Operator's Handbook

Run the site. Don't get repossessed.

Everything you need to run a desert compute site: what you're aiming for, how to get going, how to raise your reliability, and a reference for every piece you can build - what it's for and what it costs.

Based on the Level 1 demo - v0.1.3, June 2026. Details will change as the game grows.

01 - Objective

Grow earnings to $40M (in the demo).

Level 1 is the desert - an open sandbox with one soft goal: grow yourcumulative earnings to $40M to found The Diggy Hole Co. and unlock The North. Reach it and you win the run.

That $40M is the demo's finish line - it clears Level 1 and is as far as this build goes. The full game keeps climbing all the way to$1 trillion. That's the name.

You're a subsidiary of a parent holding company. Run the numbers right and revenue compounds. Let operating costs outrun income and the parent company repossesses the site - that's the loss.

02 - Getting started

The core loop.

Break ground. You start with a Data Hall, a Substation, and a starter loadout of power and cooling.
Take contracts. Accept offers - they pay you per GPU, every tick.
Add compute. Install GPU clusters (COMPUTE tab) to serve bigger contracts. Only add GPUs you can book - idle GPUs still burn power.
Keep it online. Every GPU adds load. Add power and cooling to match, plus one spare of each so a single failure never takes you down.
Hire crew. Staff (STAFF tab) repair failures before they cascade.

03 - How to upgrade

Two ladders, moved on purpose.

Watch the status panel: a ! means you're short on power or cooling. There are two things you can raise, independently:

Capacity - add a Grid Feed or a Cooling Unit (both tagged CAPACITY) per unit of load and heat, so the hall can carry what you've installed.
Uptime Tier - build redundancy on top of capacity: first a spare of each (N+1), then dual distribution paths, then double units (2N). See the ladder below.

And buy yourself a safety margin: a Water Reserve keeps cooling alive for a short window after a Cooling Unit fails, buying time to repair it.

04 - Uptime Tiers

Reliability you build, not buy.

Your Tier is computed live from the redundancy you've built - higher means fewer outages. Here's just the difference at each step:

Tier IJust enough power and cooling to carry the load (N).

Tier IIN+1 - one spare power unit and one spare cooling unit.

Tier IIIEverything in II, plus dual paths - add a Power Path and a Cooling Path.

Tier IVEverything in III, but 2N - double your power and cooling units (keep both paths).

05 - Building, cost and damage

What it costs, how long it takes, what damage does.

Cost. Every structure costs cash up front, paid the moment you place it (prices are in The Pieces below), plus a small daily upkeep for as long as it stands - idle or not. Dark infrastructure still costs you, so don't build ahead of need.
Build time. Structures take time to construct - the Data Hall takes about 10 days, smaller units 2 to 3. While it builds, it shows a "BUILD %" badge and a blue tint, and it is not operational - a unit under construction doesn't count toward your power or cooling, and a hall under construction doesn't earn (and pays no upkeep yet). It goes live (with a chime) the moment it finishes. Fast-forward speeds building; pausing halts it.
Damage. When a unit fails or a hall degrades, it shows visible damage - but a built structure stays 100% operational even when damaged. Damage never reduces what it does; instead a damaged unit costs 1.5x its upkeep until it's fixed. Keep crew on hand to repair failures fast.

06 - The pieces

Everything you can build.

CAPACITYPATHRESERVEINTAKESTRUCTURE

Structures

The buildings on your site. The Data Hall is the one that earns; the rest is dressing.

Data Hall

STRUCTURE

$180,000

The building that houses your GPU racks.

Place it, then fill it with GPU clusters from the COMPUTE tab. Everything else on the site exists to keep this hall powered and cool.

Office Trailer

STRUCTURE

$60,000

A place for the crew to work.

Site dressing - flavor for now, no mechanical effect.

Staff Cabin

STRUCTURE

$30,000

Housing for your crew.

Site dressing - flavor for now, no mechanical effect.

Loading Dock

STRUCTURE

$60,000

Where the trucks unload.

Site dressing - flavor for now, no mechanical effect.

Power

Bring power onto the site, then add one capacity unit per MW of load. Redundancy here is what keeps the hall online.

Substation

INTAKE

$240,000

Grid intake - brings power onto the site.

Required infrastructure that feeds everything. It is not a redundancy unit and does not count toward your N.

Grid Feed

CAPACITY

$40,000

One unit of usable power (1 MW).

The workhorse power unit. Add one per MW of load to reach N, then one more for N+1.

UPS Battery

CAPACITY

$60,000

Battery ride-through power (1 MW).

Counts as a power unit and smooths brief grid dips.

Backup Generator

CAPACITY

$90,000

Spare power (1 MW).

A power unit that adds redundancy on your way to N+1 and 2N.

Power Path

PATH

$120,000

A second distribution route for power (switchgear).

Adds no power. It is the redundant power path required for Tier III and IV.

Cooling

Heat scales with power. Add one Cooling Unit per unit of heat; the loop and reserve add redundancy, not capacity.

Cooling Unit

CAPACITY

$50,000

One unit of cooling (a CRAC).

The only cooling piece that raises your COOL count. Add one per unit of heat to reach N, then one more for N+1.

Cooling Path

PATH

$140,000

A second distribution route for cooling (chilled-water loop).

Adds no cooling. It is the redundant cooling path required for Tier III and IV.

Water Reserve

RESERVE

$45,000

A cooling buffer.

When a Cooling Unit fails, the reserve keeps the hall cool for a short grace window - buying repair time - before the hall goes down.