Nightwater FAQ

No. You can finish the game without ever playing the minigames, but you need them for 100% achievements. Some minigames give very useful buffs, like running speed, wood farmer speed, pipe speed, and plant farmer speed. The developer confirmed this in a Steam discussion reply.

The Boon of Curiosity is in the Dark Thicket minigame. Enter the forest minigame, go to the right area, and look behind the waterfall. Hold E near it to collect it. The boon increases the drop rate of Heart of the Elder by 50%, according to a forum reply.

Players report that boons they had unlocked were missing from the cave list after loading a save. Going back to the original locations allowed them to pick the boons up again. A patch note from 1.0.13 mentions fixing boons resetting after loading, so this may be resolved.

The Simple Jetpack is unlocked by collecting 1000 Quartz Ore. The Steam screenshot shows a milestone unlock with the requirement text 'Collect 999 more Quartz Ore' and a progress bar of 1/1000. Hold the jump button to slowly fly over resources and buildings.

Players found that you cannot build near the cave or on a slope. Also, if the building is highlighted yellow, you may be missing required materials. Make sure you have all the needed resources and try moving further away from the cave.

The Steam page says there are four endings. A forum thread asks about a secret fifth ending, but no official source confirms one. The developer has not mentioned any fifth ending in patch notes or announcements. Treat that as unconfirmed.

In the Fuel Shortage minigame, you must pick the hand cannon. There are three yellow spheres just out of bounds that you shoot. They stay destroyed, so you can retry. A range upgrade helps. Destroying all three gives you the boon.

Finish the final track in the Volcano minigame. The guide says you need to unlock Dash, Double-Jump, and Wall-Run to progress through tracks 2, 3, and 4. Track 4 is reached from track 1, so after finishing track 3, go back.

The game lists full controller support, but several players report that many actions still require a keyboard. The developer replied on the forum that they will rework controller support before the full release. As of the 1.0.10 patch, no fix has been confirmed. Check your build, and if you are on the demo, expect the full release to differ.

Harvesters do count, but only when you take the items out of the machine. If you craft them in an assembler, they do not count. Some players also report that copper ore from the primitive ore crusher does not count. The developer has not commented on that specific case. Try collecting raw ore directly from the harvester to see if that resolves it.

Players report that Dusk Gold is rare. One method is to dig down near the blue layer, look for power buffs, then use dynamite to blow a large area and loot the revealed gold. The developer has not provided an official rate, but patch 1.0.12 (September 21, 2026) made Dusk Gold appear higher in the mine, so check the upper levels first. If you are still stuck, check the latest patch notes, as the Gauntlet Data Rush part was reworked in 1.0.10.

One player reported that the iron ingot recipe did not unlock after reaching the required iron ore milestone (70+ / 70). The developer has not posted a fix or explanation yet. Check that you are using raw iron ore from a harvester, not processed material, and that you have taken the items out of the machine. If it still fails, report it on the Discord.

As of feedback on version 1.0.10, there is no way to upgrade an existing building or pipe to a higher tier. You must remove the old one and place the better version. The developer has not announced a change. Some players find the piping system tedious because you have to walk back and forth to connect inputs and outputs.

Several players asked if the game is always that fast. The developer and other players replied that you start slower, but manual harvesting becomes less important as you automate. Holding the mouse button does one damage per click, so you can speed up by clicking or by building machines. The demo is the best way to judge the pace.

No official statement from the developer. One player with 14 hours in the full release wished that demo save data could be ported over, but there is no confirmation that it is possible. The demo and the full release are separate builds, so assume progress does not carry over unless the developer says otherwise.

One player reported a crash related to shader decompression with Oodle. The developer has not posted a fix. The error mentions a rendering thread exception and a specific shader group. No confirmed workaround exists yet. Check for graphics driver updates and verify the game files. If it persists, report it on the Discord.