The Concept of Wood
The first construction bottleneck: boards, short logs and the saw horse. It also opens the woodworking and stone branches.
Unlocks: Board · Short Log · Sawhorse
Demo tech route · data checked
This is the best early tech order we recommend: do not spread points evenly across every tab. Establish wood, basic metal and fuel production, then choose the graveyard, tools or food branch that solves your current bottleneck. Names, costs, prerequisites and unlocks come directly from the game data; the order is an editorial recommendation.
These nodes cost no research points, but story or NPC gates may still hide them. Recheck the tree whenever a system opens; zero cost does not necessarily mean available at minute one.
These seven purchases form a reliable base. Steps 5–7 can move around to match the bottleneck in your current save.
The first construction bottleneck: boards, short logs and the saw horse. It also opens the woodworking and stone branches.
Unlocks: Board · Short Log · Sawhorse
A cheap independent root that unlocks bronze-scrap nails and the wooden anvil. Take it before expensive side branches.
Unlocks: Bronze Nails · Wooden Anvil
Requires: The Concept of Wood
Turns the wood branch into a real production line with planks and the first woodworking bench.
Unlocks: Wooden Plank · Woodworking Workbench I
Requires: Bronze Works
Adds the first furnace and wood shed, making metal and fuel processing much less improvised.
Unlocks: Bronze Ingot · Furnace I · Firewood shed I
A five-green-point root that opens farming, fertiliser, fishing and milling. Buy it when you are ready to plant, not merely because it is cheap.
Unlocks: Garden Bed
Requires: The Concept of Wood
Firewood and wedges support several early production loops. Move this ahead of farming if fuel is already slowing you down.
Unlocks: Firewood · Wood wedge · Chopping Spot
Requires: The Concept of Wood
Unlocks stone blocks and the stonemason bench. It is the bridge into pottery, polished stone and stronger storage infrastructure.
Unlocks: Piece of stone · Stonemason's Workbench
Choose this when bodies and grave quality are the immediate bottleneck.
Listed branch cost: R 12 G 12
Choose this when worn tools are slowing every gathering trip.
Listed branch cost: R 60 G 10
Choose this when energy food or repeatable crops become the bottleneck.
Listed branch cost: R 5 G 45
Defer does not mean useless. These nodes usually return less value than the production core during the opening; move them forward whenever a quest or concrete plan calls for them.
Useful for appearance, but it does not strengthen the early production loop.
It gates useful later systems, but 35 red points is a large early commitment.
Glass matters later; early wood, metal and food bottlenecks are normally more immediate.
Buy it when you have a concrete orchard plan; the 20 green points can open several cheaper farming options first.