Soulmask
An open-world survival and tribe sim where an ancient mask is your progression, your power, and your way to possess and play as the tribesmen you recruit. No boss ladder, a metal-age tech spine instead.
Tech tiers at a glance
| Tier | Bonfire / station | Theme | Key material | Where to mine it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Campfire | The Rise of the Barbarians | Wood, Stone, Thatch, Clay | Eastern Rainforest (T1) |
| 1 | Bonfire | Dawn of the New Tribe | Bone tools, early survival tech | Rainforest (T1 to T2) |
| 2 | Bronze Pit Bonfire | Advancement of Bronze | Bronze (Copper + Tin) | Western and Northern Rainforest (T2) |
| 3 | Iron Pit Bonfire | Glow of Iron | Iron | Wetland and Forest tiers (T5 to T7) |
| 4 | Steel Pit Bonfire | Steel Age | Steel | Wasteland and Volcano tiers (T8 to T10) |
| 5 | Fine Steel Pit Bonfire | Deep in Ruins | Fine Steel | Frozen tiers and ruins (T11 to T12) |
Shifting Sands DLC shipped with 1.0 on April 10, 2026. Next up: Burning Highlands (announced September 2026).
Top tips
- Treat the three progression systems as separate. Awareness Strength unlocks technology, Character Levels give ability points, and Proficiencies grow only from doing that specific task.
- Recruit tribesmen as early as you can. Your own proficiency caps at 50, theirs reaches 120, so a solo run hits a hard ceiling that a tribe blows past.
- Park a strong fighter at a fast-respawn camp to farm Awareness. You still earn it when your tribesmen make the kills.
- Keep your bonfire fueled at all times. It is your respawn point. Use Bark as routine fuel and save Thatch and Hardwood for crafting.
- Build near water for Clay, but watch for crocodiles. Stay near the start early and expand outward as your gear improves.
- Match tools to ore. A stone pickaxe on a tin node mostly gives stone, so bronze tools are the real gate to bronze-tier returns.
- Keep Sunstones on hand for mask energy, especially before flying, and repair mask nodes at Mysterious Ruins and Pyramids with Crystals.
- Never deploy a tribesman without food, water, armor, and bandages. An unsupplied follower that dies loses all its built-up specialization.
Guides
builds
- Civilization Bruiser (Melee) quick
The durable head-on build. Civilization mask, a melee weapon like the spear, Physique-heavy stats. The safest first run and the strongest frontline for your tribe.
- Conquest Stealth (Backstab) quick
The rogue build. Conquest mask, back attacks and executes, pick targets apart before the camp wakes up. High skill, high reward against tribe Elites.
- Rich Archer (Bow) quick
The ranged build. Rich mask, bow as your main, pull and kite. Strongest when a tribe frontline holds the line while you delete targets from range.
- Tribe Automation Setup quick
The colony build. Recruit, specialize, and automate a self-running base so tribesmen handle gathering and crafting while you explore. The accelerator every run wants.
progression
- Tech Tier Progression quick
The whole metal-age ladder on one page. The six bonfire tiers from Stone to Fine Steel, what each unlocks, and the two currencies that gate them.
- Region Tiers and Climate quick
Every region by tier: level range, climate band, signature ore, and what is trying to kill you. The map planner you open before a supply run.
regions
- The Rainforest (T1 to T4) deep
The starting jungle tiers where the run begins: bone tools to bronze, Copper and Tin, the Flint, Claw and Fang tribes, and heat you can survive in light gear.
- Wetlands and Forests (T5 to T7) deep
The Iron tier: wetlands with a poison hazard, plateau and prairie forests, larger mammals like Bear and Elephant, and a swing from cold to heat that forces real climate gear.
- Wasteland and Volcano (T8 to T10) deep
The Steel tier: radioactive wasteland, sandstorms, and searing volcanic heat, guarded by Wild Lions, Mutant Rats, Monitor Lizards, and the lost civilization's machines.
- The Frozen North (T11 to T12) deep
The Fine Steel endgame tier: snowstorms and deep freeze, Crystal and Meteorite ore, Mammoths and Snow Leopards, and the Central Core waiting in the coldest country on the map.
- Shifting Sands (DLC Desert) deep
The Egyptian-themed desert DLC: a separate region too large to cross on foot, traversed by airship and gated by the god-bosses Sobek, Anubis, and Amun-Ra and their masks.
systems
- The Mask System deep
The mask is the progression spine: it carries your buffs and active ability, levels from the Awareness you earn, and lets you possess a tribesman directly.
- Combat deep
Action combat with parry, dodge, and execute across nine weapon types, where proficiency mastery thresholds and ability points decide how hard you hit.
- Tribesmen deep
Recruited NPCs that gather, craft, and fight, blowing past the proficiency ceiling a solo player is stuck behind, which makes building a tribe the biggest single accelerator in the game.
- Survival and Temperature deep
Temperature is the headline survival axis, with each region sitting somewhere from Searing Heat to Deep Freeze, layered over food, water, stamina, and a respawn fire you must keep lit.
- Base and Automation deep
The base is a production engine, not just shelter, where crafting stations and tribesman-run chains turn raw materials into goods with far less manual input than most survival games.
- Knowledge and Technology deep
Tech unlocks pass through two separate gates, Awareness Strength to make a recipe available and Technology Points from tablets to pay for it, sitting alongside two other progression tracks players keep confusing.
- Airships deep
The Shifting Sands DLC's core traversal and mobile-base system, unlocked after the Shipbuilding Technique and a Sobek kill, that turns a fueled, armed, tribesman-crewed ship into a moving home.
bosses
- Shifting Sands God Bosses deep
The four Egyptian god bosses of the Shifting Sands DLC, each tied to a mask, plus how base-game world bosses fit the mask-power loop rather than a linear ladder.