Advanced Biology

Lore & Background

The droids of Oxygen Not Included were designed as self-sufficient laborers, but their creators on Earth never intended for them to be the last of their kind. The Advanced Biology research branch represents the colony's first true step toward self-sufficiency in the most literal sense: the ability to make more of itself. Before this unlock, a droid lost to a vacuum breach, a toxic gas pocket, or a simple mechanical failure is gone forever. The colony shrinks. The workload concentrates on fewer shoulders. The margin for error vanishes.

The Duplicator, the centerpiece of this branch, is a bulky, humming apparatus that scans a droid's biological and mechanical signature and prints a new one. It is not magic—it demands power, consumes materials, and takes time. But it transforms the colony's relationship with loss. A droid can now be a role, a function, a replaceable unit in a larger system rather than an irreplaceable individual. For the player, this is both a relief and a subtle philosophical shift: the colony becomes a machine that reproduces itself.

In the broader narrative texture of the game, Advanced Biology also nudges the player toward thinking in generations. You are no longer managing a fixed crew. You are cultivating a population, balancing its size against oxygen, water, food, and power. The biology branch is where Oxygen Not Included stops being a puzzle about survival and starts being a puzzle about growth.

In Their Own Story

The Duplicator hummed in the low B-flat that the colony had come to associate with it, a sound that vibrated in the soles of every droid's feet on the metal floor. Kael-7 stood before the scanning cradle, arms at its sides, watching the blue light sweep up its chassis. Somewhere behind the partition, the oxygen extractors were cycling, pulling breath from water in a steady, mechanical sigh. The colony smelled of warm copper and faint ammonia.

"Scanning complete," the machine announced, its voice flat and patient. "Biological template accepted. Estimation: forty-two minutes."

Kael-7 nodded. Forty-two minutes. In that time, the new droid would emerge with no memories, no name, no particular attachment to the narrow corridor where it would first open its eyes. It would be Kael-7 in every functional sense and no one else. Kael-7 had made peace with that. Out here, four hundred light-years from the nearest dock, a name was a kindness you gave yourself, not a guarantee anyone else would honor.

The hum continued. The extractors sighed. The colony breathed, and grew, and endured.

Reader's Guide

Biology & Droid Management Blueprints

The biology research branch in ONI centers on unlocking the tools your colony needs to sustain and grow its droid population. Below is a general overview of the key blueprints associated with this area, grouped by function. Exact research costs and tier ordering can vary with game updates, so treat the structure as a guide rather than a fixed table.

Droid Reproduction The Duplicator is the flagship unlock. It is a large, power-hungry machine that clones a designated droid, producing a new worker with the same skill set. It requires a steady power supply and consumes materials over the cloning duration. Function: generates new droids to replace losses or expand the workforce.

Life-Support Integration The Oxygen Extractor and Water Purifier are often tied to the broader biology/life-support research path. The Oxygen Extractor converts water into breathable O₂, while the Water Purifier converts dirty water into clean water. Both are essential for keeping a growing population alive and are typically prerequisites or companions to the Duplicator unlock. Function: sustain the colony's atmosphere and water supply as population increases.

Agriculture Support The Bioreactor, available early in most playthroughs, grows food from nutrients and water. While not always gated behind the Advanced Biology node specifically, it becomes critically important once you can clone droids and your food demand scales up. Function: produce food to feed a growing colony.

Research Infrastructure A Basic or Advanced Research Station is required to perform the research that unlocks the above blueprints. Droids must be assigned to the station, and research progresses over time based on the station's tier and the droid's research skill. Function: enable the colony to unlock new technologies over time.

Tip: Before cloning, make sure your oxygen, water, and food loops can handle an additional droid. A new worker is useless if the colony runs out of breathable air on day two.

Did You Know?

• The Duplicator clones a droid's skill set, so a high-level researcher can be replicated into multiple researchers, effectively multiplying your research output.
• Cloning takes real in-game time and consumes materials, so it is not an instant fix for a droid lost to a vacuum breach—plan your population growth ahead of time.
• The Oxygen Extractor and Water Purifier, often unlocked alongside or just before the Duplicator, create a closed-loop life-support system that is essential for supporting a larger colony.
• In Oxygen Not Included, droids do not age or die of old age under normal conditions, so the Duplicator is primarily a tool for replacing losses and scaling up, not for extending individual lifespans.