The Nature Reserve is an area in each District where the Apprentice can grow and keep specimens of Flowers, Fish, Insects, Trees and Shrubs they have collected from the various World Seeds they have visited and grown.
Nature Reserves are also where the Apprentice can manage Critters they've adopted, either by placing them at any unlocked Nature Reserve, or at a Pet House or a staffed Ranch placed in one of the Towns.
To access a Nature Reserve, first it must be discovered by the Apprentice, by walking close to or into the Reserve. Once that has been done, the Reserve will now have a fast-travel point on the overhead map, and the Apprentice can begin managing it, by modifying the flora and fauna, and even by hiring up to 3 Everkin Kids to harvest resources. The Apprentice can catch Fish and Insects, play with or adopt Critters, collect Flowers or chop down Trees (which will regrow after a few days) in the Nature Reserve. Everkin Kids will provide a Chest full of 10-12 resources every few days, which can include any of the following:
Reserve Locations
There are seven Nature Reserves, corresponding to the seven Districts:
- Meadow Quarters - Southwest of town near the pond with everkin statues
- Plains District - North of the buildable area
- Forest Region - An island in the northern lake above the buildable area, across an initially Wither-covered bridge that can be repaired with Builderkin's assistance
- Island Locale - Head out the southeast bridge from the main buildable zone, then cross north beneath the rock arch
- River Precinct - North-Northwest of the buildable area, across the river
- Valley Province - East of the buildable area, near the shoreline
- Mountainside Ward - A short way northeast from town square
Managing Critters
The Critter management interface is rather counter-intuitive. When the Apprentice walks close to the sign for the Nature Reserve, there are two options, Manage Critters (Left button on Mouse or X on controller for PC) and Manage Reserve (E on Keyboard, A on controller on PC). Choosing to Manage Critters will take the player directly into the Assign Critter slot for that particular Nature Reserve. There is only one slot per Nature reserve, but it can hold any size critter (Large or Small).
To access other slots within the same District (Pet Houses or Ranches), CANCEL one time (ESC on Keyboard, B on controller on PC). This will take the player to the District management menu, where any placed Pet Houses or staffed Ranches can be selected. Pet Houses can only hold a single small Critter. Each Ranch that is staffed can hold one large and one small Critter. Note that Critter Centers cannot house any Critters, neither large nor small.
To access other Districts, cancel from this menu one more time, to go to the District selection menu. From here, any District can be selected, and the number of slots available will help indicate where Nature Reserves have been discovered, or Pet Houses or Ranches have been placed.
Cancelling from this menu exits from the Nature Reserve menu entirely.
Critters can also be managed by walking up to a Critter that has already been placed in a Pet House or Ranch. A new option will appear (Change Home - Left button on Mouse or X on controller for PC), which will access the Critter Management menu exactly as if the Critter had just been adopted, allowing the Critter to be moved to another home permanently.
Walking up to a Critter that is placed in a Nature Reserve will instead give the option to Adopt, which will add another copy of the Critter to the Hammerspace that the Critters are stored in. It is unknown if there is a limit to this storage area.
Notes
- The only thing the Apprentice can't do at a Nature Reserve is directly harvest Nuts or Fruit, but if they've hired Everkin Kids to work for them, there is a chance of Fruit and Nuts appearing amongst the other rewards in the Chest.
- It is possible to receive new items not harvested from any known world when opening the Everkin Chest.
Gallery
-
The Manage menu for a Nature Reserve.
-
The Critter menu for a Nature Reserve.
