Simulation games aim to replicate something from the real world. In many cases, they replicate an experience, a profession, or an entire culture. Many sims force the player to balance the needs of their characters with the time and resources available to meet those needs.
RimWorld has been praised for the depth of its simulated colonies and the colonists that inhabit them, but with that depth comes difficulty. Colonists need many things to remain happy and alive, and meeting all of those needs at once can be taxing, if not outright impossible. Here are some important tips for managing colonists' needs.
Major Needs
Colonists have a variety of needs that the player must juggle in order to keep the colony running, which is part of what makes RimWorld such an immersive simulation. Not every need is created equally, however, and the player will have to pay more attention to some than others, at least at first.
Colonists need food, but feeding them is more complicated than simply shoving whatever is available in their mouths. What, how, and even where colonists eat affects their mood, so the player should try to make higher-quality meals and make the dining experience itself more enjoyable for colonists when possible. Starvation is bad, but mental breaks aren't much better.
Colonists need rest. Making colonists work all day may be efficient in the short term, but the long-term consequences are grave. Giving colonists their own rooms, nice beds, and plenty of space helps them feel more relaxed, which will keep them healthy and able to provide for the colony.
Colonists need entertainment. It can be a TV, pool, or a game of horseshoe, but the colonists need something to make them happy and alleviate their stress. Repetition is boring, so the player will need to switch up the type of entertainment being provided or see diminishing returns.
Colonists need beauty. Pleasant-looking spaces may not seem important, but neglecting the aesthetics of the colony is a good way to bomb colonists' happiness and create lots of unnecessary problems. A few good art pieces go a long way. Don't force colonists to stare at bare walls for no reason. It's already a brutal survival game.
Colonists need comfort. Having a comfortable chair to sit in at one's workstation can be just as important as having a comfortable bed to sleep in at night. Provide colonists with the right furniture, and they will be much happier.
Colonists need space. People don't like being crammed together unnecessarily, so forcing them to spend all of their time in the company of others will sour the mood. To avoid this, make sure that every colonist has a spacious bedroom all to themselves so they have somewhere to escape from the hustle and bustle.
Minor Needs
Though the needs listed above are the most common ones to cause issues, they aren't the only needs that colonists can have in RimWorld. Some colonists need to be outdoors, becoming increasingly unhappy when they're kept under a roof or mountaintop for too long. They might be the right choice to manage the colony's herds. Other colonists need to be indoors and will grow unhappy when kept outside. This need only appears if the colonist has the Undergrounder trait or a specific ideoligion.
Some colonists need chemicals. Unlike specific addictions, this is a general need to consume social and hard drugs of any kind. Only colonists with Chemical Interest or Chemical Fascination have this need, which is part of why those won't be found among the best traits in the game.
Though meeting the varying needs of one's colonists is difficult, it is important that the player do their best to do so. Ignoring a colonist's needs will eventually cause them to experience a mental break, during which time the player will have no direct control over them and may even see them attack their fellow colonists. None of the solutions for dealing with mental breaks are pleasant or desirable, so it's imperative that the player manage their colonists' needs and prevent them from ever getting that far.
RimWorld is available now for PC.