Colonist

**Colonists** are the inhabitants and workers of the colonies established in *Surviving Mars*. Every one is a unique individual defined by their name, age category, workplace specialization, traits, and stats.

The current condition of any individual colonist is represented by four key stats - Health, Sanity, Comfort, and Morale. Letting any of this drop too low has negative consequences. Colonists at low Health can't work, and if their Health depletes, they will die. Colonists with no remaining Sanity will suffer mental breakdowns and may gain negative traits such as alcoholism or gambling addiction. Colonists at low Morale may become Renegades and start causing trouble in the Colony. Conversely, high stats may grant positive effects - for example, citizens with high Comfort are more inclined to have children.

## Traits

Colonists are not created equal. Each possesses a different set of traits with each trait granting some different effect to the colonist. Hardworking colonists perform better at their workplace while an idiot may cause a catastrophic malfunction, shutting down the building. Some traits are exceptionally rare and may benefit the colony as a whole - having a Celebrity will secure additional funding from Earth, as long as said Celebrity survives on Mars.

Here are few example traits with their current in-game descriptions:

* Empath - Increases the morale of nearby colonists, and stacks with itself if multiple empaths are present. Requires the Neural Empathy breakthrough.
* Survivor - Loses less Health without food, water, oxygen or when living in an unpowered Dome
* Nerd - Gains a temporary Morale boost every time a new technology is researched
* Hypochondriac - Will randomly visit Medical buildings and take Sanity damage if unable to do so
* Chronic Condition - Loses Health each day
* Guru (rare trait) - Randomly spreads other traits of this colonist to persons in the same Dome

As a colony grows, players gain options to cultivate certain desirable traits and treat some of the negative ones. Players can filter the traits and specializations of colonists coming from Earth (but not of children born on Mars), as well as individual Dome populations.

## Founders

The Founders are the first human pioneers of the red frontier and the first residents of the fledgling colony. Their initial task is to prove the potential of the colony and the viability of a permanent settlement on Mars.

After the Founders arrive on the planet, the Colony will be under evaluation for a certain number of Sols. No new colonists will be available until the colony is evaluated positively. A positive evaluation will be awarded if any Founders survive a certain number of Sols, or if the first child is born on the planet.

Since the Founder number is limited to the capacity of the rocket, players may wish to handpick them using the Review command on the passenger rocket screen. Care should be taken to micromanage their priorities during their first days, using building priority and work slot management to guarantee that crucial buildings are staffed.

## Workers and Residents

Many buildings require workers in order to operate at peak capacity. These workers are divided into three separate shifts. In addition, many buildings provide a place to live.

## Notes

* Colonists will automatically staff residences within their Dome. Take care to provide enough living space for all of them.
* Children and seniors cannot work but still require sustenance and living space.
* If all colonists die, the colonization mission will be terminated.
* Colonists may migrate to a new Dome within walking distance of their current position or farther away when Shuttle transport becomes available.
* Homeless colonists will travel to another accessible Dome with available residential space.
* Colonists with no specialization may be educated in the Martian University. The University can provide needed specialization automatically or focus on a single desired specialization.
* Some, but not all, undesirable flaws may be cured in the Sanatorium spire. Up to three different flaws can be treated in a single Sanatorium.
* The School building cultivates desired perks in children living within the colony. They have a chance to receive any of the three selected perks when they grow up. Not all perks can be trained in school. The Playground cultivates random perks in children who visit it.
* Colonists being treated or educated in the above buildings cannot also work a job within the same building at the same time.