Nightwater biomes & resources (Steam island factory)
Expand the island, then automate each resource milestone.
Nightwater (Steam app 3983860, Studio Ashty) is a forage–craft–automate island factory. Demo and long-play footage before the 2026-09-18 full release confirm Forest and Mountain. Steam cites 20+ resources; the table lists HUD names only.
How to expand biomes
- Open the island expand flow at the Manifester in front of the cave (objective text: use the Manifester to expand the island).
- In Select Land, pick an available land tile on the diamond grid, then press Manifest when the cost is paid.
- Finish Forest land first — tutorial text calls for expanding to unlock the last Forest Biome segment before new biomes open.
- Keep hitting resource Milestones (hand gather or harvesters). Milestone Item Unlocks gate new buildings, crafts, and buffs for that resource.
- When the objective says unlock the first Mountain biome, Manifest the Mountain land tile and gather its ores.
Biome · resource table
Biome labels match the Milestones book (Forest Unlocks / Mountain Unlocks) and on-screen “Forest Biome” / “Mountain biome” objectives. Unofficial blog roster names are not used.
| Biome (HUD) | Resource | Gather by hand vs automate / unlock gate |
|---|---|---|
| Forest | Oak Wood | Hand-punch trees from the start. Automate with Primitive Wood Harvester (harvested items count toward Milestone Progression). Wood Gear unlocks on the Oak Wood milestone track (panel shows threshold met at 100 gathered in demo footage). |
| Forest | Stone | Hand-mine rock nodes. Automate with Primitive Rock Crusher (harvests rock, clay, and ore in radius). Stone Bricks and the crusher sit on the Stone milestone unlock row. |
| Forest | Clay | Hand gather clay nodes (distinct sound/look from stone). Rock Crusher also pulls clay in radius. Clay Brick unlocks on the clay milestone path. |
| Forest | Wheat | Hand pick wheat plants. Automate with Primitive Plant Farmer (plant resources in radius; counts to milestones). Early objectives pair Wheat milestones with pipes/chests automation tips. |
| Forest | Wheat Oil | Crafted process material used in early build costs (yellow bottle icon on Primitive Pipe / Assembler recipes). Produced from Wheat on the craft/process path shown in long-plays. |
| Forest | Plank | Craft from Oak Wood at the Workbench / Assembler. Required for Primitive Wood Harvester, Primitive Chest, and other early builds. |
| Forest | Wood Gear | Milestone unlock on Oak Wood. Crafting material for structures and complex items. Feeds into Stone Gear recipes. |
| Forest | Stone Brick / Clay Brick | Processed materials on the Stone and Clay milestone tracks. Used as construction inputs for Primitive Assembler and related early machines. |
| Forest | Stone Gear | Craft recipe on Select Craft: 1 Wood Gear + 4 Stones → Stone Gear. Advanced crafting material on the stone track. |
| Mountain | Copper Ore | Appears after Mountain biome land is unlocked. Hand harvest ore nodes (Discovered popup). Rock Crusher description also lists ore in radius. |
| Mountain | Iron Ore | Hand harvest after Mountain unlock (Discovered popup). Same mountain ore loop as Copper. |
| Mountain | Stone | Co-drops from mountain ore nodes while hand gathering Copper Ore. |
Ages (Steam first-party)
Steam describes progression sticks and stones → Bronze Age → Industrial Era → future, with the Lighthouse as the long-term goal. Demo footage stays in the early Primitive building set plus Mountain ores; later ages are not tabled here.
Related demo footage titles may claim more than this guide carries forward. Sources are listed in the pack HANDOFF / SOURCES only.