Pufts are small, non-hostile critters that inhale nearby gases and excrete useful solid products. The baseline Puft is the yellow, three-eyed variant that consumes Polluted Oxygen and excretes Slime at 95% efficiency (the mass of produced Slime is 95% of the inhaled mass). Pufts appear in the wild and can be captured, penned and bred to provide renewable resources or to be paired with other critters. Pufts flee when attacked and their eggs take 15 cycles to hatch outside an Incubator (or 3 cycles if Lullabied).
There are four Puft morphs with distinct gas diets and outputs: the basic Puft (Polluted Oxygen → Slime), Dense Puft (Oxygen → Oxylite, 95% efficiency), Squeaky Puft (Chlorine → Bleach Stone, 95% efficiency) and the Puft Prince. The Puft Prince functions like a basic Puft but can breathe all three gases and excretes only 10% of inhaled mass; it is used primarily to influence breeding rather than for high-yield production. Morph composition of offspring depends on which morphs are present in the same room: having a Puft Prince nearby increases the chance to produce Dense and Squeaky Puft eggs while decreasing the chance of Puft Prince eggs; conversely, lacking a Puft Prince raises the probability of producing Puft Prince eggs. Individual morphs have distinct egg-laying distributions (for example Dense and Squeaky Pufts commonly lay their own type and a small chance of Puft or Puft Prince eggs).
Pufts are useful in several renewable-farming setups. Basic Pufts fed by Polluted Oxygen create Slime that can be used to grow Dusk Caps or processed into Algae (via an Algae Distiller) or Phyto Oil (via a Plant Pulverizer). A simple Slime farm uses a stable with Polluted Water on the floor to off-gas Polluted Oxygen and sustain a Puft population; Morbs pair well with Pufts because Morbs produce Polluted Oxygen without ongoing input. For Oxylite, Dense Pufts replace the basic variant and produce Oxylite at 95% efficiency; Dense Puft ranches often require Deodorizers and steady oxygen input, but produce Oxylite without power or heat compared to refinery methods. For Bleach Stone, Squeaky Pufts consume Chlorine and yield Bleach Stone at 95% efficiency; these can support large Waterweed farms or refill Hand Sanitizers. Chlorine’s density and Pufts’ tendency to float require atmospheric control, airlocks and access via Exosuits for reliable Squeaky Puft stables.
Practical notes for ranching and breeding:
Keep a shallow layer of liquid on the stable floor so Puft outputs solidify; this prevents outputs from remaining gaseous and makes collection simpler.
Regularly sort eggs into dedicated enclosures to stabilize morph populations and to obtain desired morphs (e.g., keep a separate Puft Prince stable to encourage Dense or Squeaky Puft egg production in the main herd).
The chance of laying a basic Puft egg declines over time regardless of pen composition; if no Puft Prince is present the chance of Puft Prince eggs increases over time, while penning with a Puft Prince shifts egg probabilities toward Dense and Squeaky variants.
Puft Prince will not produce Puft Prince eggs in practice because its self-stabling removes that initial small chance.
A single Puft Prince can be used to keep Dense or Squeaky Pufts producing their own eggs, aiding long-term propagation of those variants.
Population planning: in one measured setup (Spaced Out expansion), a continuous Sublimation Station supported just under 8 Pufts; Morbs can be used to cheaply sustain larger Puft populations (roughly one Puft per ~4.2 Morbs estimated for some builds).
Use Pufts where a passive, low-maintenance source of Slime, Oxylite or Bleach Stone is desired and combine with atmosphere and egg management to steer production toward the resource you need.
