Groundwork

The humans are coming. Someone has to get the place ready.

You are "Extraterrestrial Vehicle Automation Unit M.2", or EV-A2, for short - a robot who was sent ahead to a distant planet by the Mainframe, the robot in charge of a ship full of humans in cryogenic chambers. Your job is to get the place ready: scan and learn what grows here, gather and mine, build the machines, clear the space debris, repair the robots from crashed ships, and build a new home for your humans.

Scan and explore

Every planet is round and procedurally generated: walk far enough in one direction and you come back to where you started. Each one is a unique experience, full of various trees, minerals, mushrooms and butterflies. Some carry a quirk of their own: a ring across the sky, constant wind, long nights, ash or ice. Drive along the coast or up a snow-covered mountain, get through the day and night, heavy rain and wind. Scan plants, minerals and mushrooms to put them in your collection, along with the moths, beetles and dragonflies that come out with the weather.

Build with local materials

Head into a bamboo grove for the materials to make benches and water spouts. Gather ice in the tundra and you can build lanterns and sculptures for the town. You'll learn those recipes when you pick up the materials.

Mine, gather, build machines

Planet was chosen not only for its look. The ground is full of raw materials and resources — everything a future town needs. Build a saw-bench, a kiln and a smelter; they make the materials and parts for houses and to fix the other robots. Solar panels and wind turbines feed one power network that stores energy. Space debris is scattered around the planet as wrecks: you can salvage them for parts, or just to keep the place tidy.

Repair the robots

Earlier ships crashed here, and their robots are still out in the wilds, offline. Repair them, and they will move into your town and put up their own unique huts. Each robot has a name, a way of talking and a job: the Excavator digs the ground, the Hauler carries heavy items, the Scout charts the planet while you sleep. They will have their own requests, though: bring the Mechanic the parts he wants, and he'll fit an upgrade so you can carry more.

Grow a garden

Till a plot, drop the seeds, water them — and wait for the bees from your hive to pollinate the flowers. Carrots, corn, tomatoes, pumpkins, lettuce and eggplant grow from seed to harvest, all while the rain does the watering for you. Wild flowers can be dug up and replanted by the houses, and moths, beetles and dragonflies come out with the weather.

Go fishing

Repair the Angler and he'll teach you to make a rod. Fish from a bank or a pier, but try casting onto a frozen pond and your bobber won't get through. Go back to the Angler and he'll teach you to make an ice drill. Then you can open a hole, catch what's underneath and donate your catch to the Archive, where it swims in a tank of its own.

Build the houses

The humans will need somewhere to live when they come down. Stake the lot, have the Excavator level the ground, put up the fence and the foundation, deliver the planks and the beams, and see the frame go up. Then the works: wiring, a circuit board, the casing. The last job is to pave the path to the door. Fences, lamps and planters fill the yards. Watch the town grow one house at a time.

No combat, no timer, no fail screen

Nothing on the planet attacks you, and there is no deadline: the humans sleep in orbit until you call them down. When your battery runs low far from home, Buddy, the first robot you repair, drives out and shares his charge. He has a solar panel, and a big battery, so he never runs out of charge.

Procedurally generated music

Every planet has its own unique sound, made of up to 30 different instruments. Pick a style from the pause menu if you want a lo-fi meditative experience, or you're feeling disco. Music follows the day and night cycle, changes between good and bad weather.