⭐ Population tiers
Settlers grow in tiers: worker → artisan → master → elder → architect. Each tier unlocks new buildings and works faster, but also needs more: if what’s needed runs out two days in a row, the tier drops by a step.
You promote settlers yourself: tap a settler — at the bottom of the card is a list of conditions and a “Promote” button. Under each unmet condition ✗ it says where to get what’s needed. When someone can be promoted right now, ⬆ appears at the top with the number of such settlers — tap it and the map shows them one by one. They also have ⬆ in the settler list and above their heads on the map. Tap 👥 at the top to open the “Settlers” window: who can be promoted right away, and what others lack, across the whole colony.
| Tier | Per person a day | Promotion | Speed | Housing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Workers | 1 Bread | — | normal | any house |
| Artisans | 1 Bread, 0.25 Clothes, 0.15 Furniture | 1 Clothes, 1 Furniture; own home, fed | crafting +15% | house, stone house |
| Masters | 1 Bread, 0.25 Clothes, 0.15 Furniture, 0.2 Books, 0.1 Jewelry | 1 Books, 1 Jewelry; 🏠 Guild hall, lives in a 🏠 Stone house | +25% to any work | stone house |
| Elders | 1 Bread, 0.25 Clothes, 0.15 Furniture, 0.2 Books, 0.1 Jewelry, 0.25 Honey | 2 Honey, 1 Jewelry; 🏠 Elder’s house, a weapon equipped (from chapter 4) | +40%, ×1.5 in defense | Elder’s house |
| Architects | 1 Bread, 0.25 Clothes, 0.15 Furniture, 0.4 Books, 0.1 Jewelry, 0.25 Honey; light at home (power) | 2 Books, 4 Copper; 🏠 Architect’s house with power, an item with a rune equipped (from chapter 5) | +60%, ×1.5 in defense; with an architect — workshop level IV | Architect’s house |
| Keepers | 1 Bread, 0.25 Clothes, 0.15 Furniture, 0.4 Books, 0.3 Jewelry, 0.25 Honey; light at home (power) | 2 Books, 3 Jewelry, 15 Gold; 🏠 Keeper’s chambers with power, laws passed in the colony: 2, mood 70+ (from chapter 7) | +80%, ×1.5 in defense; each keeper (up to 2) — +4 mood for the whole colony | Keeper’s chambers |
Colony growth
New settlers are wanderers. They come if there is a free bed, it isn’t cold and there is food for everyone for at least two days. How many can live in the colony grows with the story: 8 in chapter 1, 12 in chapter 2 (16 after the Lighthouse), 20 in chapter 3, 24 in chapter 4, 28 in chapter 5, 32 in chapter 6, 36 in chapter 7, 40 in chapter 8, and more after that.
Guests fly in: a wanderer on a raft, caravans and traders on an airship. The boat lands at the island’s edge closest to storage, the guests walk to storage and wait for an answer (it’s in the journal). Once you decide, or they get tired of waiting, they leave the same way and the boat casts off.
Items by tier
An item has a required tier: for everyone, for artisans, for masters, for elders — the higher, the stronger the properties. If a settler is demoted, the item stays equipped but doesn’t work.
This guide is built from the data of the game “Oskolki” — a browser colony simulator on a floating shard among the ruins of the ancients. Play for free in the browser.