Sandstone

Sandstone is a common raw element used primarily as a building material and crafting resource. It is widely available early in a colony and is often the first construction material players use. Sandstone provides a modest positive decor bonus when used for decorative buildings, making it suitable for early sculptures and paintings, and it can be harvested on Space missions from Sandy Ore Fields at 216–648 kg per cycle.

Sandstone has low structural hardness (hardness value 10). This low hardness means Sandstone is prone to fracture under high stress or when containing large amounts of liquids; fractured Sandstone can lead to leaks. To mitigate this risk, players sometimes build walls two tiles thick or reserve harder materials for tanks and large liquid reservoirs. Sandstone is otherwise easy to work with and abundant in many biomes, which contributes to its role as a reliable starter material.

Sandstone interacts with several machines and critters. A Rock Crusher will break Sandstone into Sand on a one-to-one mass basis: 100 kg Sandstone → 100 kg Sand. Certain critters, specifically Hatches, will consume Sandstone and excrete Coal, allowing a renewable early-game coal source if you manage a Hatch population. These interactions make Sandstone useful beyond construction, feeding into early chemical and energy chains.

• Common uses: basic building blocks, early decorative structures (provides +10% Decor when used for sculptures/paintings).
• Mechanical behavior: low hardness (10) makes it susceptible to cracking and causing leaks under high pressure; prefer harder materials for liquid storage or build thicker walls to reduce failure risk.
• Processing: Rock Crusher converts Sandstone into Sand at equal mass.
• Biological processing: Hatches can eat Sandstone and produce Coal as waste.
• Space harvesting: Sandstone appears in Space POIs (Sandy Ore Fields) and is a renewable resource on rocket missions, yielding 216–648 kg per cycle.

Because Sandstone is simple to obtain and versatile in early play, it remains a core component of starter bases and early production chains. Use it for non-critical structures and decorative works, and plan to switch to sturdier materials when pressure containment or long-term liquid storage becomes important.