Quick answer
Ship Graveyard removes the comfortable opening of other maps: it has no growable land or normal wood production, and the opening shipwreck wood is limited. Build compactly, salvage first, and prepare raids before that reserve runs out.
Stabilize the opening wood reserve
- Pause before spending the shipwreck Planks.
- Build only the food, drink, housing, connection, and Pier pieces needed to operate.
- Keep production and storage inside one compact walking loop.
- Salvage every safe source that does not break the settlement.
- Prepare a raid route before the remaining wood reaches your emergency floor.
Decorative expansion and long connector experiments can wait. On this map, every early Plank competes with the route that will replace it.
Build for harsh terrain
Use flat or easily connected ground for buildings with frequent deliveries. Put low-traffic structures on awkward ledges, and avoid routing every item through one steep bottleneck.
Replace local production with planned raids
Ship Graveyard expects piracy to fill gaps the island cannot. Repair and crew the starter ship early, choose raids that replace the resources you are about to exhaust, and return before the haven stalls.
Common mistakes
- Spending limited wood on a wide layout before basic upkeep works.
- Building a long connector that creates no immediate supply benefit.
- Waiting until Planks are gone before preparing the ship.
- Treating Ship Graveyard like a normal fertile island.
- Expanding several production chains before proving one export-and-raid loop.
What success looks like
Food, drink, housing, storage, and the Pier operate inside a short network; the ship can raid without emptying the workforce; and incoming loot replaces resources faster than the opening reserve declines.