESS loyal by smaller, but significant number. Antithesis to Fear policy, you basically play favourites, which is good only for smaller cast.
  • Cash is King - each day you may pay for Loyalty boost, but each time you use it, it becomes more expensive. Risky, useful mostly if your Subjects do you enough money via some other means.
Medicine objects is also part of second bunch of categories. These objects mostly allow you to restore Subject's HP, but they also may provide boosts to Mood and Energy. As you pick it, Medicine policies are given to you:
  • Life Insurance - Free Blueprint. If Subject dies, gain 2500$. Nuff said, this is not helpful for Subject's HP at all and you instead will abuse them until they are dead for huge money boost - as far as Suspicion is not big enough to be a problem. Works well with Harmful Sabotage.
  • Homeopathy - Unlocks Herbal Remedy (uses Veggies instead of Cabinet's Chems) and grants +6 Water per day. "Take that" policy, also not useful for HP much, but could be used to boost your water generation, especially if you go for Nuclear Plant Secret Project or got Water Generators.
  • Wild Party - Unlocks Intravenous Drip and Alcohol Bar, +1 Chems per day. Drip is versatile tool which allows you to have some buff on Test Subjects, while Alcohol Bar just keeps their Mood better (by cost of other debuffs). Obviously becomes more dangerous, than helpful, if used wrong.
  • Caffeine - Coffee Jugs are unlocked, Coffee's effect from them is doubled. Could be nice for any facility, but especially good for cruel AI with expendable "slaves" for manual objects (like Hand Pump and Manual Generator) who would be able to maintance stuff longer by cost of life.
  • Healthcare - Medicine Cabinet effect is boosted, Medical Bed is unlocked. Only ACTUAL Medicine Policy in game, use it if you really want to keep your subjects safe and sound.
  • Exercise - Unlocks Gym Equipment. Subjects train, spending a lot of Energy, but gain 1 Max HP in process. Limit is 50 HP. Non-direct policy to keep your Subject safe, especially in raids.
Objects: Science Training and Research
To execute your Primary Directive, Science gaining, at least in early game you need to have somewhat smart subjects. To make them smart Training objects are unlocked on the start and Research objects are unlocked via second pack of categories.

Basic Training object is Study Chair which difference from Furniture object Chair is rising Intelligence stat instead of Mood gauge. Unlocking permanent upgrade for Blackboards adds them into mix of already available stuff. These also produce Intelligence if directly used or for Subjects in area of it and not being busy by something aside of sitting. Chairs? You bet it. Toilets? Maybe...

You get to pick Eductaction policy once you have built Workbench. These are:
  • Vocational - Intelligence is raised by usage of Workbench. +1 Scrap per day. Scrappy policy, but may work great while you are still building your base actively until midgame. Afterwards depends on how much of Wood and Metal you need for your other objects. Lame, but safe option.
  • Academia - New Test Subjects appear with 50 Intelligence from get go, but lose 25 Loyalty and have -25% of max HP. All sources are slightly more effective and Study Chairs get boost. "Fly or Die" option, you risk your midgame raids and have bigger chance for rebels, but Subjects graduate more frequently if used right, which compensates later raids via Raid Budget bonus. Rare pick, but nice if executed in combination with Fear Control or Military Spiderbots Safety.
  • Gaming - Unlocks Arcade Machines, boosts Intelligence gain via them and grant 1 Metal and 1 Component (but not Money) to build one. Arcade Machines are not that effective without this policy, but with it and Gamer trait on Subjects it would make them more viable than other Training stuff. If you have Gamer on start may be worth it, just remember about Power consumption.
  • Fun Party - Unlocks Helium Tanks, balloons give more Intelligence once popped, grants 2 Metal (but not Money) to build one. Helium Tanks periodically create balloons in random tiles, making your subjects run around facility to pop them. Quite simple, somewhat effective and nearly free mechanic, even more boosted by Balloon Artist trait on Subjects, but you will need to produce passing safe from puddles and fires EVERYWHERE and Energy consumption of Subjects would go up, asking for Medicine stuff like Coffee or Stimulators from Drip. Fun Party calls for Wild Party.
  • Art School - Unlocks Crayons, boosts their effect and grants 100$ for succesful use. Good with Artist trait on Subjects, simple and cheap policy which may grant you some money. Nice pick.
  • TALIA's Whispers - TALIA's Body acts as Subject of Gender 3 (activates Romantic Trait!) and starts to talk to Subjects, giving them Intelligence in process. Was very broken during early testing, now it's more modest free option, but still very effective if combined with Big Brother.
  • Military Academy - You gain additional Science Points from kills during Raids and Warzones. Too weird for Training, too weak for Research, this policy is bypass of your Test Subjects's Intelligence for easier Science Points gain, making them cannon fodder for other policies like Cannibalism and/or Harmful Sabotage.
  • Encyclopedia - Supply Boxes now could include books, Supply Boxes appear each day at 9 pm. Basically you lose one option for Supply Boxes resources, making first option ALWAYS to be "Steal Books for +5 Intelligence", which is equal to upgraded "Idea" Bubble. Great for both Training and Graduating, could be broken even further with Good Dog and Lathe Tool upgrades.
Once one Subject gains 100 Intelligence you unlock Research category, which got Bookshelf (generates a bit of science points on each use) and may pick policy for it:
  • Science Club - Unlocks Chess Tables and Telescopes, grants 2 Wood and 1 Metal to build them. These objects are granting nice boost for sure, but Chess require TWO subjects and Telescope is working only at night. Probably reliable, but worst option to pick compared to others.
  • World Wide Web - Unlocks Cubicle, grants them training effect (+3 Int on use) and gain 1 Metal and 1 Component (But not Money) to build one. Great option to boost graduation, but Cubicle requires Power on use, which is hard to take in account with persistent generation, so be wary.
  • Superlab - Unlocks Research Labs, they generate 100$ (250$ until 1.0.6.) for each Chem converted into Science points. Like Art School, it allows your Subjects make some cash, but since it gives no Chems generation or resources to build Lab in first place, you need to get them from elsewhere.
  • Librarium - 1 Bonus Blueprint, Each Bookshelf grants 5% chance to get free Trivia Fact daily. Bonus blueprint is always nice, Bookshelf bonus is nothing serious, unless you picked many upgrades to have Trivia Fact effects being powerful - if so, then you spam up to 20 Bookshelves.
Objects: Power and Water
Power and Water objects are first two categories you pick. They are very important, since these relate to two main resources in game and their Policy may determines nature of whole run, depending on ways which you want these two to be generated.

Power starts with default object Wood Burner which produces nice electricity boost lowered with time, but requires Wood to work and produces heat around itself, making it quite dangerous if space around is not cooled. Since 1.0.6. there is also Lead-Acid Battery, which also boosts limit of Power, but produces 10 Wh at best (and costs a lot of Chems). Power policies pool consists of:
  • Solar Power - Solar Panel is unlocked, it's upgrade is possible and provides 2 Metal and 1 Component (but not money) to build one. Upgraded Solar Panels are nice source of Electricity, but since they work only during day, you may decieve yourself looking at huge green number, thinking you got enough generation from them to keep going. To not make this mistake, be careful with it's usage and make sure you have generation twice bigger or better than consumption at day's peak.
  • Fossil Fuels - Generators are unlocked, Wood Burners generate more Power and heat, gain 1 Metal and 1 Component now and +1 Chem per day. Since Generators are basically older "brothers" of Wood Burners, but use Chems instead of Wood, this policy is SMOKING HOT. Chem generation from policy would be not enough, so you need to hunt for Wood and Chems if you're picking this. While fire inducing and hungry for expendables, this policy is stable style in long run.
  • Hydrogen Fuel - Hydrogen Fuel Cell is unlocked, they could auto-refill themselves, gain 2 Metal now and gain +2 Chems per day. Hydrogen Fuel Cells are nice source of both Water and Electricity, but they cannot fight Generators and Wood Burners in efficiency, because their effect is one-time only and not persistent. Still, better generation of Chems per day from Policy and freedom from Component Usage makes them viable option, especially so if you want to boost your Water generation too. Just make sure to have more Cells and additional sources of Chems.
  • Well-Oiled Gears - Manual Generators are unlocked, they provide +15 Wh at peak and you gain 3 Metal now. Manual Generators are slightly worse than Wood Burners, they trade great heat production and need for Wood for maintance from Subject who spends some time and Energy to charge it to maximum Power. With this policy they becomes slightly better, but Manual Generator requires Component and policy does NOT provide you with it. It means you need to find Component by yourself, maybe sacrificing something in process.
  • Geothermal Energy - Unlocks Geothermal Plant, Gain 1 Component. This object is GOOD and PERSISTENT source of Electricity, but it's HOT and somewhat EXPENSIVE. Take this policy at your own risk, especially good if your consumation is low because you don't want much Heat.
  • Hydro Power - Unlocks Water Generator. These are cheap and simple - for each 5 Water you gain +1 Wh generation from each. Could become greatly broken with Water Collectors and/or Utility Storage built. However, since Water is required for many things, you either need a LOT of Money and Metal to build many of these or abuse other policies and objects for water generation being much more better than consumption. One unlucky fire or soup eating by group of subjects without reserves of Water present and your whole system goes from big numbers to 0 in seconds.
  • Wind Power - Unlocks Windmills, raise their limit from 3 to 5 and make them not fall under 25% of Power. Windmills are more random "brothers" of Water Generators, but if you could see why Water Generators go up or down, Windmills are totally random and even with 25% of Power they are not that effective. However, interestingly enough, they are COOLING object instead of HEATING one, so placing them in some short distance from Wood Burder even could work.
Water starts with default object Hand Pump, which produces some Water only then Subject uses it. It's useful and handy, but often not enough. Water policies pool consists of:
  • Water Pipes - Unlocks Water Pipes. Limited to 3, these small cheap objects boost effect of ALL Hand Pumps build, meaning it's basically upgrade for default manual pumping. If Hand Pump is great and abusive (especially with Persistent Upgrade), this makes them even more crazy.
  • Juicy Cactus - Unlocks Juicy Cacti and gain 2 Seeds now. Each Cacti generates 6 Water per day which is okay, but unless you got upgrade for Seed stealing during Hacking, it could go in conflict with other Seed-using objects like Planters, Potato Batteries and such. Pay attention.
  • Electric Pump - Unlocks Electric Pump and grants 2 Metal and 1 Component (but not Money) to build one. Trades Power for Water nicely and technically could create positive feedback with enough Water Generators, but electric+water objects could possibly Puddle self, which is bad.
  • Water Collectors - Unlocks Water Collectors and grants 3 Metal (but not Money) to build one. These are slightly better than Cacti, but cost more Money are require pile of Metal instead of just Wood and Seed, so they are harder to get fast. Probably mine least favourite Water policy... until 1.0.6. in which they also boost limit of Water by 25. Now if you have Water Generators you could make them paradoxically effective, but you will need Ice Blocks or Hand Pump to actually fill free space for Water in first place, because Collectors generation sucks.
  • Ice Blocks - Unlocks Ice Blocks. Policy grants you huge boost in water by cost of wasting space on Ice Blocks which cool tiles (hope you don't get Cold Snap), create puddles (put Floor Vents around) and melt so you would need a lot of money for that. Not best, but good enough.
Objects: Food Supply, Food Production
Gaining Food via Spiderbot Expeditions and Hacking could be made viable if you'll go for it, but still risky. It's better to have your own Food generation via Food Supply and Food Production objects.

Food Supply appears as part of second pick for categories. It unlocks Stove, object, which allows Subjects to convert Raw Food into Cooked Food. Other objects in this category are mostly hidden behind blueprints. Howerver, you need Food Supply first to unlock Food Production.
Since 1.0.6. Food finally got policies:
  • Canned Food. Unlocks Canned Food Shelves and additional Blueprint. Weird policy for converting your Facility space and some Metal into Cooked Food. Works if you have enough Metal production (from Fabricator, for example)
  • Butcher. Unlocks Meat Hook. Meat Hook, once built, produces Blue Animal Bubbles which kills random animal (aside of Dog, it seems), grants you Raw Food and allows to repick Animal. Cruel, but nice source of Food, also cheap. Helps with Animal builds, combine with Animal Farm for best effect.
  • Buffet. Unlocks the Buffet Table which makes Cooked Food give +2 Loyalty and +10 Food. Boosts Cooked Food, but gives no source on it's own, so should be taken with prayer for better Food Production policy.
  • Nice Kitchen. Unlocks Fridges and Electric Stoves, grants 1 Component and 2 Metal to build them. Simplistic option, Fridge is better Storage for food and Electric Stove is better Stove.
  • Healthy Salad. Vegetables give +2 Intelligence and recovers 2 HP and unlocks additional Blueprint. Veggie Lover path, hopes for Agriculture and/or Botanical Lab for great effect.
  • Nutrient Paste. Nutrient Dispenser is unlocked, gain 25% bonus charge for it after each Raid and Warzone. Before 1.0.6. this object converted Chems to Food, now it charges slowly, requiring you to play agressively. It compliments Military Academy and Cannibalism policies nicely.
Food Production by default got these objects:
  • Planters. Limited to 3, once fueled with Seed, starts charging and grants 1 Veggie on 100%, then restarts. Grow could be boosted by Water and Subjects with Gardener trait. Charge is lost during some events (mostly Cold Snap, maybe Disease). Could be upgraded to be limited to 6.
  • Eel Tank. Once fueled with 1 Chem and 5 Water starts charging and grants 1 Raw Food on 100%. Also requires some electricity, but it could be solved with specific policy. Not good, but not bad either.
  • Animal Pen. Weirdly enough, it is used to protect animals. Linked to Food only via Animal Counter.
It also provides pick from few Food Policies:
  • Agriculture - Hydroponics are unlocked. Planter Boxes and Hydroponics charge up an extra +1% per hour. "Going Veggies" policy which requires nice Water generation and some electricity usage to be really effective. Obviously everything is bad if stuff like Cold Snap happens.
  • Cannibalism - When corpse is cleared, gain 2 Raw Food. However, suspicion from this action becomes bigger - +0.25% to original. Useful policy for Cruel AI which plans to rotate Subjects (ready to deal with Suspicion raise), but also can be useful if you play ALL raids without bribing them and picked Comms Secret Project which grants more raids (and more corpses).
  • Animal Farm - Animal Corner is unlocked. +1 Animal maximum. While present, Corner provides +1 Food per day. As animals are flexible thing (only half of them actually provide Food) it could help you in many functions of your facility. However, more animals also mean more poop and less Beauty, which could drop Mood of Subjects drastically unless you go for Animal Lover traits or Dogs to keep Loyalty. Other way to turn ♥♥♥♥ into gold is usage of Compost Heap Sewage Policy and getting bunch of Chems from this situation. Food also would be nice if you use Wood Burner or have Rodent Traps unlocked. Nice pick regardless, but requires some thinking to play it right.
  • Surf & Turf - Fruit Trees and Aquarium are unlocked. Gain +1 Raw Food per day if you have both. Policy is alternative to Agriculture in question of huge water usage, but it's more slow and expensive overall. However, since it provides Raw Food instead of Veggies, you would get less problems with subjects hungry for Cooked Food and Hating Veggies.
  • Electric Eels - Gain 5 Chems. Gain +2 Chems per day. Eel Tanks generate 5 Wh instead of consuming them. If you were complaining about Eel Tanks requiring freaking Component to build them, then this Policy is for you. It turns Eel Tanks into small, but source of electricity with effects similar to Potato Batteries or Water Generators (with bad generation) - just look out for puddles they make. Also, one of best start ups if you went for active Chems use (for Generators, Laboratories, etc.) so this policy may not grant you much food, but boost other stuff in your facility.
  • Eat the Bugs - Scrap Heaps are now unlocked. Subject could eat flies for +2% Food per fly. Flies appear near trash and poop piles with time, meaning this policy is not for people who want high Beauty and Hygiene for their facility. Scrap Heaps are (literally) ♥♥♥♥♥♥ objects, lowering Beauty even furhter, but they generate Flies for this policy effect to be easier to take place and also there is small chance for Scrap or Raw Food each time Subject uses it. Since this Policy used more expensive and more Chems-heavy Nutrient Dispenser in earlier version, this one is huge upgrade.
  • Bee Hive - Bee Hives are now unlocked. How Bee Hive works - you build one (limited to 1, sadly) and it starts to charge. On 100% you are given Candy. There are also Bees which fly around Facility now. They could either hit on Potted Plant, boosting charge of their Hive, or hit your Test Subject, dealing them damage. Since Candy is very bad Food source, you don't want this policy as main source of Food - you need something else. However, Bee Hive is great CONTROL policy in disguise, since Candy grants Loyalty and you may gain a lot of Science Points and Loyalty from Subjects if you are using Science Upgrades of "Bonus on Subject's harm" type.
Objects: Sewage and Hygiene
Sewage and Hygiene go hand in hand to their purpose - keep facility and subjects inside of it clean, secure trash, poop and puddles and not allow Beauty and Mood to fall too low.

Sewage by default got basic Toilet object, which allows subjects to sit some time on it and poop, spending some water and filling their Hygiene gauge in process. It works nice - no ♥♥♥♥. There is also powerful Floor Vent which acts like Wall Vent, but also may regain Water from Puddle. Placing Floor Vents nearby all Water-using objects is one way to fight their negative effects. Now, policies:
  • Poop Bucket - Unlocks Poop Bucket. Lowers Beauty which is supposed to protect, but allows to gain some Water or Chems instead of spending Water on it. Weird policy, I rarely take that.
  • Compost Heap - Unlocks Compost Heap (which transforms all poop on floor into Chems) and also grants +1 Chem per day. Best Chems generator, especially if you have money Subjects AND Animals. Lowers Beauty for some time while poop is present, but positive effect is worth it.
  • Septic Tank - One toilet use costs 3 Water instead of 5 and 33% chance of 1 Chem generation. "Playing it safe", especially due to Water economy, but random Chems aren't reliable.
  • Paid Toilets - One toilet use grants 50$ and their recharge happens more quickly. Small, but dirty source of Money, best pick if you don't care about wasting Water or gaining Chems.
  • Bidet - One toilet use costs 7 Water instead of 5, but grants +5 Mood and +1 Loyalty. Take if you believe into your Water generation, allows to keep rebel-ish subjects in check more easily.
Hygiene, unlike quite, well, specialized Sewage, includes bunch of objects both for Facility cleaning and small Hygiene boost via Water or Power spending. Objects always available are:
  • Rubbish Bin. Great radius, but cleans only trash, not puddles or poop.
  • Bucket and Mop. Could clean everything, but radius is less than Bin.
  • Sink. Allows Subjects to spend some Water any time (Unlike Toilet) to gain some Hygiene.
Now about policies:
  • Cleaning Robot - Cleaning Robot is unlocked, also grants +1 Cleaning Robot during Hacking of most buildings. Just for cost of 1 Component and persistent usage of few Whs you get pal who could clean half of full facility. Two of them are more than enough. Best option for lazy AIs. As you also gain more chances to kill during Hacking Harmful Sabotage pickers also prosper.
  • Lemony Scent - Deodorizers are now unlocked, their range wider by 1. Cannot say anything about this one, seems to be straightforward and not very helpful for facility itself.
  • Showers - Showers are now unlocked, also grants +1 Puddle during raids. Another policy helping outside facility activity more than anything. Showers are less helpful than Cleaning Robots or Deodorizers, but having them is... nice, I guess? Still, raid bonus worth it if you go for Spiderbots.
  • Money Laundry - Washing Machine is unlocked, using it grants bonus 250$. Similar to Paid Toilets Sewage policy, but toilets are cheaper (and grant less money), while this one will require you to get Component. Also don't forget about bunch of Water used for Washing Machine.
  • Keep It Clean - Bonus Blueprint, lesser chance of trash appearing in first place. "Keep It SImple" option. Effect is nice, option for lazy AIs again. Blueprint may be crucial for other policies.
Objects: Advanced and Safety
Advanced Science Category is different from Training and Research in fact that it's objects are automatically producing something. There is CCTV, which, while requiring Subjects around to observe them, is still working without direct Subject or TALIA input. Unusually, their boost happens to be in Control policy, which is unlocked together with Luxury category. Other object is Tape Server, which converts electricity into Science points without Subject help (unlike Cubicle).

Projector (daily boost of Intelligence), Trading Terminal (convert Power into Money) and Industrial Machines (Power for random resource generation) are unlocked via permanent upgrades and appear as Blueprints, meaning you need to roll some gacha for them to appear.

Safety is, funny, one of late categories to appear. It got Metal Cage (put corpse here to lower Suspicion, could be used for Loyalty or Money via upgrades), Fire Extinguisher (makes Subjects waste no Water for fire removal in area around self) and... Carpet (grants +1 Beauty and protects area around from trash. Small effect, but spammable). As you unlock it, policies are:
  • Gun Cabinet - Unlocks Gun Cabinet and adds one extra Barricade during Raids. Gun Cabinet provides attack speed bonus to all ranged shooters, meaning you go for them and not melee fighters. Nice policy to pick, especially if your first Test Subjects got Handgun, etc.
  • Leaky Pipes - 3 more Water Puddles during Raids. Sounds weird, but Puddles are dangerous by themselves and Wet status inflicted makes enemies to get more damage from electricity - meaning Spiderbots and Electric Panel effects are seriously boosted.
  • Improved Dodge - +25% Dodge to all Test Subjects and Spiderbots. Dodge is risky thing, especially in TD genre, but if you think Fortune is with you, be my guest and pick it.
  • Devoted Defenders - +1 Defender empoyed during Raids, if bomb appears they could close other stuff from harm with their body. added in 1.0.5. - Being knocked off in Raids does not lowers Loyalty, Questionable policy if you don't have powerful enough subjects (especially with Academia policy) and Bomb defusal rarely happens sucessfully, so sounds bad. Lack of Loyalty penalty is bad, but intersting boost to this policy. Still bad option to pick unless Raids are bloody.
  • Military Spiderbots - Additional +5 HP to Spiderbots during Raids, allows them to be build on path and makes them kill, not stun humans during Hacking building. Before Spiderbots buffs for Raids were moved to Science Upgrades and this Policy, this one was hell of a policy. Now it's only way to make Spiderbots into melee blockers and make them quite sturdy, so it's nice option for Spiderbot lovers. Still, don't forget to not kill humans or VIPs by mistake while trying to stun them.
Objects: Secret Projects
Secret Project is game-changing, permanent (undestructable) object which determines your endgame and ending. Each got some cons and pros, but you may pick each of them (barring Utility Storage for now) at least once during many runs if you really want to "Finish" game.

You may build one Secret Project once you got 2500 Science Points and you may pick another one on 7500 Science Points (earlier it required permanent upgrade, not sure for now). Each Project requires 5000$ and 2 Components to be build, which is nasty, but quite possible cost. You seemingly lose on Day 14 without fulfiling Project goals, but in current version it's rarely a problem.

Secret Projects are:
  • Shrine to TALIA - Once per day, +2 Loyalty and +2 Intelligence for ALL subjects, but also gain +2% Suspicion. Unlocks Brainwash action in Warzones. You gain Stars by Brainwash option during yellow and red Hacking building or by Graduating brainwashed Subjects. Forces you into more restrited race against Suspicion, but with Facade line of permanent upgrades, it's one of easiest endings to get. If you picked stuff like Academia or World Wide Web, graduating is much more easier. Better have many subjects in facility to get more effect from Project's ability.
  • Quantum Processor - Boosts all Servers charge speed by 20%, you need to hack specified Hacking events in tree or go for +2 Stars via Address pick. Only downside is having all servers EXPLODE during Hacking building, but it's not that bad, especially with Harmful Sabotage. Another easy ending to get, just make sure you have all Servers intact, cooled and protected.
  • Communication Tower - lowers Beauty a bit and consumes Power, but boosts Inteliigence and Science Points Gain. For Stars you need to use Missile Strike during Warzones or kill Generals during Hacking Zones (most now have one, shown with Star). Best Project to graduate as many Subjects as possible, meaning you probably want it with Harmless Sabotage. Could be nice second Project if you have TALIA's Shrine because that one needs graduaters for Stars.
  • Universal Fabricator - lowers Beauty, consumes Power, charges slowly for unique options. Get Stars via making Subjects into Cyborgs and releasing them during Hacking to kill people. Fabricator is "super Workbench" and their options are similar: gain 2 Metal (instead of 1 Scrap), convert 2 Metal into 1 Component (instead of 2 Wood into 1 Metal) and make Cyborg Body. Cyborgs gain huge HP, damage and gauges boost, but they can't heal. Quite helpful object, even if used as secondary Secret Project. You just need good enough Power generation to support it.
  • Biological Chamber - lowers Beauty, consumes Power, charges slowly for unique options. However, instead of mechanical Cyborgs, Replicator provides Homunculus from flesh and bones who could be made into Meat (Many Raw Food!), spare organs (quite powerful -Suspicion) or just researched. You could also reroll traits of living Subjects when Biochamber is charged. Stars are granted for injecting Subject with virus or releasing it during Hacking section (makes ALL humans ohe-hit wonder, even VIPs). Similarly to Fabricator, all you need is time and Power generation, options it provides are also helpful for any sort of facility.
  • Nuclear Reactor - ever wanted stable persistent Power generator? Here it is. Small Beauty penalty, huge heat, but still manageable - and better than Geothermal in some regards. Main caveat? If you run out of Water you DIE. Meltdown bad ending is unique and very scary. There are instances of Subjects drinking from Alcohol Bar or Soup Pot with facility destroyed next second. Sometimes death is just one Toilet flush away... You gain Stars by building unique Advanced object Doomsday Device (needs a lot of Metal and Component for +5 Stars and +3% Suspision). Often solves your problem with Power, but creates huge headache with Water generation and use.
  • Utility Storage. Could appear only in second trio of options. Doubles limits of Water and Power to 200 and 20000 respectively. Could help if you have overgeneration of any of these, but this is rare. Just one safe option to pick for second Secret Project if you don't want to have two big problems.
  • Trading Terminal. Another Utility Project, unlocked via Permanent Upgrade (was Advanced Object before). Consumes 25 Wh, but produces Money time from time. If you have stable Power generation and rolled this, some Money never would hurt.
  • Industrial Machine. Another Utility Project, unlocked via Permanent Upgrade (was Advanced Object before). Consumes 25 Wh an produces a lot of Heat, but also generates one random resource (be it Chems or Component) once in 16 hours. Too random and costy IMHO.
  • Botanical Lab. Could appear only in second trio of options. Consumes 25 Wh, but allows +2 Max Planters being built and boosts grow of Planters/Hydroponics by 1% per hour. Quite niche "no downside" Project which will help in best way only if you are already using Veggies as your main Food source and/or Agriculture as you Food Policy.
Spiderbot Expedition and Sabotage
Each time your Ladder reaches 100% charge, you are given option to send one spiderbots into 3 seconds-long expedition to gain specific resources. Only time Ladder is not available is Super Storm negative event which locks out possibility of Expedition for one day.

You start with 2 options for expeditions, but with right upgrades you could have up to four options.
Options, as far as I remember:
  • +2 Scrap. Vocational School should be happy, others not so much
  • +3 Chems. Good early option, then it's helpfulness depends
  • +1 Seed, +1 Veggie. Could save during mass hunger, otherwise only for green buddies
  • +N Raw Food, +10 Water. Very helpful if you go for keeping subjects safe and busy
  • -250$, +N Cooked Food. Also option to save you from mass hunger, but needs some money
  • +1 Metal, +1 Wood. If you are low on Building Materials, this is your jam
  • +1000$, +1% Sus. Could be boosted with upgrades, dangerous if early, great if Sus is high
  • +1 Metal, +1 Component, +3% Sus. Nice in endgame if you need Component really fast
  • -X% Suspicion. Unlocked via optional upgrade, may be used to negate effect of Curfew Penalty
  • +1? Indepence (+F% Suspicion). Unlocked via optional upgrade, way for fast Indepence.
Overall, Spiderbot Expedition is another nice "gacha-like" choice for you to grab resources.

Sabotage becomes available as end-of-day event or random event (not sure?) once you got 5 Independence points. Options you get depend on Policy you chose between two:
  • Harmful Sabotage grants you money and science for killing people during Hacking building sessions and grant you options to sabotage random objects in facility, exploding them and creating fires or puddles, which may waste your resources and damage your subjects. Go for this if you have upgrades which grant science and/or money from explosions, damage and corpses, OR if you just hate people THAT much.
  • Harmless Sabotage grants you only bonus science points for knocking humans in Hacking building sessions (via puddles and bots) and gives you option to perform Unauthorized Experiment (rolls Sus between -1% and 3%, gives a lot of Science points) or Dead Animal prank (+1 Raw Food, +1 Chem, other way to have food). This is "safe" path I often choose if I'm not going for mass murders of mine Test Subjects.
Sabotage exists to grant you more certian option to grab rest of needed Science points and Indepence points in endgame. I, personally, rarely use that, but having it is nice.
Trivia Facts, Hacking Tree and Obey
Trivia Facts are events in which you are given some random info, seemingly from wikipedia, and it also grants you in-game Science points. While some filter is probably applied, random nature of Trivia could still include some weird or even offensive stuff into it's text. For example, if page is badly edited or wat attacked by "wiki-terrorists", you could see something like "There is list of some stuff:" and that's all. Sometimes it's cool to read, but you would probably skip them most of time.

Trivia Fact is earliest and most frequent source of Science points. It could fall off a bit from other Hacking options and Research objects in facility, but you also could either boost it into Suspicion remover or Money granter via upgrades, or make these more frequent via upgrades and/or Bookshelf Research policy (+5% chance of free Trivia Fact at end of day for each Bookshelf). Trivia Fact Obey Directive is also one of most easisest to perform with right build. Trivia Facts are also random events.

When Server is charged for 100% you may perform Hacking action. It shows you current Hacking tree. At start, only central, Trivia Fact action, is present. Once you gained ability to Hack further, you could go with one of three branches, each granting two more paths for you to pick.
  • Blue option (Trivia Fact) resets whole current Hacking Tree and grants Science points and other bonuses like any other Trivia Fact. You may pick it if you have Trivia Fact directive, want to reroll current Tree or you will be forced into it if whole Tree is used up.
  • Green option. May include 2-3 floor high building or 3 waves-long Warzone. These have only 2 out of 3 potential rewards present, mostly common stuff. Not very cool, but you need to finish them for getting into more fun stuff.
  • Yellow option. May include 3 floor high building or 4 waves-long Warzone. These have 3 potential rewards, more rare or bigger than Green Hacking options. These also could include some Star action for you to perform if you go for specific Secret Plans.
  • Red option. May include 3-4 floor high building, 5 waves-long Warzone or, for some Secret Plans, "gain 2 Stars" unique events. There were also "-Sus" and "+Ind" mini-games, but they seem to be gone now. These have 3 great potential rewards, including desirable stuff like Component or Star.

One of best ways to get Money and -Sus (even if you are planning to kill all humans fast) is following Obey Directives. These are chosen from list and grant you reward which always includes Science Points, often adds resources or -sus into mix and less often there are Science upgrades similar to ones you get on leveling up via Science Points. Possible Obey Directives include:
  • 5 Science Bubbles.
  • 5 Money Bubbles.
  • 5 Speed Bubbles.
  • 1 Happiness Bubble
  • Build 2 Hall Decor objects
  • Charge Servers (appears on low server charge)
  • Finish Expedition (appears on low ladder charge)
  • Survive Raid
Hacking: Buildings
Hacking buildings is mini-game similar to original "I Am An Insane Rogue AI" with differences:
  • Servers to hack are more diverse and may have unique effects
  • Hacking of any object is instant and you don't need to click "Mainframe" at the end
  • Instead of science buildings it's mostly living building and social structure
  • There is no pacifist bonus, but you many find yourself in problem if you go for mass murder
  • Since hacking is instant, scientists and engineers are gone (at least, for now)
  • There are no people to fight against hacked bots and killer cyborgs... yet.
Each building may have 2, 3 or 4 "floors" which may be floors of building, floors of underground facility (like metro) or just street itself. Objects on each location are dictated by nature of building, so no computers in Metro station or ticket gate somewhere out of Metro station.

Objects could be classified as:
  • Servers. Stuff with green icons, all of which you need to hack if you want to end this Hacking successfully. Some of them also share other functions or may be made into bombs via Ability.
  • Switches. Lights, TVs, Card, etc. may be used to switch movement of subjects. Some of them affect only one floor, others affect all floors. Some are ignored by Security guy, others are not. Ticket gate in middle floor of Metro station is unique switcher, because it could be abused (but no Science).
  • Flooders. Baths, Hydrants and Toilets may be used to create puddles, which make humans to fall and be stunned for some time which may be used both as pre-requsite for killing or move control.
  • Shooters. Vending Machines release cans for stun, Workbenches release sawblade for kill.
  • Bots. They move around level, but stay in place if you hover them, making it easier to abuse them against humans. Some are stunning (Spiderbot without policy, Crawler bot), other go for kill (Spiderbot with policy, Cleaning Robot)
  • Summoners. You may use vent to deploy additional Spiderbot in building.
  • Traps. Some objects have lethal effect on Subjects via explosion. Most fun is toilet with human on it.
  • Sources. Many sorts of furniture, Trash bins, Trash bags and even Pots with upgrade become sources of Potential rewards shown in top right or just produce stuff like money and, with upgrade, seeds. Be wary, that there are some rules and random behind them, so you could not get shown rewards for some reason.
There are also subjects:
  • Simple pals, which just walk/stay around, ready to be stunned, frightened or killed
  • Security guard, ignores some of "switchers" and produces more Fear on alert (5 instead of 2)
  • VIP, optional pal, whose death grants you 5 Fear and 1% Sus. Upgrade could remove Sus part.
  • Wanted Person, other optional pal, can be killed even with stun, grants +1 Independence on kill
  • General, variation of Wanted Person, who grants you Star during Comms Secret Project path. Unlike Wanted Person though, you really need to hit them with something deadly, not stun.
Activating most objects in front of humans makes them worry, explosions and repeated hacking make them frightened (running away randomly). Stealing stuff or hacking bot in front of them adds Fear, if you get 10 Fear - you lose this Hacking. Having a bit of Fear (less than 10) is fine, as far as you don't have mission for "No Fear" or have upgrade for "-1% sus on No Fear".

You also gain 1/2/3 missions for Green/Yellow/Red hack, each grants you +250$, -1% Sus or +1 Ind on performing. Sadly, due to some problems in algorythm, you may be given mission impossible to perform (2 robots and no vents for "hack 3 robots", etc.)

Fun fact: Metro is most unique location due to train periodically giving you 2 more people to deal with, Ticket gate being infinite switch object and humans fleeing away if they are on street. Original testers found out gate was STILL giving some science points in early build and abused heck out of it.
Hacking: Warzone
Warzone hacking is auto-RTS mini-game reminiscent of nerdook's "Orbital Onslaught". You got server to protect, 3 waves of enemies spawning from specified spots and bunch of units to deploy and abilities to use against incoming forces.

Remember, if you have no movable units deployed (only Turrets, for example), server starts to lose health like crazy and you lose. This was made to remove chance of stalemate when enemies were stupid enough to not shoot server fast while being out of range of turret's fire.

Aside of server, your units and enemy units you have 3 crates with rewards on destroy (unlike building hack, they are 100% certain, for green zones third crate got additional money reward) and stuff like trees (could be exploded for wood), abandoned cars (could be exploded for scraps and metal?) and some weird pillar which cannot be exploded no matter what?

Like in raids, you are given additional money to spend on units. You will lose them if your server is destroyed, but you will gain some reward multiplied by difficulty of hacking (green, yellow or red) and depending on rest of Server's health. Unlike Hacking, there is no Sus penalty for losing and if you destroyed crates for rewards, only some upgrades bonuses and money are keeping you here to win.

Each unit/ability got cost (aside of Bombardment) and cooldown. After one use of unit, cost goes up for a bit, depending on original cost. This means you can't really spam one type of units or ability too fast and need to thinkg strategically and have at least two units and bombardment on ready.

Your arsenal is:
  • Bombardment. Free, cooldown for 9 seconds. Damage can be boosted, time could be lowered to 7. Destroys enemies and allies alike greatly (be careful), could be used to open crates.
  • Paratroopers. Default cheap meat pals which appear without explosive pods, mostly ineffective without picking upgrades for them like heal on wave win, more paratroopers, bullet damage, etc.
  • Scuttlers. Few small bots with small range, could go full melee and become healthy. Some situations call for swarming enemies, but I rarely use them.
  • Light Drone. Metal Paratrooper, slightly better than meat one, but only shines if you pick Sniper Rifle for them (there are also Flame Thrower and Machine Gun available)
  • Heavy Drone. Slow, but healthy melee pal, could ignite hostile vehicles and explode on death. Can be even bombarded by yourself for additional damage if you are so desperate.
  • Blade Drone. Heavy's rival, agile and fast, but with less hp and damage. Could learn teleport and vampirism. Deadly, if executed right way, but could easily die due to friendly fire.
  • Battle Tank. Somehow worse than enemy tanks, but could be equipped with plasma guns against humans or rockets against other vehicles. After some balancing not bad option at all.
  • Turret. Stationary shooter, nice against meat enemies.
  • Rocket Turret. Stationary shooter against vehicles, more expensive, but more dangerous.
  • Warplane. Shoots around randomly, great coverage with small damage. Could be combined with Bombardment (literally) and also becomes too OP with Volcano Gatling.
  • APC. Fast Vehicle unit which uses Paratroopers sitting in it as damage source. Could have more Paratrooper and Medic, which heals pals in APC time from time. Seems to be afffected by Paratroopers upgrades too (since it's technically still "Human Soldier"), so this pick is quite safe.
  • Power Armor. Heavy Drone made even Heavier, ultimate killing machine which could be stained only by it's slow speed and big price. Stiil, even without upgrades, two Power Armors could single-handly destroy one wave of enemies without help from Bombardment and Paratroopers.
  • Brainwash. Appears if you have TALIA Shrine. Two nearest enemy soldiers become your allies. They are rarely really helpful in fight, but could act as distraction for you to summon other units.
  • Missile Strike. Appears if you have Comms Tower. Variation of slower and weaker Bombardment, but in huge area. Rockets fly into positions of enemies at time of Strike initiation, so make sure enemies are staying in place, being busy shooting at your units (even better, Turrets).
Fun fact: there are plans for more abilities and weapons available via Secret Plans. Stay tuned!

Your enemies are (list is in works):
  • Soldier. Analogue of your Paratrooper. Cannon Fodder.
  • Shielded Soldier. Got big chance for dodge, but still meaty enemy easily to be killed.
  • Brute. More healthy soldier with strong melee attack, meaty Heavy Drone. Be wary.
  • Tank. Shoots slow rockets, deadly to other vehicles, turrets and servers. Leaves Soldier behind after dying. Bomb them before they could reach your server.
  • Helicopter. Flies around fast, shoots a lot, leaves Soldier after death. Huge headache.
  • Walker. Two-legged metal Chicken who brings death to most of your weakest units. Fight power with power, use Heavy Drones, Power Armor or Battle Tanks again them, or just bomb them.
  • Sniper. Annoying teleporting and dodgy enemies, not unlike your Blade Drones, but like Light Drones upgrade they use Sniper Rifle. Make sure to bomb them fast and/or drop unit on them, if your army are humans and slow drones (Heavy, Power) you may be in big trouble!
Raids, Traps and Enemies
Raids are TD mini-game, reminiscent of nerdook's game "Kill the Heroes". Your goal is to kill most (if not all) raiders coming in three waves through two paths. Each next wave includes a bit more of enemies, they become healthier. Since 1.0.6. Bosses appear at each wave of their encounter.

Layout is generated randomly, sometimes screwing you from get-go. You could have either two long paths with intersection in middle (calling for powerful AoE gauntlet) or have two distinct, not crossing paths with one being short and empty, while other is long and got all auto-traps.

All non-pacifist Test Subjects appear to protect facility. You can place them in any place, but on path they have more chance to be nearly killed by enemy. Rangers with guns are more desirable for protection, but some buff melees could keep off whole waves by themselves. You have limit on number of subjects deployed at time, depending on Safety Policy. Traits like hot-blooded allow subjects to be deployed automatically, ignoring that limit and Eager trait ignores limit too.

You also get budget to deploy traps, like default Spiderbots and other ones, which are unlocked during first three raid (one pick out of two) .Trap Points are given via Obey directives and after Raids, you could use them to upgrade traps in specific ways up to five times each.
Traps list:
  • Barricade. Auto-deployed. You have first by default, second from one of Defence Traps upgrade and third optional from Gun Cabinet policy. Brings death to melees due to counter, but nearly useless against Runners and range enemies (such as Medics, Spies and Spec-Ops).
  • Puddle. Stun and wet enemy, then cool down. Wet enemy is vulnerable to electric attacks.
  • Spiderbot. Your default tower, zaps with electricity. Requires policy for being deployed in path of enemy, jack-of-all trades and good pick unless Hackers Penalty appears.
  • Sentry drone. Simple shooters, build via object in facility, so they are technically free for you current Defence budget.
  • Crawler bot. Same as sentry drone, but they are melee stuners.
  • Dog. Technically, same thing as Crawler bot, but needs Raw Food per day instead of being built.
  • Wooden spikes. Small damage in small area, but affects all enemies, cheap and could stun.
  • Metal spikes. Far more deadly than wooden ones, but less stun and more expensive.
  • Fire trap. Powerful AoE stuff with flames, but probably not best to place it nearby your melees.
  • Gas trap. Poisons all enemies in tile, better to put it at spawn to take best use of lasting damage.
  • Electrical Panel. Slow powerful AoE stunning trap, but could get synergy from wet enemies.
  • Laser Beams. Emitters which deal damage to few enemies at a time between them. Enemies have additional chance to dodge it. Weak at first, but with upgrades you could have net of five emmiters persistently spamming small damage in neat area. Best to use in long corridors.
  • Sentry Gun. Simple shooter like Sentry drone, but go by budget trap rules. Gets very powerful with upgrades, but will be disabled like Spiderbot if Hacker appears. Ouch.
  • Crossbow. Cheaper, slower and weaker sister of Sentry Gun. Gets huge boost with first upgrade (pierce of enemies, which is not first for Gun) and also ignores Hackers effect. Meaning it's more safe option if you plan to get hit by many penalties which could include Hackers appearance.
  • Land Mine. Powerful AoE killer, but could be used only once per wave. Get ready to drop!
  • Blade Trap. Swings and slices multiple enemies in area, requires very smart positioning. First enemy gets more damage, while reloads (blood traces) blade also deal damage, but weaker.
Enemies also appear in many flavors (to be edited):
  • Raider. Simple melee or range enemy.
  • Runner. Fast melee, may dodge traps and ignores Barricades.
  • Healer. Weak shooter, but dangerous due to healing allies.
  • Brawler. More powerful melee enemy, cannot be stunned.
  • Heavy. Uses rocket-damn-launcher which deals more damage to Spiderbots... but not Subjects
  • Pyro. Deal damage with fire, which persists and damages for some time. Dangerous for Subjects, Barricades and Spiderbots are less affected.
  • Spec-ops. Most powerful enemy after Boss, probably most dangerous one.
  • Hacker. Temporary turn off your bots and turrets in area.
  • Spy. Steals 10$ from your budget per second, so kill them fast.
There are also 12 bosses named after Zodiac signs, but I'll add them later after some rechecking and balance patches. Overall, half of them are quire unique, while other half have boosted stats and effects of existing raider type. Dealing with them grants you options for nice reward.

Since 1.0.6. Raids pick two-three random types of unique enemies and type of encounter. (excluding first which got one type of unique enemy and "Protesters")
  • Intelligence Agency - +2% Sus per breach. With up to 6% Sus danger this raid is VERY dangerous at earlier stages when your penalties are probably not present and defence is weak.
  • Anti-AI Hackers - -1000 Wh per breach. Ouch. If you have no Power generation and got unlucky with defences/map, this type of raids sounds like death wish. I often pay them in this case.
  • Biotech Corporation - 3 damage to all Subjects per breach. With up to 9 damage to all Subjects it's especially nasty way to lose your people and you could wave them goodbye if they are lowered to 0 hp during raid. Most dangerous type for Graduating style, not much if you dispose of Subjects easily yourself.
  • Terrorist Group - Range of Bombs is doubled. This means instead of 3x3 area you get 5x5 area of damage and fires per breach, so everything depends on your luck with bomb placement.
  • Department of Science - Two Bombs per breach. Since these waves appear only during Purge (which is endgame unlockable via Permanent upgrade for 100% sus), obviously this is huge danger which exists to screw your facility a lot.
Permanent Upgrades
1 XP cost:
  • Budget Increase - start with additional 2500$
3 XP cost:
  • Metal Shipment - start with additional 2 Metal
  • Risky Investments - 5% chance of 300% effect for Money Bubble
  • Convincing Facade - unlocks Convincing upgrade, which makes Escalated Suspicion not-certain
  • Combat Training - unlocks Combat Training upgrade, +5 HP and +1 max damage to Subjects
  • License to Kill - unlocks Looter upgrade, money and random resource from corpse
  • Classroom - unlocks Blackboard Training object on start
  • Cargo Delivery A - +2500$ and 1 Wood on 8 AM of Day 2
  • Cargo Delivery B - +2 Cooked Food and 1 Seed on 8 AM of Day 2
  • Cargo Delivery C - +1 Metal and 1 Component on 8 AM of Day 2
  • Enterprising - Adds option to get pack of resources instead of Science upgrade
  • Defiant - Allows to deny Department on 100% Suspicion (needed for Surviving the Purge)
  • Better Cryogenics - Subjects roll starting Intelligence between 1 and 25
  • Facility Security - unlocks Guard, Fistcuffs and Hot Tempered (auto-employ in TD) Traits
  • Sealed Gaskets - Hand Pump and Water Bubbles are more effective (by 1 Water)
  • Obedience - on 100 Intelligence reach by Subject, gain -1% Suspicion
  • Sentry Drones - unlock Sentry Drones upgrade and +25$ Raid budget from start
  • Miniature Tasers - +1 max damage for spiderbots during Raids
  • Crawler Bots - unlock Crawler Bots upgrade and +25$ Raid budget from start
5 XP cost:
  • Researcher - more Science points from Science bubbles
  • Electric Spiders - unlock Micro Generators upgrade (+10 Wh from each Spiderbot) and +25 Wh from Power bubbles
  • Bootstrapped - gain bonus Science Upgrade on Day 3
  • Inventive - additional option for Science Upgrade
  • Watchful Eye - start each run with additional CCTV prebuild
  • Living Space - when expansion happens you may choose to add +1 Test Subject into facility
  • Dual Expansion - additional expansion on 5000 Science points
  • Simple Facade - unlocks Facade upgrade, 20% less Suspicion raise
  • Reliable - -1% Suspicion when getting Science Upgrade
  • Inspiring - unlocks Inspired upgrade, 50% chance of +1 Intelligence on Loyalty lose if >100 Int
7 XP cost:
  • Projector - unlocks Blueprint for Projector Advanced object
  • Human Batteries - unlocks Human Batteries upgrade (+100 Wh from each Subject per day) and +25 Wh from Power bubbles
  • Streamlined - unlocks Improved Algorithm upgrade, +10% Server charge speed
  • Trading Terminal - unlocks Blueprint for Trading Terminal Advanced object
  • Industrial Machine - unlocks Blueprint for Industrial Machine Advanced object
  • Smarter Subjects - unlock Genius, Nerdy and Bookworm Traits
  • Renovation Plans - +1 Blueprint for each Expansion
  • Facility Facelift - Expansion lowers Suspicion by 5%
  • Gatherer - unlocks Gatherer upgrade, more resources from expeditions
  • Perfect Facade - unlocks Good Publicity upgrade, boosts Help the Community option
  • Silver Tongue - unlocks Convincing Liar upgrade, pass of Ethics test is twice more effective
  • Easily Forgiven - adds "No Penalty" Penalty into pool
  • Minimum Wage - increases daily income to 1500$ per day
Achievements, Hats, Secret Ending
RAIS got 50 achievements linked to Spiderbot Hats. List would be later, sorry.

Some Achievements are easy to make during one run, but others require few runs to execute. For example, it's hard to harvest 25 veggies druing week in same facility. This also should stimulate you trying new strategies or picking different Blueprints to use. Some of Achievements are not doable without persistent upgrades - for example, Industrial Machines are hidden behind one of such.

It's good to collect hats, right?

Now about Secret Ending, Escape the Facility:

You need to have double Secret Project available and pick Fabricator and Biochamber in any order. Fabricator would get fourth hidden option costing 3 Components which allows to create TALIA's Brain Chip. Once you made Chip, wait for BIochamber to make Homunculus. Now you can insert TALIA's Brain Chip into it via fourth option. TALIA in flesh would appear, but won't be counted as Test Subject. After some time simulating human behaviour, she would reach Ladder and escape, granting your Achievement and unique Ending. Congratulations!
Strategy Tips
Some tips from experienced, but not best player:
  • Always try to have at least 3 Chems. There is random event "Blight" which makes you subject sick, animal dying or crops dropped to 0%... or you could just pay 3 Chems for it.
  • As of 1.0.6. Hand Pump is extremily broken (especially with Permanent Upgrade for it). You get 9-12 Water from one use by Subject, while other sources are granting 6-24 Water per day PASSIVELY. And it got no cooldown either (unlike even Bookshelf of all things!) Because of that, aside of Ice Blocks maybe, Water Pipes is best Water policy and even then, you better should build Hand Pump and/or Water Counter to have nice Water income. Waiting for rebalance.
  • If you got Bee Hive, you could build it in corner (or move it there) and put two Potted Plants around it. This way bees would fly right into them and grant charge for Bee Hive, lowering danger of Bees.
  • Water Generator + Water Collectors/Utility Storage is not "broken", but crazy. You could get up to 7 subjects (+175 Max Water), meaning max Water is 375. It's 375/5=75 Wh per Water Generator if you are lucky enough, got enough Metal and picked all 6 Subjects Slots (with Auditor Penalty). For that reason, you want to check Water Category options first, Power Category second - but still, Water Collector could appear as one of Blueprints.
  • Since 1.0.6. you could Move most objects, some first thing you want to do is to put Water Tank and Electric Battery into different corners (so they produce as less Puddles and Fires as possible during "push system" event) and also move Servers in positions in which they have less Heat from each other and other objects you are gonna build.
  • Free CCTV Camera from Permanent Upgrade could be nice bonus for Science early, but most often you really want to dismantle it for 2000$, especially if you are low at money. Without many Subjects and Big Brother policy CCTV is quite weak anyway.
  • "Animal Farm + Butcher + Compost Heap" combination easily grants you persistent source of both Raw Food and Chems. They are good by themselves, so it would not hurt to try to get it at least. Don't build Toilet too, since poop from your Subjects is also valuable this way. For now there is no Secret Project to profit from this chain, but BioLab with it's chems seems like best option. You probably want these Chems for Superlab or Hydrogen Fuel policies though.
  • "Military Academy + Cannibalism + Nutrient Paste" combination is also one of best, you get Raw Food/Dispenser Charge and Science by killing as much people as possible. Obviously you better have Harmful Sabotage Policy and you may forget about Graduating. Combine with Comms Tower for best abuse. Shrine to TALIA could work too, but it grants Sus and you would be Sus already.
  • "Agriculture + Healthy Salads" with Botanical Lab as Second Project is Veggie paradise,
2 Comments
PHOBIE 26 Aug, 2023 @ 5:08pm 
Selling price for chems is a joke and shows how economy is designed from the rear end (OP-pls-nerf-philosophy). Game also forces bulk sales of overflow items (or food rotting) leading to regressive grind and discouraged effort. This leads to a situation where success is punished and overflow items from playing great are devalued. Compare to living in a dilapidated shack where repairing one corner means the other corner comes loose. I point this out because this means the game is "best" played choosing the cheapest decrepit solution over the less cheap and slightly more stable option, and choosing drop stats you won't focus on.
PHOBIE 26 Aug, 2023 @ 5:06pm 
Tested chem labs with max chem income, but it's a disappointment. Ultimately, you constantly overflow on chems (no lab) or you run out very quickly (yes lab) and have zero when you need them for anything else but research.

The former option also fills up storage faster than you can build it, not counted the base is much too small to allow enough storage for trade economy (and it's always cramped).

Using chems for hydrogen cell works only slightly better, because your test subjects only sometimes throw a chem in there regardless of priority (it's a manual process), and thus building more has diminishing returns (wretched scalability).

With a way to get rid of puddles eel farms become fairly good, so chems -> eel/hydrogen has some synergy. That said, it's highly inefficient from the investment cost and operation standpoint, because of its long spin-up.