iPhone / iPad
- Open https://play.waywardsun.app in Safari.
- Tap the Share button.
- Choose Add to Home Screen.
- Tap Add.
Launch Wayward Sun from the new Home Screen icon afterward.
BEGINNER GUIDE
Your First 24 Hours
Wayward Sun is intentionally deep. You do not need to learn everything at once. Start by learning where things live in the command console, then use the example day below as a loose path—not a quest chain.
INSTALL ON YOUR PHONE
Use Wayward Sun like an app.
Wayward Sun is a Progressive Web App, so you do not need an App Store download. Add it to your Home Screen and it will launch in its own app window.
Android
- Open https://play.waywardsun.app in Chrome.
- Tap the ⋮ menu.
- Choose Install app or Add to Home screen.
- Confirm Install.
The exact wording can vary slightly by Android or Chrome version.
For the most app-like experience—and the best path for supported notifications—open Wayward Sun from the Home Screen icon after installing it.
01 · Your command console
Learn the map before the systems.
The five primary tabs are the backbone of the game. Tap them in the training console below. This is a static mockup of the real desktop command console—not a simplified diagram—so the navigation, activity header, central workspace, right-side ship readout, cards, tabs, and status bars match what you will actually learn in play.
WAYWARD SUN
Docked · Luna Station
◈ 18,420
ShipIdle at Luna Station
CaptainFlight Simulation
Navigation
Where your ship is, where it can go, and what it can do there.
Luna Station
Humanity's oldest permanent off-world port and the primary commercial gateway between Earth and the wider system.
Core
Operating environmentMinimal danger · Low operating risk
›Ship operating envelopeCurrent ship safety and efficiency
›Local actions
Where next?
Open System
NavigationChoose a destination your current ship can reach.
Station is your local services hub. Market, Outfitting, Crew, Industry, Research, Medical, Hangar, and Dealer tabs appear when the station provides them.
Luna Station Market
Buy, sell, and fulfill orders. NPC liquidity keeps the economy moving; players are expected to become the long-term supply.
Sol
Earth · Luna · Inner system
System is the strategic map. Expand bodies and locations to understand routes, services, hazards, and access before you commit to a trip.
Captain
Your persistent identity grows independently from any one ship.
Command17
Intellect15
Resolve14
Mechanical13
Professional development
Flight Simulation
Captain actions let you improve while the ship is idle, traveling, or working elsewhere.
Think of your Captain as the career that persists across your entire fleet.
Farstar
Your hull is the foundation. Components, fittings, Crew, cargo, condition, and specialization determine what the ship can actually do.
Condition100%
Crew8 / 12
Cargo4 / 22 t
Range41
Defenses
Shield120 / 120
Armor95 / 95
S1 DrivePropulsion · installed
OnlineS1 Mining LaserUtility · installed
S1General Cargo ModuleHull slot · installed
22 tFittings are where ship identity emerges. Better is not always universal—power, cooling, mass, Crew requirements, and role all matter.
Rin Vale
ReadyEngineering · Uncommon
Mara Chen
On shiftNavigation · Common
Crew have current skill and potential. Fatigue, stress, expertise, staffing, and rotation all affect real ship performance.
Travel34
Mining28
Science19
Repair22
Stats explain what your current build actually produces. Use the info buttons when you want the full “why.”
Cargo Bay
Physical resources, equipment, schematics, and location data move through your ship and station storage.
Iron-bearing Regolith
Metallic Ore · 32 cr/unit
Tycho Survey Data
Survey Data · Raw survey evidence
Region: Tycho Field
Tap cargo items in the live game to inspect, move, jettison, destroy, or use them where appropriate.
Comms
Local contacts, player presence, and notification controls live here.
Local contacts
Ships physically present at your current location
Offline notifications
Cargo full, jobs complete, ship idle, hostile scan warnings
During beta, Discord is also the place for support, bug reports, balance feedback, announcements, and community discussion.
02 · Read the game in layers
Cards decide. Info buttons explain.
Wayward Sun keeps decision surfaces compact. When you want to understand why a stat changed, what a location is known for, where a resource comes from, or what an item is compatible with, use its information view. You are not expected to memorize the simulation.
Tycho Field
Lunar debris and mineral belt
The same information language follows you through locations, equipment, resources, activities, schematics, and station services.
03 · An example first day
There is no mandatory opening quest chain.
This is one sensible way to spend your first day. Treat it as orientation, not a checklist. The point is to understand the loop and begin choosing the kind of Captain you want to become.
Hour 0–1
Meet your Captain, Farstar, and Crew.
Open Captain and Ship. Look at your starting Crew, fittings, cargo capacity, and the stats your current build produces. Do not optimize yet—just learn what is aboard.
Wayfarer
Farstar · S1 multiroleCondition100%
Crew8 / 12
Cargo4 / 22 t
Range41
Hour 1–3
Leave Luna and perform a short field operation.
Use Navigation to travel toward Tycho Field. Mine, survey, or try another available activity. Watch cargo and activity progress so you understand how ship work continues over time.
CURRENT LOCATION
Tycho Field
Lunar debris and mineral belt
Contested
Local actions
Hour 3–6
Bring something home and make a decision with it.
Return to a station. Sell to an order, refine useful material, inspect an upgrade, or hold the cargo for later. This is where the economy begins to connect to your ship build.
Iron Ore
Station buy order
Evening
Choose what should happen while you are away.
Start a longer mining, salvage, science, survey, travel, production, or Captain-development action. Extended holds and longer jobs are choices, not requirements.
ShipMining — Tycho Field
CaptainFlight Simulation
Overnight fit
Longer hold · slower return cadence
Cargo31%
Next morning
Read the result, not a punishment screen.
Your progress report and notifications show what completed while you were gone. Crew and Captain development, cargo, discoveries, jobs, and ship state should tell a coherent story of the time away.
SHIP ACTIVITY
Tycho mining run complete
Ore recovered · Crew gained experience · Cargo 94% full
Iron Ore+186 units
Mining proficiency+XP
Crew readinessStable
By 24 hours
Pick a direction—not a meta build.
You may want to mine harder, recover wrecks, study anomalies, explore, trade, manufacture, fight, or build toward a specialist hull. Wayward Sun is designed around overlapping careers rather than one correct route.
Mining28Stock 23
1.22× work rateHull4
Components12
Crew7
Captain5
This is the question the rest of the game keeps asking: what do you want this Captain and this ship to become good at?
04 · Where the depth comes from
Your ship is a system of systems.
Wayward Sun is not built around one gear-score number. What you can do is the result of several layers working together. A strong hull with the wrong fittings can be mediocre. Excellent components can be held back by power, cooling, Crew, condition, or an inexperienced Captain. The interesting choices live in those relationships.
HullDefines the vessel's size, fitting layout, structural identity, native strengths, limitations, and role bonuses.
Hull slotsAdd structural capability such as cargo, quarters, processing, medical support, or other large ship functions.
ComponentsReactors, drives, cooling, sensors, shields, computers, life support, and utility hardware create the ship's base capability.
Weapons & ammunitionWeapon family, installed weapon, ammunition choice, power allocation, and target all shape combat performance.
CrewStaffing, current skill, potential, expertise, fatigue, stress, injuries, and department assignments determine how much of the ship's capability is actually realized.
CaptainYour persistent attributes, professional skills, engineering knowledge, and leadership contribute across every ship you command.
ALL OF THESE FEED INTO
Real operational capability
Travel speed, mining throughput, salvage, science, exploration, combat, repair, endurance, cargo strategy, and environmental access are derived from the whole build—not one item.
And every build lives inside constraints
PowerCan the reactor support what you installed?
CoolingCan the ship sustain the systems under load?
Mass & sizeDoes the hull and fitting envelope support the equipment?
CrewDo you have enough qualified people to realize the build?
ConditionWear and damage can reduce otherwise excellent hardware.
EnvironmentHeat, radiation, pressure, and other hazards can demand specialized protection.
That is why two Captains flying the same hull can end up with very different ships. The goal is not to discover one universal best fit; it is to build a vessel that solves the problems you care about.
Need help?
Ask, report, or compare notes.
During beta, Discord is the main place for beta access, announcements, known issues, questions, bug reports, balance feedback, and general discussion. New arrivals start in #welcome, where the server explains how access and beta keys work.