Nightwater GuideNightwater Minigames Overview
Nightwater includes five optional minigames, each with its own loop, upgrades, and rewards. Players can finish the game without touching them, but achievements and some powerful buffs require playing them.
- Are the minigames essential for the gameplay?
- What do the boons do and how do I find them?
- How does the Volcano minigame work?
- Why can't I find the yellow stone in the Mine?
- What are the memory locations in minigames?
- Which minigames give the best buffs?
- How do I get the Data Rush boon?
- Why do my boons disappear after loading?
- What minigame achievements exist?
Are the minigames essential for the gameplay?
No, the game can be completed without touching the minigames, as one developer reply confirms. However, if you want 100% of the 40 Steam achievements, you must engage with all of them. Players report that some minigames are very useful, especially the woodchopping, mining, and oasis farming ones, because they grant speed and farmer buffs. Others are less useful, and one player noted that the last two minigames feel weaker than the first three.
| Minigame | Usefulness | Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| woodchopping | very useful | speed buff |
| mining | very useful | speed buff |
| oasis farming | very useful | farmer buff |
| last two minigames | weaker than the first three | not stated |
Minigames are optional but they offer their own progression and rewards. Each minigame has its own items, upgrades, and progression, and unlocking things inside them can give you new buildings, crafts, and buffs outside the minigame. The Steam page says they are optional but provide variety and powerful rewards. If you ignore them, you will still reach the end of the story, but you will miss those buffs and the achievements tied to them.
What do the boons do and how do I find them?
Boons are unlockable bonuses found inside minigames. The cave table at spawn shows which boons you have unlocked, and they give permanent effects. For example, the Boon of Curiosity increases the Heart of the Elder drop chance by half. The community guide lists eight boons across five minigames: Dark Thicket, Oasis, The Mine, Fuel Shortage, and Data Rush. Each boon has a specific location and interaction, often requiring you to hold E on a glowing icon or shoot out-of-bounds objects.
| Boon | Minigame | Location/How to find |
|---|---|---|
| Boon of Curiosity | Dark Thicket | Behind a waterfall |
| Boon of Tenacity | Dark Thicket | After opening a chest 10 times |
| Boon of Growth | Oasis | Behind the autoplanter in the second shop area |
| Two boons (names not stated) | The Mine | On walls with purple icons |
| Boon (name not stated) | Fuel Shortage | Shoot three yellow spheres with the hand cannon |
| Boon (name not stated) | Data Rush | Look for out-of-place rocks during the fourth speed run |
One player reported losing boons after loading a save, but going back to the original spots restored them.
How does the Volcano minigame work?
The Volcano minigame is a platformer. You finish tracks to earn Data, which you spend on upgrades like speed or new abilities. There are four tracks and three abilities: Dash, Double-Jump, and Wall-Run. You must unlock each ability to reach the next track. For example, Dash is needed for Track 2, Double-Jump for Track 3, and Wall-Run for Track 4. Track 4 can be reached from Track 1, so after finishing Track 3 you have to go back.
| Track | Required ability |
|---|---|
| Track 2 | Dash |
| Track 3 | Double-Jump |
| Track 4 | Wall-Run |
You can move fully mid-air, meaning you can change direction or sprint while jumping. The blue bouncy pads and wall-runs do not refresh your abilities, so if you used your double-jump before hitting a pad, you won't get it back. You can jump off a wall during a wall-run to gain extra height or distance. Finishing the final track gives the WR Any% achievement. The community guide recommends finding a pattern for moving platforms rather than reacting on the fly.
Why can't I find the yellow stone in the Mine?
Players have reported getting stuck on the Mine minigame because they cannot find a resource they call "yellow stone." A developer reply suggests they actually mean Gold Dust. The resource appears higher in the mine after patch 1.0.12, which moved Dusk Gold to a shallower depth. If you have the Scatter pickaxe and have bought every upgrade up to that point, you should dig sideways at deeper levels and look for gold-colored deposits.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Resource name | Gold Dust |
| Patch | 1.0.12 |
| Change | Dusk Gold moved to shallower depth |
| Required tool | Scatter pickaxe |
| Strategy | Dig sideways at deeper levels |
| Patch notes date | September 21, 2026 |
| Bug | Pickaxe selection screen shows last selected rune quality, not average |
One frustrated player described having to go down until digging becomes difficult, then dig sideways and hope to find dusk gold. The patch notes from September 21, 2026, explicitly state that Dusk Gold now spawns at a higher mine level, which should reduce that grind. If you still cannot find it, check that you have the right pickaxe and that your rune quality is not misleading you. A separate bug report notes that the pickaxe selection screen shows the quality of the last selected rune, not the average, which might confuse expectations.
What are the memory locations in minigames?
Memories are collectibles that appear at a memory table in spawn. There are 15 total: 6 main story memories, 5 minigame memories, 1 ending memory, and 3 alternative ending memories. You do not need to collect them in order; missing ones show as "???". After patch 1.0.13, ending memories now appear on the table correctly. Unlocking the final 3 memories changes the lighthouse in the main menu background.
| Minigame | Memory name | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Dark Thicket | Useless | Behind a rock to the right of a stack of logs; you phase through the rock. |
| The Mine | More | Behind a wall with dark cracks at the bottom corner. |
| Oasis | Dust | Behind the third shop after unlocking the third area. |
| Fuel Shortage | Contract | Requires exploring every part of the arena. |
| Data Rush | not stated | not stated |
Minigame memories are hidden. A fifth minigame memory exists in Data Rush, but the guide excerpt cuts off before giving its location.
Which minigames give the best buffs?
Players generally agree that the woodchopping, mining, and oasis farming minigames are the most useful. The woodchopping minigame (Dark Thicket) gives running speed and wood farmer speed. The mining minigame (The Mine) gives pipe speed and rock farmer speed. The oasis farming minigame (Oasis) gives plant farmer speed. These buffs directly speed up your main factory production.
| Minigame | Buff |
|---|---|
| Woodchopping (Dark Thicket) | Running speed, wood farmer speed |
| Mining (The Mine) | Pipe speed, rock farmer speed |
| Oasis farming (Oasis) | Plant farmer speed |
The other two minigames, Fuel Shortage and Data Rush, are considered less useful by some players. One review said the last two minigames are great except for the final two, calling the mining roguelike great but not naming the others. Another player said three minigames scale well but two are boring, with one lacking any meta progression. However, all minigames unlock buildings, crafts, or buffs that can help with achievements, and the developer's notes say every minigame has its own progression and rewards.
How do I get the Data Rush boon?
According to the Boon Guide, the Boon of Speed is found in Data Rush, the speedrun minigame. The hint says to look for parts of rock that are out of place. The solution directs you to enter Data Rush, head to the 4th speed run, and during the first moving platform section, look for a rock that does not fit. The guide cuts off there, so the exact interaction is not fully documented.
Players report that Data Rush had issues with infinity upgrades not working as intended, which was fixed in patch 1.0.13. The patch also made the Gauntlet Data Rush part easier in 1.0.10. If you are looking for the boon, make sure you have the latest patch installed. The boon is optional, but it is one of the eight boons that count toward the 40 achievements.
Why do my boons disappear after loading?
One player reported that after finding all boons except one, they loaded a save and only had 6 boons instead of the expected number. They lost 4 boons. The same player noted that going back to the original locations allowed them to reacquire the boons. A developer patch on September 23, 2026 (1.0.13) fixed "some boons reset after loading the game," so this issue should be resolved in the current release.
If you still experience missing boons after updating, try revisiting the boon locations. The community guide lists all eight boon locations with exact spots. Keep in mind that the guide was written for the demo, and the full release may differ. The developer has not documented any other workaround beyond the patch fix.
What minigame achievements exist?
The Steam page lists 40 achievements at release. The community guide mentions the WR Any% achievement for finishing the final track of the Volcano minigame. Other achievements likely relate to completing each minigame's progression, but the material does not list them all. Players have reported getting all achievements after finishing the game, but half of the memories remained locked, suggesting some achievements might require collecting all memories and boons.
One player said they got all achievements but still had locked memories and only found 2 boons in the first minigame. That implies memories and boons are not required for 100% achievements, or the player missed hidden ones. The developer has not published a full achievement list. Check the Steam achievement page for the exact list, as it is the only official source.
Last updated: . Game builds change; cross-check details with your installed version.