5 Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting Craftlings

Craftlings is deceptively cute. It lures you in with that cozy pixel art and 90s nostalgia, but once you start trying to manage your little workers, you realize there is some serious logic puzzle DNA under the hood.

After spending way too much time watching my little guys walk past the resource I desperately needed, I figured out the quirks that make this game tick. Whether you are stuck on the ladder logic or wondering where your coins went, here is the stuff I wish someone had told me before I started.

1. Ladders Are Strict About Traffic Rules

The ladder mechanics in Craftlings are the number one source of "why are you doing that?" moments.

Here is the golden rule: Craftlings cannot climb ladders if they are carrying something. If your little guy has a bag of wood on his back, he will ignore that ladder every single time. To move resources vertically, you need to use the Cargo Lift (and later, Cargo Balloons or Spells).

Also, be careful with movement direction. Craftlings tend to exit a ladder in the same direction they entered. If you are seeing them get stuck in an infinite loop of going up and down, check your entry points. You can change the ladder direction with a Right Click, or place a stopper/sign to force them the right way.

2. Coins Are an Automatic Economy

I spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to figure out how to "give" a coin to my miner.

Here is the deal: You don't manually hand out cash. Coins are automatically deducted from your total (top left corner) when a Craftling picks up a tool. For example, grabbing a pickaxe costs 1 coin. If you have 0 coins, they won't pick up the tool, and you will see a red triangle warning.

To get more cash:

• Build a Market: Start selling goods.

• River Barrels: Keep an eye out for floating barrels in the water (watch the seagull).

• House Rewards: Building houses gives you a one-time coin bonus.

3. Tools Are Consumables (Usually)

In the early game, tools like pickaxes aren't permanent upgrades. They are consumables.

When you build a Mining Shed, a Craftling trades 1 Wood + 1 Coin for a Pickaxe. They use it to mine one stone, and then the tool is consumed. Poof. Gone. You need a steady stream of tools to keep mining.

Later on, you unlock Tool Racks. This is a game-changer. It lets you automate the flow of tools between the world and your inventory. You can drop tools into the world for your workers to pick up, or have them deposit excess tools onto the rack to store them for later.

4. Moving Stuff Down is Harder Than You Think

Physics says gravity should make moving things down easy. Craftlings disagrees.

In the early game, the Cargo Lift only goes up. If you build your production on a high ledge and need to get wood down to a miner in a valley, you are going to have a bad time.

You have two options:

• Plan Ahead: Build your production buildings on the same level or lower than where the resources need to go until you unlock better tech.

• Upgrade Town Hall: As you level up your Town Hall, you unlock Cargo Balloons and Spells. These are your ticket to easy vertical movement in both directions.

5. Destroying Stuff is Safe (Mostly)

I was terrified to move my buildings because I thought I’d lose the resources. Good news: You get resources back when you destroy an object.

If you place a sign or a building in the wrong spot and it blocks your path (which happens a lot in these tight puzzle levels), just smash it. It goes back into your inventory, and you can place it again. Don't be afraid to reorganize your layout if your production chain turns into a spaghetti mess.

One exception: Tools used during a job are gone, but the buildings themselves are recyclable.

Got a hot take on this? I know you do. Head over to r/neonlightsmedia to discuss it.

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