Spiritstead Building Layout Planner
Sketch districts before gold hits zero
Spiritstead punishes pretty chaos — cram three houses, a log cutter, and a bonfire into one Green Forest tile and you will live inside F reposition menu until Snow arrives. The building planner tool helps you draft districts on paper (or tick through checklist rows) before you spend gold on territories or spirit infrastructure you cannot easily move on Steam Deck. This is not an in-game blueprint mod; it is a pre-build checklist aligned with how Adventure quests actually flow.
Use the interactive checklist below — mark layout milestones as you place them in-game. The page layout injects planner UI when enabled; markdown
- [ ]sections remain the full plan if widgets are absent.
How to plan a save
Building progression planner
- Choose mode — Adventure plans around quests; Creative plans around screenshots.
- Walk the tutorial plot in-game once without decorating — note camera zoom limits.
- Open this checklist and tick zones as you commit placements.
- Cross-read PC controls for R rotate during placement, not after.
- Keep Happiness Checklist open — layout and mood are linked.
Starter district checklist (Green Forest hour 1–3)
Housing block
- Straw hut or basic house cluster with road access planned before build.
- Leave one tile gap for future paths — houses are hard to rotate in tight packs on Deck.
- Target population 3–5 before duplicating production unnecessarily.
Production belt
- Log cutting station near future wood warehouse, not bonfire.
- Carrot plot adjacent to food warehouse route.
- Drag-assign villagers immediately after each placement (controls).
- Second log station only when quests demand throughput, not aesthetics.
Storage pair
- Wood warehouse on same road spine as log cutters.
- Food warehouse within one screen pan of carrot plots.
- Verify hover ticks after first day/night cycle.
Details: Production & Warehouses.
Happiness hub
- Bonfire central to housing and production — not tucked behind a sawmill.
- Plan slot for market/café when town level unlocks.
- Reserve decoration corner so you do not bulldoze spirit flowers later.
Mid-game expansion checklist (territories + spirits)
- Buy territory toward quest arrow, not cheapest fog tile.
- Extend thick dirt roads before placing gray-requirement houses.
- Flat 3×3 pad reserved for spirit portal quests.
- Crystal node pad near portal with walkable approach for Peppok assignment.
- Chicken coop positioned before Peppok hunt — cooking chain needs proximity.
Spirit timing: Spirit Unlock Checklist.
Snow biome border checklist
- Dual warehouse hub straddling biome transition.
- Happiness building readable on white ground (bonfire/market contrast).
- Avoid diagonal-only districts if playing on Steam Deck.
- Shard production spirits assigned before decorating Snow outskirts.
See Snow biome guide.
Layout patterns that work
Linear spine — One main road, warehouses on spine, production off sides, housing behind happiness hub. Boring but Deck-friendly.
Hub and spoke — Bonfire center, roads radiate outward. Pretty in Creative, slower to expand in Adventure unless you F move hubs early.
Biome split — Green Forest farms stay south (example orientation), Snow specialists north with shared warehouse hub at border. Best for 6–8 hour Adventure pacing.
Rotation and reposition budget
Every layout should assume 2–3 F repositions per session — normal, not failure.
- Rotate (R) before confirming each production building.
- Batch reposition sessions after territory buys, not one tile at a time.
- On Deck, plan wider roads to reduce rotate-fix cycles.
HTML-friendly planner notes
Tip: Screenshot your village after each checklist section — comparing screenshots beats memorizing coordinates when Spiritstead reuses the same map geometry each run.
Deck note: If rotation feels clunky, prefer rectangular districts and postpone decorative diagonals until Creative Mode.
Quest-linked build order reference
| Town phase | Priority buildings |
|---|---|
| Opening | Straw hut, log cutter, carrot plot, bonfire |
| Level 2–3 | Basic houses, clothing line, warehouses |
| Spirit beats | Coop, portal pad, crystal node, spirit building |
| Snow push | Border warehouses, advanced happiness, sanctuary structures |
Full quest order: Adventure Walkthrough.
Related pages
- Buildings hub — catalog and costs.
- Map overview — territory and portal context.
- Release guide — launch day layout reset if starting fresh save.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to the most common questions.
Does the building planner place structures in-game?
No. It is a checklist and planning guide. You still build inside Spiritstead using normal menus and controls.
When should I plan layouts versus winging it?
Plan before territory purchases and spirit portal placement — those commits are expensive to undo on Steam Deck.
What is the most important early layout rule?
Keep food warehouses near plots and bonfires central to workers. Food and happiness failures cause most restart-worthy crashes.
How does F reposition fit into planning?
Assume you will reposition 2–3 times per session. Rotate at build time with R to minimize F fixes later.
Can I copy Creative layouts into Adventure?
Creative uses the same map geometry — rehearse districts there, then rebuild with economy constraints in Adventure.