TerraBite Beginner Guide: Your First Restoration

TerraBite is a single-player browser strategy game about scanning a ruined 21×21 sector map, deploying infrastructure, and reducing contamination tile by tile. You operate a local TERRA network node with one directive: restore Earth. This guide walks through your first session with mechanics that match the current Phase 1 prototype build — no multiplayer, no cloud save, just persistent progress stored in your browser.

Start at the TerraBite Guides hub, then play TerraBite and follow along.

Quick start checklist

Use this checklist during your first ten minutes:

1. Click INITIALIZE on the boot screen (or CONTINUE if you already have a save). 2. Pan and zoom the map until you recognize the small revealed center — everything else starts hidden. 3. Select an adjacent scannable tile and scan it for 10 Energy (research can reduce this later). 4. Read the tile inspector: terrain type, contamination percentage, and any deposit. 5. Place a Solar Array on Barren Wasteland, Exposed Bedrock, or Industrial Ruins (cost: 15 Materials, 10 Energy). 6. Scan two or three more sectors to find a materials or water deposit before committing heavy build costs. 7. Open the Research panel once you have Data flowing — unlocks define your mid-game options. 8. Let the simulation run; your save writes to localStorage automatically every 30 seconds.

That loop — scan, inspect, build, expand — is the entire game at a high level. The restoration game loop article explains why this design pattern works; here we focus on doing it efficiently.

Boot screen and saves

When you open TerraBite, the TERRA NETWORK boot screen appears. First-time players see network status lines and a primary directive: RESTORE EARTH. Click > INITIALIZE to enter the map.

Returning players with a browser save see SESSION RESTORE instead. Choose CONTINUE to load your last state, or NEW WORLD to wipe local progress and generate a fresh map. Saves live entirely in localStorage on your device — clearing site data deletes them. There is no cloud sync in this build; play on one browser profile if you want continuity.

Autosave runs every 30 seconds while the simulation is active. You can close the tab between sessions without losing progress, as long as localStorage is intact.

Understanding the map

The world is a 21×21 grid of sectors. At game start, a small central area is revealed — terrain, contamination, and deposits are visible there. All other tiles begin hidden behind fog of war.

Three discovery states matter:

• Hidden — fully obscured; you cannot interact.
• Scannable — adjacent to revealed territory; you can spend Energy to scan.
• Revealed — mapped; you can build and read full tile data.

Pan the map by dragging. Use zoom controls (or scroll) to move between overview and detail. Camera zoom ranges from 0.5× to 2.3× in the current balance.

Select any tile to open the tile inspector at the bottom of the screen. It shows sector coordinates, terrain label, contamination (0–100 on revealed tiles), deposit info, and building status. Expand it for full detail before spending resources.

Your starting resources

Every new world begins with:

• 100 Energy (also your starting storage cap)
• 25 Water
• 40 Materials
• 0 Biomass
• 0 Data

Energy is both a spendable resource and a capped pool — you cannot stockpile beyond your cap without Battery Node structures. See the Energy guide and Resources overview for deeper economy planning.

First scans and first builds

Scanning costs 10 Energy per sector at base rate. Only scannable tiles accept scans; if the inspector says "Sector not in scan range," reveal a neighboring tile first.

After each successful scan, adjacent hidden tiles become scannable. Scan messages describe terrain — wetlands report groundwater traces, ruins flag industrial debris, toxic sectors warn of severe contamination.

Your first production building should almost always be a Solar Array (15 Materials, 10 Energy). It produces Energy passively with neutral contamination impact and works on wasteland, rock, or ruins. Place it on a revealed tile you plan to keep — moving buildings is not part of the core loop.

Next priorities depend on what scans reveal:

• Material reserves on ruins → consider a Salvage Station (requires ruins terrain and a materials deposit).
• Subsurface water on wetland or forest → Water Extractor (requires a water deposit).
• TERRA signal on ruins or rock → Data Relay for research fuel.

Avoid building on high-contamination tiles before you understand cleanup — see the Contamination guide.

UI essentials

Resource bar (top): shows Energy, Water, Materials, Biomass, and Data with live net rates. Click a resource to expand details. The research button opens the TERRA Network Research panel.

Build menu: select a revealed tile, click build in the inspector, and choose from available structures. Locked buildings show why — wrong terrain, missing deposit, or incomplete research.

Research panel: spend Data to unlock technologies across three branches — Energy Systems, Restoration, and Network. Data costs range from 100 to 400 in the current tree. Research unlocks buildings like Eco Seeder and Geothermal Tap, plus passive bonuses to solar output, scan efficiency, and contamination cleanup.

Early-game priorities

A practical opening order for most maps:

1. Solar Array on a safe revealed tile. 2. Two to four scans to map deposits before heavy investment. 3. Salvage Station or Material Depot if materials run low. 4. Water Extractor when you find an aquifer — Bio-Reclaimers and many mid buildings need Water. 5. Data Relay once you locate a data deposit — research unlocks define mid-game power. 6. Bio-Reclaimer on contaminated sectors you want to heal while producing Biomass.

Do not rush every adjacent tile. Energy spent on scans is Energy not available for construction. The Exploration guide covers scan budgeting and research that reduces scan cost.

What this build does not include

TerraBite Phase 1 prototype is a solo browser experience. There is no multiplayer, no shared worlds, and no cloud save backup. Combat and narrative chapters are minimal — the focus is sector management and ecological recovery.

For broader context on the genre, see ecological restoration games and browser resource management games.

Where to go next

Once your first Solar Array is running and two or three sectors are mapped, branch into specialized guides:

• Resources overview — all five resources and how they interact
• Buildings reference — full structure table with costs and contamination
• Exploration — fog states, scan range, and deposit discovery
• Contamination — per-tile cleanup and pollution trade-offs

Return to the Guides hub anytime, or jump back into TerraBite and apply the checklist sector by sector.