Resources
14 resources. Pooled ones carry over and need storage; flowing ones are recalculated each turn and can't be saved. The five strategic resources only appear once you can reach the worlds that hold them.
Core resources
| Resource | Kind | Scope | Source | First seen | What it's for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ◼ Food | pooled | Planet | Ground | Atomic | Feeds population, two Food per population per turn, and provisions ships. |
| ◈ Water | pooled | Planet | Ground | Atomic | Population, industry and ship provisions. One unmet turn costs a head. |
| ● Ore | pooled | Planet | Ground | Atomic | The basic build material. Comes from rock biomes, not from Iron. |
| ⬢ Alloy | pooled | Planet | Refined | Space Age | Refined from Ore. Every hull and every advanced building is priced in it. |
| ¤ Credits | pooled | Empire (later) | Ground | Atomic | Money. Per planet until Digital Communication, empire-wide after it. |
| ⚡ Power | flowing | Planet | Ground | Atomic | Every mechanised building draws it. Unspent Power is discarded at commit. |
| ⇄ Logistics | flowing | Planet | Collected | Atomic | On-planet throughput. A building far from a city centre costs more of it. |
| ⌬ Research | flowing | Empire | Collected | Atomic | The tech tree's only currency. Shared instantly; knowledge needs no rocket. |
| ◉ Influence | pooled | Empire | Collected | Atomic | Policies, diplomacy and loyalty projects. The only pooled cap that is not per planet. |
Strategic resources
| Resource | Kind | Scope | Source | First seen | What it's for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ☢ Uranium | pooled | Planet | Ground | Interplanetary | Strategic. Fission and warheads. Volcanic and barren worlds only. |
| ▲ Lithium | pooled | Planet | Ground | Interplanetary | Strategic. Batteries and ion drives. Desert salt basins. |
| ❄ Helium-3 | pooled | Planet | Ground | Fusion | Strategic. Fusion fuel. Skimmed from a giant, sintered in trace from regolith. |
| ✦ Plasma | pooled | Planet | Refined | Transfer | Strategic. Manufactured, never mined. Weapon refits and the Sun Ring. |
| ✧ Dark Matter | pooled | Planet | Collected | Deep Space | Strategic. Collected in deep space. The Sun Ring runs on it. |