Underground Ruins

Underground Ruins are natural structures buried beneath the terrain that provide an unlimited supply of Scrap Metal, one of the most important industrial resources in Timberborn. These remnants of human civilization are scattered across maps in fixed locations and cannot be created or relocated by beavers. Unlike Surface Ruins, which are finite and eventually depleted by scavengers, Underground Ruins offer a permanent, renewable source of scrap that can sustain a colony indefinitely. Most maps contain between 2 and 4 Underground Ruins, making their locations strategically significant for long-term planning.

To harvest Scrap Metal from Underground Ruins, players must construct a Mine (available to the Folktails faction) or an Efficient Mine (exclusive to Iron Teeth) directly on top of the ruin. Once operational, miners will continuously extract scrap from the site, feeding it into your colony's production chains. Scrap Metal is essential for crafting metal components, which are used in advanced buildings and mechanical structures. Because Underground Ruins require continuous support from the bottom of the map, players cannot dig tunnels beneath them or place them on terrain with gaps in lower layers, which limits some terraforming options around these sites.

The placement of Underground Ruins on a map often influences district layout and expansion priorities. Experienced players will identify ruin locations early and plan mining infrastructure around them, since a steady scrap supply is critical for progressing through the technology tree. On maps with fewer Underground Ruins, competition for scrap becomes more intense, and players may need to rely more heavily on Surface Ruins and Scavenger Flags during the early game. The unlimited nature of Underground Ruins makes them invaluable for late-game economies, where demand for metal components, gears, and advanced machinery continues to grow alongside colony population.