Exark Beginner Guide - How to Start Your First Run

What Is Exark?

Exark is a run-based engine builder and auto-battler where you command a gigantic ark-ship. Your goal is to lead your people to the rim of the world, away from a corrupted sun. Along the way you construct buildings, hire crew with unique skills, and exploit powerful synergies to keep your ark alive.

Unlike a traditional city builder, Exark is run-based - each voyage is a new run with new choices, similar to a roguelite.

How to Start Your First Run

1. Pick Your Great House First

Your first decision is which Great House to lead. Each has its own ark, buildings, and crewmates, and plays differently.

House	Ark	Signature	Best For
House Arioch	Diurnal Ark	Engineers & Artisans	Beginners - easier production loop
House Mnesis	Shepherd Moon	Precious raw materials	Players who want resource abundance

Beginner tip: Start with House Arioch. Its engineer/artisan focus gives you a smoother production loop, which is the safest way to learn Exark’s core systems.

2. Understand the Core Resources

Your ark runs on four resources:

Resource	What It Does
Food	Fuels your buildings; stockpiles increase cycle speed
Production	Lets you construct more buildings on the ark
Inspiration	Enables hiring crew with unique skills
Gold	Buy buildings/crew outright at dockside markets

The core loop is: Food keeps buildings running - Production builds more - Inspiration hires crew - Gold buys shortcuts.

3. Build Food & Production First

On your first run, focus on getting a stable Food and Production loop going before expanding. A Food stockpile increases your buildings’ cycle speed, which accelerates everything else.

4. Hire Crew to Boost Buildings

Crew members have unique skills that improve the buildings they’re assigned to. Assign crew to your most important production buildings first.

Common Beginner Mistakes

Expanding too fast - Building too much before your resource loop is stable will crash your ark.
Ignoring Food - Food is the foundation; without a stockpile your buildings slow down.
Not using crew - Crew bonuses compound over time, so always keep buildings staffed.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a “run-based” engine builder?

Each voyage is a new run with procedural choices, like a roguelite. You don’t carry a persistent city between runs - each run is a fresh strategic puzzle.

Which House should a beginner pick?

Start with House Arioch for its engineer/artisan advantage, which makes the production loop easier to learn.

What’s the fastest way to win?

Exark has multiple routes to victory - focus on peaceful production or military conquest. See the Victory Routes guide.