The Idiot's Guide to Reus

The guide for new players, by an idiot. Wait... no, not just an idiot. The Idiot.

In The Beginning

In the beginning, there was a sleeping planet. It was barren, with no life on its surface. But a planet cannot be happy without any life on its surface, so it began to stir. As it woke, it found its surface to be unsuitable to support any kind of life. And so it breathed some of its energy into its avatars: four great beings with power over one aspect of its surface. A Forest Giant, an Ocean Giant, a Mountain Giant, and a Swamp Giant. These giants were tasked with making the planet's surface habitable. And so the giants worked, bringing life and warmth to the cold lifeless surface. When the giants completed their task, they returned to their slumber. With warmth and life wrapped around it like a comfortable blanket, so too did the planet.

In the beginning, there was a sleepi- wait, we already did this part. Well, the planet woke up again. Its surface was dry and barren, like the inside of someone's mouth that slept with it open. Unlike a person, the planet couldn't close its mouth and work its tongue, so it did the next best thing. It reawakened the giants, and tasked them once again with making the surface habitable. And so the giants worked. One day, the planet found that a group of curious little creatures had settled near where the rock giant happened to flick a booger. The creatures found value in the substance, and toiled to collect it from the earth it had buried itself in. The planet became curious about these creatures, and decided to cultivate them by giving them more things they would value. It provided food, wealth, and technology to the creatures, and as the creatures thrived, so too did the planet, the creatures' growing knowledge returning to the planet to grant it more power. But sleepiness reared its ugly head, the giants fell to slumber, and the planet, though its curiosity about these creatures remained unsated, drifted off to sleep, leaving these creatures to their own devices for an eon.

In the beginni- Okay, no. We've done this twice now. So the planet woke up again, and found that, once again, its surface was barren. As had become its routine by now, it awakened the giants and tasked them with making its surface habitable, but this time it also tasked them with discovering what had become of the creatures. And so the giants laid out bait for the creatures: A place with great amounts of food, wealth, and technology for the creatures to make use of. The giants had hardly begun to work before the creatures settled nearby, making use of the abundant resources, growing greatly and rapidly. The creatures, not needing to work hard for what they received, became slothful and demanding, and ordered the giants to give them more. The more they received, the more they demanded, until they began to see the giants as nothing more than their servants. When one giant was slow to provide what the creatures demanded, due to encroaching weariness, the creatures attacked it. The giants were forced to destroy the creatures' village, shortly before they ran out of energy and returned to their slumber. The planet mourned the creatures, and wondered what more it could have done for the creatures. As the planet fell to sleep, it began to wonder if perhaps the creatures could care for it in its slumber, as it cared for them while it was awake.

Gameplay Basics

Reus is a game where you control four giants to terraform a planet, and provide for humans that settle on it. The giants have the ability to create oceans, forests, mountains, and swamps, and may place resources on the planet for the humans to make use of.

Each giant has its own set of abilities.

Ocean Giant - This giant has the ability to create oceans. Oceans cannot have any plants or minerals placed in it, but may be stocked with fish, which villages are able to harvest for either food or wealth. Oceans are 9 tiles wide, and will also cause tiles to become moist for 13 tiles in each direction. In addition to the ability to create oceans, this giant is able to place domestic animals in or out of the ocean which provide food.

Forest Giant - This giant has the ability to create forests on moist tiles. It also has the ability to place plants which provide food.

Mountain Giant - This giant has the ability to create mountains. Mountains are 5 tiles wide and will create desert on dry tiles or forest on moist tiles for 14 tiles in each direction. It also has the ability to place precious minerals which provide wealth, as well as the ability to provide advanced minerals which provide tech.

Swamp Giant - This giant has the ability to create swamps on moist tiles. It also has the ability to place herbs which provide tech, as well as exotic animals which provide wealth.

A more in-depth look at each giant's abilities will be provided in its own section. Your objective is to control the giants to terraform the surface of the planet, and provide resources for the humans which settle on it.

Play is done in 30 minute eras. You have this amount of time to develop the human villages as much as you are able before the giants run out of energy and fall asleep. This time limit can be extended by completing developments.

Developments

Developments are challenges within the game to complete. If the conditions for a development are met within a single era, the game will reward the player by adding a new natural source for the player to make use of. For an example, the development "Fishing Village" is completed by ending an era while having a 200+ prosperity village with at least 5 ocean tiles within its borders.

Completing developments and unlocking sources is the main objective to the game. There are 3 tiers of developments. Once enough developments in the first tier have been unlocked, second tier developments will become available and you will unlock a longer era which will allow you 60 minutes of play instead of just 30. By completing enough first and second tier developments, you will unlock the third tier and the ability to play a 120 minute era.

Humans and Villages

Humans will settle on the planet near where there are available natural sources for them. Villages will prosper more where there are more resources for them to make use of. As resources become available the village will gradually make use of them, and the larger the difference between the number of resources available and the number of resources in use, the faster the village will grow.

Villages require a settler to be able to start. You begin the game with one settler available, and will gain more settlers as the existing villages grow in prosperity.

Villages have a territory, which gradually grows as the village does. This border is slowed by ocean and mountain, and stopped by the borders of another village.You cannot control villages, but you can view a village's statistics.

Food - The amount of food the village has in use and how much total is available to the village.
Wealth - The amount of wealth the village has in use and how much total is available to the village.
Tech - The amount of tech the village has in use and how much total is available to the village.
Prosperity - The total of the village's Food, Wealth, and Tech in use.
Greed - Represented by either blue or red faces, this represents the amount of greed the village has accumulated.
Awe - The amount of Awe within the village
Offense - The strength of the village's army
Defense - The strength of the village's defenses
War Marks - The number of wars this village has won.
Danger - This displays the current danger level and the village's danger tolerances.

Villages are completely autonomous, and will start wars, send out armies, react to danger, and start and upgrade projects completely independently. All you can do is provide natural sources for the village to make use of.

Projects

Villages will frequently start projects in their territory. These projects are a great way to increase the prosperity of a village, as projects have specializations which increase resources in the village based on the sources within the village borders. For example, a Shrine may have the specialization God of the Wild, which provides 5 food and 10 wealth for each of up to 3 animals within the village's borders, for a total of 15 food and 30 wealth at maximum. This would provide the village a total of 45 prosperity, which is much more than any one natural source is capable of providing on its own in the early game.

Each project has a time limit to be completed, and is completed by having a certain amount of resources in use by the village. Some projects have other requirements as well, such as a certain number of war marks or having more of a certain resource than another village. In the earlier example of the Shrine, the village must have a total of at least 15 wealth and 15 food in use within 10 minutes to complete the project. The project's specialization is active as soon as the project starts, so it may be used to complete the project.

Projects may be upgraded by a village to add an additional specialization to the project. This is completed in the same manner as completing a project, and the objectives to complete the project upgrade can be viewed by selecting the project.

Completing a project will reward you with an ambassador, which can be added to a giant to improve its abilities. The type of ambassador provided depends on the biome the village settled in; a village that settled in a forest provides forest ambassadors, a village in the desert will provide desert ambassadors, and a village in a swamp will provide a swamp ambassador.

Once enough ambassadors have already been awarded, villages will no longer provide ambassadors for completing lower level projects.

Greed, Danger, and Awe

If too much of any one type of resource is provided to villages, and that village begins to grow too fast, the village will begin to grow greedy. Greedy villages will attack other villages, and will even attack your giants. If the difference between the amount of resource a village is using and the amount of resource available is 20 or greater, the village's greed will start to increase. Greed will start to lower after some time if there is nothing increasing it.

Danger is one way of curbing greed. Each village has a danger tolerance, represented by 2 numbers in the Danger Defenses section of the village statistics. This tolerance will gradually increase as the village grows in prosperity. If the total danger exceeds the first number, the village is too busy defending itself from threats to become greedy. Don't overdo danger, though; If the total danger exceeds the second number, the danger is overwhelming the village's defenses and the village will begin to die. If the village is strong enough, it may react to the danger at this level by sending its army to take care of the threat. Danger can be increased by introducing dangerous animals to the village's territory, or by adding Hunt or Predator aspects to existing animals. Each tile in the animal's range will provide the animal's danger to the village if the tile is within the village's territory.

Awe is another way to curb greed. Some plants, animals, or minerals or their syntheses will provide Awe, which increases the maximum difference between the resources in use and resources available in a village before the village starts to become greedy. The crystal or seismic aspects may also be added to Minerals to increase Awe. Some projects will decrease awe, or even make it go negative, making it easier for a village to become greedy.

Symbiosis, Aspects, and Transmutation

Symbiosis is defined as interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association, typically to the advantage of both, and natural sources in Reus are no different. Every natural source has a symbiosis which allows it to affect or be affected by other natural sources. For example, a Monal gives 1 wealth to each tile in its animal range normally, but if placed next to a plant, it will give 3 wealth and 1 awe to each tile in its range. Some symbioses, typically those on Minerals, must be activated by the village. This is generally done by the village having a certain number of a certain resource in use. For example, Quartz must have its symbiosis activated by the village having at least 5 Wealth in use.

Aspects are enhancements that giants can place on natural sources to improve them. More details on what aspects a giant is able to place on sources and their effects will be provided in each giant's own section. Aspects will have one of 4 qualities. In order of ascending quality, they are: Lesser, Potent, Greater, Sublime. Having certain aspects on certain sources will also make Transmutation available.

Transmutation is the process used in the game to improve natural sources. Natural sources can already be improved in a limited manner by adding aspects to them, but Trasmuting the sources will usually improve the source further. Transmuting sources also changes the source's symbiosis and, in the case of some sources, activation conditions, so transmutation is not always beneficial. Transmutation is accomplished by adding a required aspect to a source, and then activating the transmutation by selecting the source and selecting the desired transmutation. Higher level transmutations may require higher quality Aspects to trigger them.

Ocean Giant

Create Ocean - The Ocean Giant creates ocean or levels mountains. Oceans are 9 tiles wide and will make tiles moist for 13 squares in either direction. Only animals may be placed on an ocean tile.

Domestic Animals - The giant creates domestic animals which provide food.
Level 2 - Creates Great animals. Requires 1 Swamp ambassador and 1 ambassador of any type
Level 3 - Creates Superior animals. Requires 1 Swamp ambassador and 3 ambassadors of any type

Growth Aspect - Upgrades a plant with a Growth aspect. Adds Food and Natura. Can create Potent aspects
Level 2 - Can create Greater aspects. Requires 2 Desert ambassadors
Level 3 - Can create Sublime aspects. Requires 3 Desert ambassadors and 1 ambassador of any type

Herd Aspect - Upgrades an animal with a Herd aspect. Adds Food. Can create Potent aspects. Requires 1 Swamp ambassador.
Level 2 - Can create Greater aspects. Requires 2 Swamp ambassadors.
Level 3 - Can create Sublime aspects. Requires 3 Swamp ambassadors and 1 ambassador of any type.

Crystal Aspect - Upgrades a mineral with a Crystal aspect. Adds Wealth and Awe. Can create Potent aspects. Requires 1 Forest ambassador.
Level 2 - Can create Greater aspects. Requires 2 Forest ambassadors.
Level 3 - Can create Sublime aspects. Requires 3 Forest ambassadors and 1 ambassador of any type.

Aurora - The giant fires an aurora beam at another giant, providing a speed boost for a short time and healing the giant.
Level 2 - Speed boost, Health regen, and Duration increased. Requires 1 Forest ambassador and 1 ambassador of any type.
Level 3 - Speed boost, Health regen, and Duration further increased. Requires 1 Forest ambassador and 2 ambassadors of any type.

Monsoon - The giant creates several fertility boosts on the tiles around it, which affect the quality of aspects placed on natural sources on those tiles. Requires 1 Desert ambassador. Creates Potent boosts.
Level 2 - Creates Greater boosts. Requires 1 Desert ambassador and 1 ambassador of any type.
Level 3 - Creates Sublime boosts. Requires 1 Desert ambassador and 3 ambassadors of any type.

Forest Giant

Create Forest - The forest giant creates a 13 tile wide patch of forest on moist tiles. Forest tiles turn into Desert if they become dry.

Fruit Plant - The giant raises a plant which provides food.
Level 2 - Creates Great plants. Requires 1 Forest ambassador and 1 ambassador of any type.
Level 3 - Creates Superior plants. Requires 2 Forest ambassadors and 2 ambassadors of any type.

Leaf Aspect - Upgrades a plant with a Leaf aspect, which adds Tech and Natura.
Level 2 - Can create Greater aspects. Requires 1 Swamp ambassador and 1 ambassador of any type.
Level 3 - Can create Sublime aspects. Requires 1 Swamp ambassador, 1 Forest ambassador, and 2 ambassadors of any type.

Fruit Aspect - Upgrades a plant with a Fruit aspect, which adds Food. Requires 1 Forest ambassador.
Level 2 - Can create Greater aspects. Requires 2 Forest ambassadors.
Level 3 - Can create Sublime aspects. Requires 3 Forest ambassadors and 1 ambassador of any type.

Hunt Aspect - Upgrades an animal with a Hunt aspect, which adds Food and Danger. Requires 1 Desert ambassador.
Level 2 - Can create Greater aspects. Requires 2 Desert ambassadors.
Level 3 - Can create Sublime aspects. Requires 2 Desert ambassadors and 2 ambassadors of any type.

Fertility Boost - Places a fertility boost on a tile, increasing the chances of higher quality aspects on the tile. Creates Potent boosts.
Level 2 - Creates Greater boosts. Requires 1 Desert ambassador and 1 ambassador of any type
Level 3 - Creates Sublime boosts. Requires 1 Desert ambassador, 1 Forest ambassador, and 2 ambassadors of any type.

Migrate - Allows the Forest Giant to pick up a plant and move it to another tile. Requires 1 Swamp ambassador.
Level 2 - Allows Animals to be moved and increases migration speed. Requires 2 Swamp ambassadors
Level 3 - Allows Minerals to be moved and increases migration speed. Requires 3 Swamp ambassadors and 1 ambassador of any type.

Rock Giant

Raise Mountain - The Rock Giant creates a mountain or fills ocean. Mountains create Desert on dry tiles and Forest on moist tiles for 14 tiles in either direction. Desert tiles turn into Forest if they become moist.

Precious Minerals - The giant creates precious minerals in the ground which provide Wealth.
Level 2 - Creates Great minerals. Requires 1 Desert ambassador and 1 ambassador of any type.
Level 3 - Creates Superior minerals. Requires 2 Desert ambassadors and 2 ambassadors of any type.

Advanced Minerals - The giant creates advanced minerals in the ground which provide Tech.
Level 2 - Creates Great minerals. Requires 1 Swamp ambassador and 1 ambassador of any type
Level 3 - Creates Superior minerals. Requires 1 Swamp ambassador, 1 Desert ambassador, and 2 ambassadors of any type.

Exotic Aspect - Upgrades an animal with an Exotic aspect which adds Wealth. Requires 1 Forest ambassador.
Level 2 - Can create Greater aspects. Requires 2 Forest ambassadors.
Level 3 - Can create Sublime aspects. Requires 2 Forest ambassadors and 2 ambassadors of any type.

Noble Aspect - Upgrades a mineral with a Noble aspect which adds Wealth. Requires 1 Desert ambassador
Level 2 - Can create Greater aspects. Requires 2 Desert ambassadors.
Level 3 - Can create Sublime aspects. Requires 3 Desert ambassadors and 1 ambassador of any type.

Seismic Aspect - Upgrades a mineral with a Seismic aspect which adds Tech and Awe and damages armies which cross it. Requires 1 Swamp ambassador
Level 2 - Can create Greater aspects. Requires 2 Swamp ambassadors.
Level 3 - Can create Sublime aspects. Requires 2 Swamp ambassadors and 2 ambassadors of any type.

Earthquake - The giant smashes the ground twice, dealing damage to villages and reduced damage to armies.
Level 2 - Increases damage and effect against armies. Requires 1 Forest ambassador and 1 ambassador of any type.
Level 3 - Further increases damage and effect against armies, decreases area of effect. Requires 1 Forest ambassador, 1 Desert ambassador, and 2 ambassadors of any type.

Swamp Giant

Create Swamp - The Swamp Giant creates a 13 wide patch of swamp on moist tiles. Swamp tiles turn into Desert if they become dry.

Herbs - The giant raises a plant which provides Tech.
Level 2 - Creates Great plants. Requires 1 Forest ambassador and 1 ambassador of any type.
Level 3 - Creates Superior plants. Requires 1 Forest ambassador, 1 Swamp ambassador, and 2 ambassadors of any type.

Exotic Animals - The giant places exotic animals which provide Wealth.
Level 2 - Creates Great animals. Requires 1 Desert ambassador and 1 ambassador of any type.
Level 3 - Creates Superior animals. Requires 1 Desert ambassador, 1 Swamp ambassador, and 2 ambassadors of any type.

Toxic Aspect - Upgrades a plant with a Toxic aspect which adds Tech. Requires 1 Swamp ambassador.
Level 2 - Can create Greater aspects. Requires 2 Swamp ambassadors.
Level 3 - Can create Sublime aspects. Requires 3 Swamp ambassadors and 1 ambassador of any type.

Predator Aspect - Upgrades an animal with a Predator aspect which adds Wealth and Danger. Requires 1 Desert ambassador.
Level 2 - Can create Greater aspects. Requires 2 Desert ambassadors.
Level 3 - Can create Sublime aspects. Requires 2 Desert ambassadors and 2 ambassadors of any type.

Reaction Aspect - Upgrades a mineral with a Reaction aspect which adds Tech. Requires 1 Forest ambassador.
Level 2 - Can create Greater aspects. Requires 2 Forest ambassadors.
Level 3 - Can create Sublime aspects. Requires 2 Forest ambassadors and 2 ambassadors of any type.

Muck Bomb - The giant throws a piece of infested swampland which deals damage over time to armies and reduced damage to villages.
Level 2 - Increases damage dealt. Requires 1 Swamp ambassador and 1 ambassador of any type.
Level 3 - Further increases damage dealt. Requires 2 Swamp ambassadors and 2 ambassadors of any type.

Hints and Tips

Don't neglect your ocean tiles. Fish can be placed in the ocean to add food or wealth to a village.

Don't forget about Symbioses when you're deciding where to place your sources. They can make a huge difference, and help you complete projects you might otherwise struggle with.

If you have problems keeping villages in line due to project specializations causing them to get an enormous increase in greed, try using dangerous animals to keep their greed in check. If a village has enough (but not too much) danger surrounding it, it stops the village's greed growth cold. Since each tile in the animal's range provides the animal's bonus (including danger) this is also a good way to increase a village's prosperity, especially if the animal benefits from symbiosis. Don't overdo it, though. Too much danger can kill a village.

You don't have to complete every project that comes along. If a village starts a project with a specialization you don't like you can simply let the time run out, and the village will pick a different project or a different specialization when it decides to start a new project. (Optional: For you evil types that arent concerned with caring for that village you've had since your very first settler, you can always just destroy the village and let it resettle. Be careful if you decide to do this though; you only have so many settlers to use. The resettled village will likely also become extremely greedy with all the existing resources, so this may be more trouble than it's worth.)

If you have problems completing a development, try completing some easier developments first. They may unlock sources which will make it easier to complete the development you're having a problem with.

You don't have to leave a source where it is forever once it's been placed. When you've received a few ambassadors for your giants, you might want to think about upgrading your existing sources to Greater sources which provide larger amounts of resources for the villages. Their symbioses get upgraded too, so this is a great way to finish projects you're struggling with.

[mwyeoh]

Another hint with unwanted projects is you can hit them with a muck bomb too which will instantly stop them

[Retrolicious]

Hey idiot, you made an idiotic guide! 10/10
But idiots can't read wall of texts?!

[tjrr]

The boundries spread slowly, so i can't produce new sources and this prevents new buildings to come.

[Flaming Badger]

Nice guide, it's good to see it all laid out like this. One tip which can help people get their world looking like they want, though, is that a wider ocean will moisten more then 13 tiles around it and a smaller ocean (made by placing a mountain on the edge of an ocean, can be as low as 6 tiles if I recall correctly) will moisten fewer. This can help you make really wide forests or, if you want to maximise your forest to water ratio, the smaller oceans give more moist tiles for each ocean tile.

[RebelKicks1986]

Nice guide man. reel sam you're a fucking douche.

[Timmy ♥☮☯]

nice guide, Idiot )) you don't have to react to every bit of criticism, though ;)

[*sleepiness*]

Thanks for the guide :)

[ShadouFireborn]

If you're such an expert, then write your own guide. That's the last I'm going to say here. Any more of this and I'm deleting the whole conversation. This is not up for discussion. Natura is not within the scope of this guide. You can call it incomplete if you want. It was NEVER meant to be comprehensive. End of discussion.

[ShadouFireborn]

This guide did what it set out to do: Explain the basics of the game in more depth than the tutorial, giving new players a starting point to understanding the gameplay besides the rather inadequate tutorial. Natura is not a gameplay basic. It is a bit of advanced gameplay that doesn't even come up until tier 2. This guide isn't for tier 2 gameplay. It's a basis for understanding tier 1 gameplay.

Your "suggestion" seems to be bordering on "demand" here. Let's end the argument with "it's not happening" and move on. If you want a comprehensive guide to Reus, write it. I did what I intended with this guide, which, again, was to provide NEW PLAYERS with a starting point to grasping the fundamentals of the game.

[ShadouFireborn]

@reel sam: this is not a comprehensive guide. This is a beginner's guide, explaining the basics of the game in somewhat more detail than the tutorial. There's a few hints and tips, appropriately in the "Hints and Tips" section, but this guide was never meant to be exhaustive. Calling it 'average' because it doesn't include the information you want, which information was never within the scope of this guide, is a bit unfair, don't you think?