Peeps have two meters that run from 0 to 1000: Happiness and Energy. Happiness decides whether they strike, and Energy decides whether they get sick. Work drains both, and breaks fill them back up, so most problems come down to what your Peeps get between shifts: food, drink, a good home and somewhere nice to relax.
A shift lasts 180 seconds at normal speed. Most of the rules below are checked at the start of each shift, which is why trouble tends to arrive all at once.
When Peeps go on strike
Strikes only happen in settlements with 50 or more Peeps. At the start of every shift, the game counts out a group equal to 40% of everyone living there, filled with your unhappiest adults, and averages their Happiness. If that average is 300 or lower, they strike. The Less Striking perk lowers the line to 275.
Children count toward the 40% but never strike, and the group is always your least happy adults. A settlement can look fine on average and still strike because a big group of Peeps is miserable.
The very first time this happens in a playthrough, you only get a warning conversation. After that, the group stops working and gathers in the streets with picket signs. The strike lasts 3 shifts the first time:
- If you meet their Demands, the strike ends immediately and the next one will be a shift shorter, down to 3.
- If you let it run out, the next strike lasts a shift longer, up to 7.
Either way, there’s a 45-minute cooldown before the next strike check can trigger, and the warning starts that cooldown too. Use it to fix whatever is making Peeps unhappy. Nobody dies from sickness or accidents during a strike, and you can’t start a celebration until it’s over.
Strike demands
The game picks one or two demands based on what’s been making Peeps unhappy the most. Building demands only count buildings you finish after the strike starts, so build new ones even if you already have some. Resource demands count your stored supply.
| Reason given | Demand |
|---|---|
| They do not feel adequately protected from sickness | Build 1 Apothecary (2 above 100 Peeps, 3 above 150), or stock 50 of your best medicine if you already have one |
| There aren’t enough nice places to relax | Build 5 Decorations |
| They want better meals | Build a Kitchen |
| They want better drinks | Build a Drink Factory |
| They want a place to get better meals and drinks from | Build 3 Cafés (4 at 100 Peeps, 5 at 150) |
| They are hungry and/or thirsty | Stock food and drink equal to 40% of your population, rounded down to the nearest 5. That’s Potatoes and Water without a Farmhouse, a crop and Tea without a Kitchen, or Cold Salad and Hot Tea once you have both |
| Pollution from buildings isn’t always cleaned up | Plant 10 Forests (15 above 100 Peeps, 20 above 150) before you’ve unlocked the Cleaner, or build 1 Cleaner (2 above 100 Peeps, 3 above 150) after |
| They want Luxuries | Build a Jeweller |
| They want more Luxuries | Stock Luxuries equal to 30% of your population, rounded down to the nearest 5 |
What raises and lowers Happiness
New Peeps start at 500 Happiness. Happy Peeps also walk faster: a Peep at 1000 Happiness moves 25% faster than normal, and one at 0 moves 25% slower.
Work is the biggest drain. Every second a Peep spends at work costs Happiness, and how much depends on the building. A few jobs cost nothing at all, including Schools, Storage Sheds, Apothecaries, Jewellers, Orchards, Tree Nurseries and Hydroponic Gardens.
| Happiness lost per second at work | Per full shift | Buildings |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 540 | Reformer, Research Facility |
| 2 | 360 | Battery Generator, Café, Pasture |
| 1.75 | 315 | Blast Mine, Improved Toxic Tile Scraper, Laser Laboratory, Sludge Dehydrator, Stardust Collector, Toxic Tile Scraper |
| 1.5 | 270 | Battery Plant, Burner Generator, Chemical Factory, Fuel Generator, Metal Smelter, Toolsmith |
| 1 | 180 | Cement Factory, Cleaner, Electronics Plant, Fuel Plant, Ore Smelter, Slag Reclaimer |
| 0.5 | 90 | Biofuel Refinery, Compost Heap, Drink Factory, Farmhouse, Home Spaceship, Kitchen, Landscaper, Mine, Sawmill, Space Port, Spaceship Builder, Tailor, Trawler, Warehouse, Weaver, Woodcutter |
A Research Facility worker who spends a whole shift on the job loses 540 Happiness, while a Hut gives back 25 per shift, so put your best homes, food and decorations near the expensive jobs. The Reduce Work Sadness perk cuts this loss by 15%.
Breaks are where Happiness comes back:
- Relaxing gives 1 Happiness per second, or 2 per second before you’ve made Water flow for the first time. A celebration adds 1 more.
- Decorations add their bonus per second while a Peep relaxes at them. The Nicer Decorations perk adds 15%.
- Home gives its Happiness once per shift, the first time a Peep gets home.
- Food and drink each give their Happiness when eaten.
- Luxuries give 350 Happiness to a Peep below 350 who has one at home.
- In a settlement of fewer than 30 Peeps, everyone also gets 50 Happiness and 60 Energy on their first trip home each shift.
| Decoration | Extra happiness per second while relaxing | Unlock |
|---|---|---|
| Fairground | 3 | Build a Kitchen and a Drink Factory |
| Festive Lamps | 3 | Produce 40 Electronics |
| Fountain | 3 | Produce 40 Tools |
| Memorial Statue | 2 | After your first Peep death |
| Park Bench | 2 | Produce 20 Planks |
| Hedge Garden | 1 | Produce 20 Power |
| Wild Flowers | 1 | Produce 20 Power |
Other losses to watch:
- Pollution costs Peeps 2, 3, 4 or 5 Happiness per second while they walk, relax, strike or play on Low, Medium, High or Very High pollution, and 8 per second on Toxic tiles. Toxic tiles also drain 20 Energy per second. Peeps wearing Protective Clothing are unaffected.
- A death costs every other Peep in the settlement 100 Happiness.
Homes
Every home gives its Happiness once per shift. Neighbour effects apply when the home touches enough of the listed building, and they’re worth planning around: an Apartment beside a School gets 6 extra beds, and a House touching two other Houses gets 3.
| Home | Beds | Happiness each shift | Unlock | Neighbour effects |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hut | 2 | 25 | Available from the start | Touching 2 Potato Patches: +20% happiness from this home Touching 2 Houses: +30% Food and Drink storage, -20% happiness from this home Touching 3 Huts: +1 bed, -20% Energy from food eaten here |
| Homestead | 2 | 120 | Build a Hydroponic Garden | Touching 2 Homesteads: +20% Energy from food eaten here Touching 2 Houses: -30% Food and Drink storage Touching Solar Panels: +20% happiness from this home |
| House | 7 | 25 | Reach 60 Peeps | Touching 2 Houses: +3 beds, -20% Energy from food eaten here Touching 2 Park Benches: +20% happiness from this home |
| Apartment | 10 | 50 | Reach 200 Peeps | Touching a School: +6 beds Touching 2 Apartments: +30% Food and Drink storage, -20% Energy from food eaten here |
Percentage bonuses apply to the home’s own Happiness. A Hut touching two Potato Patches gives 30 Happiness a shift instead of 25.
Energy and food
Peeps don’t regain Energy by sleeping. Energy only comes back from food, drink, medicine and a few late-game bonuses, so a food shortage turns into sickness within a few shifts.
Working costs Energy every shift based on the Work Behaviour setting in the Info Bar:
| Work Behaviour | Energy per shift |
|---|---|
| Default | 180 |
| Overtime | 240 |
| Hard Labour | 360 |
Hot and Cold planets cost workers another 75 Energy per shift, and Very Hot and Very Cold planets cost 130. Hard Labour also makes Peeps walk 30% faster, but at double the Energy it isn’t something to leave on. The Clean As You Go perk adds 50 Energy to every worker’s shift cost, so weigh that before you take it.
After each shift, a Peep eats one food item and drinks one drink item, at home or at a Café. Basic food and drink restore 100 Energy each, so a Peep who gets both recovers 200, just above the 180 a Default shift costs. Café Meals and Café Drinks restore 165 each.
Hot items eaten on a Cold or Very Cold planet, and Cold items on a Hot or Very Hot planet, give an extra 25 Energy and 50 Happiness each. That’s the Weather bonus column below.
| Item | Type | Energy | Happiness | Weather bonus on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melon | Food | 100 | 60 | - |
| Pepper | Food | 100 | 60 | - |
| Bean | Food | 100 | 50 | - |
| Pear | Food | 100 | 50 | - |
| Berry | Food | 100 | 40 | - |
| Corn | Food | 100 | 40 | - |
| Squash | Food | 100 | 40 | - |
| Potato | Food | 100 | 30 | - |
| Tea | Drink | 100 | 50 | - |
| Water | Drink | 100 | 30 | - |
| Hot Casserole | Café Meal | 165 | 150 | Cold and Very Cold planets |
| Cold Dessert | Café Meal | 165 | 125 | Hot and Very Hot planets |
| Hot Pudding | Café Meal | 165 | 125 | Cold and Very Cold planets |
| Cold Salad | Café Meal | 165 | 100 | Hot and Very Hot planets |
| Cold Snack | Café Meal | 165 | 100 | Hot and Very Hot planets |
| Hot Soup | Café Meal | 165 | 100 | Cold and Very Cold planets |
| Hot Matcha Latte | Café Drink | 165 | 150 | Cold and Very Cold planets |
| Cold Smoothie | Café Drink | 165 | 125 | Hot and Very Hot planets |
| Hot Coffee | Café Drink | 165 | 125 | Cold and Very Cold planets |
| Cold Pressed Juice | Café Drink | 165 | 100 | Hot and Very Hot planets |
| Hot Tea | Café Drink | 165 | 100 | Cold and Very Cold planets |
Kewafruit, from the trees that grow on Kewa when Kewa is happy, restores 300 Energy and 300 Happiness and counts as both food and drink.
Hungry Peeps make mistakes
A Peep who goes to work without eating is Hungry, and one who didn’t drink is Thirsty. Each gives a 20% chance of a mistake. When a mistake happens:
- 45% of the time, some of the building’s resources are destroyed. In settlements of 20 Peeps or fewer, this is the only outcome.
- Up to 10% of the time, the worker with the least Energy dies. This only happens if that worker has 400 Energy or less, the settlement has 50 or more Peeps, and nobody has died in an accident in the last 15 minutes.
- Otherwise, the worker is injured and misses the shift.
Sickness
At the start of every shift, any Peep with less than 350 Energy falls sick. The threshold drops by 50 for each of these:
- The Peep is wearing the right clothing on a Hot or Cold planet.
- The settlement has held at least one celebration.
- The Peep’s home has 7 or more beds, such as a House or an Apartment.
With all three, a Peep only falls sick below 200 Energy. Sick Peeps stay home, lose 140 Energy per shift and walk at half speed. They recover as soon as their Energy climbs back above the threshold.
Food alone barely keeps up with sickness, so build an Apothecary. Peeps keep medicine at home and take it when sick:
| Medicine | Energy restored |
|---|---|
| Medical Bandage | 700 |
| Bandage | 500 |
| Poultice | 300 |
A sick Peep takes the strongest medicine that won’t push them over 1000 Energy. Better Medicine adds 100 to each, and Happy Pills adds 50 Happiness.
A sick Peep dies if their Energy reaches 0, or if they stay sick for about 25 minutes in a settlement of 50 or more Peeps.
Death and mourning
When a Peep dies, everyone else in the settlement loses 100 Happiness, the people who shared their home mourn, and no children are born there for 7.5 minutes. The Memorial Statue unlocks after your first death, and it’s the one decoration that still cheers up mourning Peeps.
In a settlement of 50 or more Peeps, a single death can also start a mourning strike. If anyone died in roughly the last four minutes when a shift starts, your unhappiest 40% of adults stop work for two shifts. After that there’s a 45-minute cooldown before another mourning strike. Avoid accident deaths by keeping Peeps fed, and sickness deaths by keeping an Apothecary stocked.
Celebrations
The Fairground unlocks once you’ve built a Kitchen and a Drink Factory, and you can only build one per settlement. Each settlement can hold three celebrations, and you start each one yourself once every requirement is met. You need 50 or more Peeps and no strike in progress. Meals and drinks must be stored in the Fairground itself.
| Celebration | Requirements |
|---|---|
| First | 25 Cold Meals, 25 Cold Café Drinks, 80% of Peeps living in Houses or Apartments, average Happiness of at least 500, at least 60 Peeps |
| Second | 25 Hot Meals, 25 Hot Café Drinks, 80% in Houses or Apartments, 80% wearing clothing, average Happiness of at least 700, at least 100 Peeps |
| Third | 50 Meals, 50 Café Drinks, 80% in Houses or Apartments, 80% have a Luxury, average Happiness of at least 900, at least 150 Peeps |
The “average Happiness” requirement is easier than it looks. The game adds half of your Peeps’ average Energy to their average Happiness. Peeps averaging 400 Happiness and 300 Energy score 550 and pass the first requirement.
When a celebration starts, every Peep gains 350 Happiness and spends the shift celebrating instead of working. For 30 minutes afterwards, Peeps can’t fall sick, don’t make mistakes and never drop below 650 Happiness. Each celebration also leaves a permanent bonus for that settlement:
- The sickness threshold drops by 50.
- Peeps above 700 Happiness regain 15 Energy per minute.
- Peeps walk 20% faster.