Expeditions handbook
Your first Forest run, upgrade and recruit
Start with a Forest expedition. Mark resources you need, let your dwarf gather them, then use the return to buy the first available upgrade and recruit with food. Repeat that loop before you prepare a pickaxe and enter the mines.
For a new Demo save. The exact resources and costs are the ones shown by your upgrade and Recruit controls.
Updated 2026-10-31 · Demo
Steps
Open expeditions and choose Forest
Use the expedition button to leave the hall. When the destination selection is available, choose Forest, shown as Wald in the German example. The mine choice is a separate destination that becomes useful after your first pickaxe.
Open full-size image ↗Wald is Forest; Stufe 1 is the first mine floor. EironMaidenTV's 28 Oct 2026 Demo recording. Mark useful resources, then let the dwarf work
Left-click to mark priority areas to dig or collect. Right-click to remove an area from the plan. Your dwarves work automatically; marking directs their priorities rather than moving them like a character. Food supports recruitment, while gold and other collected materials feed upgrades.
Return and inspect the first upgrade
The introductory tutorial asks you to complete an expedition before the first upgrade. Forest daylight ends the run and the dwarves return. Open the upgrade tree through the throne or upgrade button, inspect the available node and buy it when its requirements are met.
Recruit with the food you brought back
Check the Recruit control and the food it asks for. Recruit when you can afford it, then make another Forest trip to replenish what the next upgrade needs. Keep the food requirement visible instead of assuming the first recruit's cost applies to every dwarf.
Turn the loop toward workshops and the first pickaxe
As building upgrades open, begin the workshop chain for a first pickaxe. Forest gathering and base production remain part of the loop: a mine trip is the next preparation task, not a replacement for the hall.
What should change
You have returned from Forest, bought the introductory upgrade and used food to recruit when the displayed requirement allows it. You know which resource the next upgrade needs.
If it still does not work
If an upgrade is unavailable, read its own requirement in the tree; finishing a run and owning enough resources are separate checks. If Recruit is unavailable, compare your food and population with the displayed requirement. If gathering has stopped, check pause state and remove an unwanted priority mark before restarting.
Next check
Sources & scope
The opening sequence is documented in the 13 October English and 28 October German Demo tutorials. Their exact builds are not stated. The destination screenshot is from a later hall, so its inventory is an example rather than a new-save allowance.