Oxygen Not Included: Tips For How to Survive

Don’t Be Afraid of Rejection

Oxygen Not Included will let you grow a space colony under a new planet’s ground. You’ll be digging, mining, and crafting your way to survival. Naturally, the team you have at the beginning is very important to kickstart this.

Even so, though, duplicants can sometimes be too much to handle. As you gain the ability to recruit more duplicants, keep in mind that you could always reject them. This can be done if none of the three presented to you are noteworthy enough to join your colony, but it can also be done simply because you don’t want another mouth to feed. Or nose breathing up oxygen in this case. Always remember that you don’t have to accept a new duplicant when the portal says you can.

Build These First

Here are the first things you should focus on building in Oxygen Not Included:

• Three Cots
• Outhouse
• Manual Generator
• Two Tiny Batteries
• Microbe Musher
• Research Station

The cots will provide your three duplicants with a restful sleep at night, so it’s important to build those as soon as possible. The same urgency is needed for the outhouse, as that is going to be used pretty soon by them. The microbe musher will provide sustenance from dirt, the research station will kick off your technology advancement, and the manual generator will power both of these.

Location, Location, Location

It’s important to keep in mind that the air behaves differently depending what it is. Oxygen will move upward, Carbon Dioxide downward, Contaminated Oxygen tends to go up as well, Hydrogen goes seemingly everywhere, and so on. Thus, you will want to make sure that you build with this in mind.

Cots and planter boxes are best in upper levels, while outhouses and electricity are better in the lower levels. It’s also smart to build your algae terrariums where the carbon dioxide falls, and your oxygen makers in the middle of your colony. Remember to check the oxygen overlay to see where problematic areas are and how you can solve them best.

Mine Towards Oxygen Pockets and Water

When you start off, it’s important to get your ladders, tiles, and dig commands moving towards the closest pockets of oxygen and water that your randomly generated world in Oxygen Not Included provides.

This will grant your colony way more air to breathe, and water is used for a ton of crafting recipes. Plus, more room is always good, so you might as well build towards what will be useful additions.

Waste Is Annoying

It’s imperative that you pay attention to waste in Oxygen Not Included. It can get really messy and gross and straight up ruin your water supply if you let it. Keep your outhouse (or lavatory if you’re that advanced) open and running. Make sure a compost is right next to it, to easily transfer the contaminated dirt over to it from the outhouse. Then, make sure an air deodorizer is right next to that compost, as it will catch the contaminated oxygen and convert it into breathable air. Contaminated dirt and the compost will both generate contaminated oxygen, though the compost generates less of it and is easily manageable with an air deodorizer next to it.

Oh, and if anyone decides to pee themselves or vomit, clean it up fast so it doesn’t drip anywhere inconvenient, like into your fresh water supply.

And then kill that duplicant. Totally reasonable punishment.

Diver’s Lungs Is Bae

If all else fails, refuse any duplicants that don’t have the Diver’s Lungs trait. It allows them to only use about a fourth of oxygen and they can hold their breath for way longer.

Given that oxygen is the most precious commodity for life in ONI – and most likely what your colony will eventually die from – this is probably the best trait in the game for a long lasting playthrough.