Resources are a central mechanic in A Dark Room; acquiring them allows the player to build, craft, or purchase weapons, armor, or a variety of other useful items.
Alien alloy[]
Can be acquired:
- By trading 1500 Fur, 750 Scales, and 300 Teeth. (Worth 204,000 fur)
- As loot in Boreholes or Forgotten Battlefields on the World.
- Though quite rare, they can also be found in Ruined Cities.
- Used to upgrade Old Starship, represented on the map with a "W".
Used on The Old Starship.
Bait[]
Can be acquired:
- From the Trapper, exchanging 1 meat for 1 bait every 10 seconds.
- From a wandering nomad, trading 5 fur for 1 bait.
Used to make traps yield more resources.
Bullets[]
Used with a Rifle as a weapon.
Can be acquired:
- By trading 10 Scales.
- After skirmishes with gunmen on the World.
- As loot in various places on the World.
- As a reward for the Military Raid event.
- From the Armoury, with a cost of one sulfur and one steel per one bullet every ten seconds. (each of these increases by one as you add more workers)
Charm[]
Can be acquired:
- Randomly found while checking traps.
- Can be used to find a romantic partner.
Give to the wanderer at the Marsh (M) to double the healing effect of cured meat (from 8hp to 16hp).
Cloth[]
Can be acquired:
- From Traps.
- As a reward for combat with some enemies.
- As loot in various places on the World.
- As well as strange visits.
Used along with Wood to make Torches.
Coal[]
Can be acquired:
- By trading 200 Fur and 50 Teeth.
- From the Coal Miner, exchanging 1 Cured Meat for 1 Coal every 10 seconds.
- Note: The Coal Mine must be liberated before the Coal Miner occupation becomes available.
- As a reward after skirmishes against some enemies on the World.
- As loot in various places on the World.
Used along with iron as a component in making steel.
Cured meat[]
Can be acquired:
- From the Charcutier, exchanging 5 Meat and 5 Wood for 1 Cured Meat every 10 seconds.
- From Outposts (P).
- As a reward after skirmishes against some enemies on the World.
- As loot in various places on the World.
Used automatically when traversing the World, or used manually in combat to regain health. Also used as a trading item for the Wandering Master Event.
Fur[]
Can be acquired:
- From traps.
- From the Hunter (Hunters yield 0.5 Fur and 0.5 Meat every 10 seconds)
- As a reward after skirmishes against many enemies on the World.
- As loot in various places on the World.
Used to create leather.
Used as a currency in trading for:
- scales
- teeth
- iron
- coal
- steel
- alien alloy
- the compass.
Can also be used for building the tannery and trading Hut
Also used as a trading item in some events.
Iron[]
Can be acquired:
- By trading 150 Fur and 50 Scales.
- From the Iron Miner, exchanging 1 Cured Meat for 1 Iron every 10 seconds.
- Note: The Iron Mine must be liberated before the Iron Miner occupation becomes available.
- As a reward after skirmishes against many enemies on the World.
- As loot in various places on the World.
Used along with coal as a component in making steel.
Used as a component in creating the Iron Armor, Iron Sword, Cask, Water Tank, and Wagon.
Leather[]
Can be acquired:
- From the Tanner, exchanging 5 Fur for 1 Leather every 10 seconds.
- As a reward after skirmishes against some enemies on the World.
- As loot in various places on the World.
Used as a component in creating Leather Armor, Iron Armor, and Steel Armor.
Meat[]
Can be acquired:
- From traps.
- From the Hunter (Hunters yield 0.5 Fur and 0.5 Meat every 10 seconds)
- As a reward after skirmishes against some enemies on the World.
- As loot in various places on the World.
Used with Wood to make Cured Meat.
Medicine[]
Used manually in combat to regain health.
Can be acquired:
- As loot in various places on the World.
- By trading 50 scales and 30 teeth.
Can also be used to stop A Sickness, stop A Plague, or heal The Sick Man
Scales[]
Can be acquired:
- From traps.
- By trading 150 Fur.
- As a reward after skirmishes against some enemies on the World.
- As loot in various places on the World.
- When there are noises in the storeroom and you investigate you can find scales on the floor. The number of scales is equivalent to 2% of your wood stock.
Used as a currency in trading.
Steel[]
Can be acquired:
- By trading 300 Fur, 50 Scales, and 50 Teeth.
- From the Steelworker, exchanging 1 Iron and 1 Coal for 1 Steel every 10 seconds.
- As a reward after skirmishes against a few enemies on the World.
- As loot in various places on the World.
Used as a component in creating steel armor, steel swords, bullets, water tank, and the convoy.
Sulphur
Can be acquired:
- Sulphur miners (have to liberate the mine first)
Used as a component in creating rifles, the armory and bullets
Teeth[]
Can be acquired:
- From traps.
- By trading 300 Fur.
- As a reward after skirmishes against some enemies on the World.
- As loot in various places on the World.
Used with Wood to make a Bone Spear. Used to make bolas. Used as a currency in trading.
Torch[]
"a torch to keep the dark away"
Can be acquired:
- As a reward after skirmishes against some enemies on the World.
- As loot in various places on the World.
- can be found in caves in the world.
Can be crafted with 1 Wood and 1 Cloth.
Used to grant the player light when entering dungeons or buildings with low light.
Wood[]
Can be Acquired:
- From Outside/The Village after choosing to "Gather Wood".
- From Gatherers (1 gatherer yields 1 Wood every 10 seconds)
- From the Builder (yields 2 Wood every 10 seconds)
Used with many other resources to craft a variety of supplies and items, such as cured meat and buildings. Also Used to stoke and light the fire in The Room.