RimWorld is a popular sci-fi colony simulator game where you build and manage a space settlement on an alien planet. As your colony grows, recruiting more colonists becomes key to expanding operations and ensuring your settlement’s survival. This guide will provide tips on the various methods to obtain additional colonists in RimWorld.
Table of Contents
Joining Events
The most common way to get new colonists is through random “join” events that occur periodically. When these events trigger, a wanderer may:
- Wander onto the map and offer to join your colony
- Crash land in an escape pod and join upon rescue
- Be chased onto the map by enemies and request safety
You can inspect their skills and traits before deciding whether to accept or reject them.
Tips:
- Accept most wanderers early on when colonist numbers are low
- Get more selective as your colony grows to ensure quality recruits
- Rescuing crashed escape pods grants a random colonist and free pod
Quest Rewards
Completing quests offered by various factions is another way to recruit colonists. Quest rewards may offer:
- Direct addition of a colonist to your team
- Hospitality visits from a recruitable guest
- Items to call allies or rescuers that join you
Tips:
- Check quest rewards before accepting
- Consider difficulty before committing to quests
- Hospitality visits allow assessment before recruitment
Purchasing Slaves
Slaver factions may visit your map to trade goods and people. You can purchase slaves to recruit as colonists.
Tips:
- Inspect a slave’s skills and health before purchasing
- Consider escape risk from low moods before buying
- Recruit purchased slaves to avoid entrenched slave status
Prisoner Recruitment
When enemies are downed in raids instead of killed, you can capture them as prisoners and recruit them after.
Tips:
- Set colonists to capture downed enemies
- Imprison raiders and provide good conditions
- Assign a warden to repeatedly recruit prisoners
Refugee Chases
Refugees being chased by enemies may enter the map and request safety. They will join your colony if you agree to help.
Tips:
- Accept refugees when possible to quickly expand
- Only reject if recruitment is immediately overwhelming
Child Rearing
Colonists can have children, providing a homegrown source of new recruits over time.
Tips:
- Set colonists as couples to enable reproduction
- Ensure access to children’s beds and education
- Adjust children growth settings for faster new colonists
Mods
Game mods from the Steam Workshop can greatly expand options for obtaining additional colonists. Popular options include:
- Hospitality system for visitors
- Android colonists from production buildings
- Cloning facilities to grow colonists
- Refugee upgrade for more refugee events
- Children, school, and pregnancy mods
Configuration
Some recruitment options can be manually configured when starting a game:
- Set minimum/maximum population limits
- Adjust population growth settings
- Start with additional colonists
Summary
With so many options, obtaining new colonists is essential for expansion in RimWorld. Focus on join events and prisoner recruitment early. Use quests and purchases to fill skill gaps. Enable reproduction and leverage mods to supercharge your colony’s growth. Adjust settings to fine-tune expansion challenge and population limits.
Through effective colonist management, your settlement can thrive on the rimworlds!
