Timberborn News

[p]Hello, everyone![/p][p]The full version of our beaver city-builder launches in exactly two days - at 5 PM CET on March 12, 2026. Today, we’re continuing our little countdown with another preview, following up on yesterday’s post on the two playable factions. Let’s dive into the unique beaver city-building mechanics in Timberborn![/p][p]But first: have YOU wishlisted Timberborn?[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]We’re very proud of the progress our hallmark feature made. In the early Timberborn days, water was just a flat blue surface. In Timberborn 1.0, it irrigates the soil, allowing plant growth, and uses full-on 3D water physics. It forms waterfalls, spills over in a natural way, mixes with another fluid (badwater), builds up pressure, can be run over multiple vertical layers (think: aqueducts!), has a variable flow rate affecting power output of the Water Wheels, and may be cleverly manipulated by the player with Dams, Floodgates, two types of Valves, and more.[/p][p][/p][p]Our beavers may be a little different from the ones you know from internet videos, but their affinity for water is similar. They can swim and build dams (duh), but also pump water with Water Pumps, store it in Tanks, and move it to huge beaver-made reservoirs. Aquatic crops and trees need to be partially submerged to grow, but, most importantly, the land near water turns green, becoming arable. While growing fields and forests is not unique to the city-building genre, here, you really need to take irrigation - and the risk of contamination when badwater becomes involved - seriously.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]On top of that, providing a steady water supply is one of the most important tasks in the game. It might seem silly at first - why won’t they just drink from the river? Well, Timberborn beavers are evolved, intelligent creatures. They understand the importance of healthy habits. And drinking polluted water that has passed through the unknown wasteland is anything but healthy - hence the use of Water Pumps to draw and filter water. Water then goes into tanks for beavers to drink and use in the production chains.[/p][p]In Timberborn 1.0, water and its dangerous counterpart, badwater, appear on the maps in many ways. On top of the regular Water & Badwater Sources of varying strength, Water & Badwater Seeps produce it to the height of one tile, and you may unlock additional water sources by attaching Drills to the Aquifers scattered around. You can treat the fluids’ position as temporary, because our crafty beavers have plenty of ways of redirecting it - be it to irrigate another area, fill up a reservoir for emergency use, redirect it when badwater starts flowing in, and so on.[/p][p][/p][p]A simple Dam block allows water to spill above half a tile; Levees block it completely; Floodgates have a regulated height; with Fill and Throttling Valves, you can regulate water flow. As water flows at different speeds and is affected by pressure, you can use this to your advantage when placing Water Wheels for optimal power output. And you’re not even limited to using pre-existing riverbeds - use Impermeable Floor blocks and the powerful Mechanical Water Pumps, and you may run a river in an artificial aqueduct way above over the city center - or right on its rooftops if you’re so inclined.[/p][p]Playing with water is really fun, and so is shaping the terrain, which the fluids on the map dynamically adapt to. Whether you want to remove land or create new terrain, Timberborn has you covered… in all dimensions. Gone are the days of in-game terrain being just a wavy blanket - thanks to the changes implemented in Early Access, it is now possible to overhang terrain, create caves, and carve out tunnels. This applies to the map editor, but our beaver engineers are given similar tools.[/p][p]The most exciting (and the loudest) method is to use dynamite, coming at three different variants - exploding up one, two, or three tiles deep. Ever wished the river next to the settlement was deeper? Sure, a layer of explosives should help. Is that small hill blocking your town from expanding? Flatten it with a bang![/p][p]
[/p][p]While no beaver says no to an occasional explosion, building is as - if not more - fun. Put up a Dirt Excavator and Piles will soon fill with dirt that can be used to create new Terrain Blocks. They behave just like regular blocks, transferring moisture and contamination (also vertically!). You can fill an unused riverbed to expand the beaver housing complex, build an artificial cave when the sun never shines, or overhang a few layers of terrain on platforms (why not!) to form your own version of hanging gardens.[/p][p]In Timberborn, we allow stacking structures on top of one another. This feature, while originally imagined as a simple addition, was so liked by the early players, we turned it into a huge deal - not just for the Iron Teeth. Every building marked as Solid - such as Warehouses or Lodges - can serve as a foundation for another, which, paired with Platforms and Overhangs of different sizes, may be used to form multi-layered megastructures that reach for the skies and are a dam nightmare to navigate for a hooman.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Of course, a layered structure wouldn’t work without ways to traverse it comfortably. Stairs and their Spiral counterpart - a long-awaited addition finally implemented in 1.0 - allow beavers to move up and down, while bridges help them quickly cross gaps between complexes. And if your settlement grows too large - both horizontally and vertically - just use Ziplines or Tubeways to help the beavers travel from one end of the settlement to the other in no time. Thanks to the adaptive Power Shafts we now have in the game, running energy lines is also easy. And speaking of easy - with the Layer tool, you can hide layers of terrain, making creation of even the most convoluted setups much more convenient.[/p][p]All those features would not mean much without a proper map to play on. That’s why Timberborn comes with a healthy mix of seventeen built-in maps. We’ve prepared the beginner-friendly maps - Lakes, Plains, and Waterfalls - to ease you into the game and allow you to explore everything Timberborn has to offer at your own pace. At the other end, we have the five unconventional maps - Beaverome, Diorama, Oasis, Pressure, and Spillage - which require mastering every beaver skill to create a thriving beaver settlement. Is that not enough? You can create a new map - or edit an existing one - using the built-in map editor. That's the very same tool we use to create new maps - and it also received some extra love in 1.0, such as the long overdue addition of the Undo / Redo.[/p][p]
[/p][p]If you don't feel like making maps on your own, but still want to try something beyond the included selection, you can check Steam Workshop or Mod.io for THOUSANDS of maps created by our community. As 1.0 adds multiple new interactive map objects - our players have more map-making tools than ever before - and it shows, with more amazing maps coming each day. And there’s no better place to interact with the rest of the map-creating crowd than our bustling Discord server![/p]

[h2]Misc.[/h2]

• [p]Added click sound to the Continue button in tutorial.[/p]
• [p]Updated the Customize color icon in the entity panel.[/p]
• [p]Made some tweaks in the Polish translation.[/p]

[p]Hi, hey, hello![/p][p]The full version of our beaver city-builder launches in exactly three days - at 5 PM CET on March 12, 2026. To make the final wait easier and give our new player an extra introduction, here's a preview gathering some of the most important info about our two beaver families![/p][p][/p][p]But first - if you haven't, be sure to add Timberborn to your wishlist![/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]In Timberborn, we have two playable factions: the nature-friendly Folktails and the industrious Iron Teeth. While both are skilled engineers who tame water, terraform the land, and grow their cities vertically, each faction is unique - not just in the lore and visuals, but also in their architecture, production chains, available buildings, and more. Let’s take a closer look.[/p][p][/p][p]Comfort, food, and sturdy wood. ~Folktails’ motto[/p][p][/p][p]Beavers have tails tales, and Folktails were first to tell them. If you’ve been following Timberborn since the very beginning, you may even remember their ancestors from the olden demo days - back then, they were called Beavers of Demoria. But let’s focus on our modern-day beavers![/p][p]Folktails are light-furred folks who live in accordance with the laws of nature. It even guides their ultimate goal - to make the world greener. Just look at the endgame building for this faction. The Earth Recultivator, because that’s how it’s called, once built and launched, distributes tree and crop seeds across the planet.[/p][p][/p][p]Being “eco-friendly”, Folktails don’t use traditional fuel. They only use the renewable power of water, wind (if it’s windy at the moment), their own muscle, and geothermal energy. They can also speed up crops’ growth with Beehives! Be careful, though - bees sting![/p][p]Speaking of crops, Folktails are known for their culinary skills. What is a beaver's life without a full belly?[/p][p] [/p][p]Gathering berries it’s certainly a good start, but they are not very nutritious, and Folktails have more refined taste buds. That’s where all the various crops come in. For example, Carrots and Sunflower Seeds can be eaten raw, Potatoes and Spadderdock are best served grilled, and Wheat is ground into flour in the Gristmill, ready to be turned into bread in the Bakery. And of course, there’s something for those with a sweet tooth - how about the delicious Maple pastries?[/p][p]With a full belly, some leisure time is in order - and in the case of Folktails, this could range from a quality time in the Campfire to a dance-off in a Dance Hall or some heated, philosophical discussions in the Agora or a Mud Pit. Or, if you’re in for a very different kind of thrill, you could ride a Carousel.[/p][p][/p][p]Keeping your beavers happy is key in Timberborn in general, but with Folktails, some extra care is in order - their population increases after work, when they and their significant others spend time in their cozy lodges. A little magic and pop, a small beaver - a kit! - appears.[/p][p]Now you could say: oooh, everything Folktails-related is so pleasant and warm. Not so fast - while they are the nature-friendly faction, they’re still post-apocalyptic beaver engineers. One of the key examples is their bots - machine beavers that work 24/7, running on Biofuel refined from crops and boosted with Catalyst and the Punch Cards.[/p][p][/p][p]Folktails are capable of turning grand designs into reality - and with their unique mass transportation system, the Ziplines, it’s certainly easier to cover large distances. Zipline Stations - forming a network of connections with Zipline Pylons and Beams, make moving and transporting goods across the settlement quicker. Just be sure to create a collision-free course.[/p][p][/p][p]
Work hard, work hard. ~Iron Teeth's motto[/p][p][/p][p]These are Folktails’ hard-working, industrious cousins. Right from the start, the atmosphere and color palette of their settlement are on opposite sides of the scale. Progress is their driving force, shared among the society. 20-hour shifts? Phew, easy. They can rest… some other time.[/p][p]With buildings such as stackable Industrial Piles, the narrow, tall Rowhouses, or the Deep Water Pumps with extended pipes, their living space is meant to be squeezed (and stacked) to make room for more important uses, such as industrial areas. With the focus on mechanical production, there is no such thing as too much power - hence the faction's Large Power Wheels, Large Water Wheels, and the timbertech at its finest - the Steam Engines that use logs and water to generate lots of energy.[/p][p][/p][p]Iron Teeth took industrialism to the heart, to the point that they even produce breed kits in Breeding Pods. The whole colony cares for them, raising the strongest and bravest for future generations. To Ma' Ngonel's horror, you could even go the fast-forward route and create beavers that are adult right off the tank - they might be slightly confused for a second, but they’ll get to work right away.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Growing in a tank might help prepare the Iron Teeth for the slightly claustrophobic experiences of the faction’s unique mass transportation system - the Tubeways. These sealed, metal pipes can even go into water - or the dangerous badwater - and they make your beavers go fast. Oh, and they also go up straight vertically. [/p][p]The metal requirements are a recurring theme for Iron Teeth, especially in 1.0, where they received their unique Metalsmith building and the Metal Parts good.[/p][p]But don’t get us wrong, the Iron Teeth are still living beavers, not some kind of cyborgs. This means they do have their own crops and cuisine (although the Folktails chefs would probably object to the use of this word). The Iron Teeth’s diet consists of raw Kohlrabi, fermented Soybeans, Mushrooms, and Cassavas, or mass-produced food rations made from Corn, Eggplants, or industrially-grown Algae. To wash all that down, they drink copious amounts of Coffee.[/p][p][/p][p]For the cyborg-ish needs, they have their wound-up bots - unlike the Folktails counterpart, these require being in range of the Control Tower signal to operate efficiently, and can have their stats boosted with the Grease.[/p][p]Stat-boosting is a common theme for the Iron Teeth - even their attractions focus on keeping their society in top shape. Swimming Pools and Exercise Plazas help maintain physical fitness, Motivatorium ensures no revolutionary ideas spring to mind in between shifts, and the totally safe Wind Tunnels prepare for what the Iron Teeth’s wonder is for, which is...[/p][p][/p][p]...yeeting beavers away into the wasteland in single-use planes. The idea behind the Earth Repopulator is to bring life back to the more remote areas. They say that some of the pioneers even return with their stories. [/p][p]And here’s the final Iron Teeth-related detail. We’ve just kicked off our second-ever Makeship campaign that allows you to adopt a very fancy, limited Iron Teeth plushie. Find it HERE![/p][p][/p][p]Makeship Iron Teeth plushie[/p][p][/p][p][/p]

[h2]Misc.[/h2]

• [p]Updated models for Flow, Depth, and Contamination Sensors.[/p]
• [p]Added missing translations.[/p]

[h2]Bug fixes[/h2]

• [p]Fixed Inventor translations in Simplified Chinese.[/p]

[p]Hi, everyone![/p][p][/p][p]The Big Day is approaching (March 12, 5 PM CET!), but we're still churning out the tweaks based on your feedback. Please keep it coming![/p][p][/p][h2]Misc.[/h2]

• [p]Fill Valve now shows the green marker on the slider indicating actual water level even when not automated.[/p]
• [p]Updated Sensors icons to match their new, 1 tile high look.[/p]
• [p]Updated Fill and Throttling Valves' models.[/p]
• [p]Added the ability to set custom color to Gate, Zipline Station, Zipline Pylon and Zipline Beam.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Bug fixes[/h2]

• [p]Allowed placing Detonator on a Dynamite placed on a Path.[/p]
• [p]Resource Counter now correctly sets Include inputs checkbox when using Duplication tools.[/p]