Advance the early colony by gathering crumbs, hiring Foragers, and investing in castes and upgrades. The Journey screen and the goal panel under the colony point to the next useful purchase or activity, while producers continue generating resources automatically.
Grow the colony
- Click the colony, or keep the mouse button held down, to collect crumbs.
- If no text box or other control is selected, holding
Spacealso gathers crumbs. Gathering ends when the key or mouse button is released, focus changes, or a dialog opens. - Buy Foragers first. Add other castes and upgrades whenever your available crumbs meet their costs.
- Use
Journeyor the goal panel to jump to the suggested purchase or activity. These recommendations are optional; you can gather and spend resources at your own speed.
Increasing the ant population and adding castes expands the nest, revealing more rooms and residents.
Prepare for the first rebirth
When Journey reports that rebirth is ready, open Colony Legacy. Its preview explains the reward, retained progress, and parts of the colony that will need rebuilding. Hatching the Great Queen is not required for this first rebirth.
- The initial Evolution Point normally becomes available after earning
100 billioncrumbs in the current run. - This requirement tracks crumbs earned rather than crumbs currently held, so purchases do not remove that progress.
- Rebirth supplies Evolution Points for permanent genetic improvements and grants a lasting boost to gathering and production.
- The new colony begins with 25 Foragers, increased by any genetic starting bonuses.
Use the first Nectar Drops
The first rebirth provides 3 Nectar Drops. In Nectar, each activity card can be permanently unlocked for 1 drop; that purchase also grants Level 1 of the associated caste. Unlock three now or reserve drops for a later choice.
| Card | Activity | Caste gained |
|---|---|---|
| Tunnel Network | Lay a path, wait for it to develop, then harvest it. | Tunneler |
| Crumb Market | Purchase a resource and sell it after its price moves. | Harvester |
| Ancestral Chamber | Place a spirit to receive a production, gathering, or offline effect. | Queen Chamber |
| Alchemy Mound | Select a spell, use mana, and weigh its reward against its backfire risk. | Fungus Farm |
These activity unlocks and their caste levels remain available after future rebirths. Nectar earned through completed hourly cycles can accumulate whether the game is open or closed. Choose Harvest Nectar to claim the available amount while retaining progress toward the next drop.
Know what survives a rebirth
- Achievement badges are permanent.
- Lifetime progress for crumb, gathering, Sugar Cube, and seasonal collection goals continues across runs.
- Ownership, production, and timed objectives must still be completed within a single colony.
Pheromone Powerapplies only to the active run.- A seasonal set becomes persistent only after all six regular upgrades in that set are finished. Unfinished seasonal upgrades reset, although collection totals remain part of lifetime achievement progress.
Protect and recover your progress
For absences longer than five minutes, the game grants offline production at a base rate of 50% before bonuses, with no more than seven days credited for one absence. Nectar has the same seven-day limit for each delayed period.
For a separate backup, open Options and use Export. The same menu provides Save and Import.