Space Chef looks cozy, but the Horseshoe Nebula will chew you up if you don’t plan your days, power your ship, and stock your pantry. This Space Chef Beginner Guide distills the essentials—movement, combat, farming, mining, power, and exploration—into a clean roadmap so you can expand your menu, grow your reputation stars, and push into the Outer Zone without guesswork.
Space Chef Beginner Guide Wiki (Spoiler-Light)
Open for business in the Gastropedia and start taking orders. Orders drive money, reputation, and progression.
Scout the Inner Zone (Cyclonia and Lush). Pick up everything you see—raw ingredients unlock recipes and reputation bonuses.
Level Farming to unlock the Shovel (Rushwood + Scrap Metal). Start a tiny farm right away.
Listen to radio messages and recheck them in Gastropedia if you miss something.
Bank early money for basics: extra seeds, water, and a few weapon/ship touch-ups.
Keep raw ingredients (they never spoil). Cooked goods spoil unless refrigerated.
Universal Tips & Systems
Run/Boost: Hold Shift (or click LS). Same input boosts in space.
Healing: Eating raw works, cooked heals more—bring meals on expeditions.
Energy: You won’t collapse at 0, but some actions lock out. Drinks (e.g., Zuka) and later recipes extend uptime.
Fridge Logic: Raw = safe forever. Cooked = store in the fridge to slow spoilage.
Money: Deliveries are king. Sell recyclables/parts to vendors (Zoe pays for recycled parts).
Combat Basics
Space Chef’s combat rewards positioning and targeting rather than tanking.
Default Spatula: Fine for docile mobs (Beefles), weak against aggressive creatures.
Level Combat by… fighting. Better weapons unlock via skill thresholds; some Cooking milestones unlock usable “kitchen tools” as weapons.
Mouse: Back-pedal while aiming with the cursor; keep distance.
Gamepad: Aim with the right stick—strafe left while attacking right for tight corridors (great vs. Gnibbits).
Polka Snakes (FAQ): Craft a better weapon (Slotted Spoon/Dull Knife). With these, ~5 hits vs. 9 with Spatula. Lure them away from spawn pockets and box them in.
Handy milestones to chase early
Shovel: Slow, but hits hard and unlocks farming/soil pick-up.
Elemental Mix: Keep a couple weapon types for different creatures; upgrade when you can.
Inner Zone: What to Prioritize
You’ll start within a limited ring dictated by basic solar output. Two planets are your early playground:
Cyclonia & Lush: Clear both for ingredients to unlock recipes, then grind reputation via deliveries.
Open Shop Daily: It closes when you sleep or run out of stock—reopen from the right-side button/Gastropedia.
Mystery Planets (Gas): Ignore for now—requires Gas Skimmer (Mining Lv. 2).
FAQ — Inner Zone
“Tutorial done, now what?” Keep exploring; follow Grandma’s starting tips above, and stack deliveries.
“Found 2 robot parts—what now?” Talk to Billy (Zlurkas or his home in Hook’s Edge). Remaining parts are in the Outer Zone—don’t stress yet.
“How do I reach the Outer Zone?” Hit 2 reputation stars to unlock Advanced Solar Panels (details below).
“Glimmerrock?” Outer Zone content; you’ll get there once your panels are upgraded.
“More money?” Deliveries first; sell recycled parts to Zoe for extra Bits.
Farming: Soil, Water, Seeds, & Early Crafting
Core Tools & Resources
Shovel (early must-craft): Requires Rushwood + Scrap Metal. Farming XP from foraging unlocks it quickly.
Rushwood:
Plant Rushwood Seeds from your basement or buy them at Coppers Rest – General Store.
Plant early so you don’t bottleneck on soil production.
Soil:
Scoop from The Park (big tubular house in Coppers Rest, slightly NW of Rusty Town)—needs the Shovel.
At Farming Lv. 3, craft Compost to generate soil. If you used all initial soil without growing Rushwood, Compost saves your run.
Water Production (Don’t Stay Dependent on Store-Bought)
Craft a Drill (explore to unlock blueprint).
Find the Ice Field near the inner-zone edge and drill ice.
Craft a Water Tank (Farming Lv. 2).
Process ore into Water or Ice Cubes in the tank.
Seed Economy
Buy some basics at the General Store.
For scale, earn the Seed Extractor from Billy—requires finishing a side objective for him (finding a dear friend).
Good early farm loop:
Rushwood patch → Compost online → Water Tank operational → Add a second plot for high-yield staples → Keep one bed for experimental crops to unlock recipes.
Energy Management
You can stay up almost an entire day/night; 0 energy won’t knock you out, but actions lock.
Sprinting drains the green stamina bar; it refills when you stop.
Drinks and later recipes extend energy windows—use them before big mining runs or long delivery chains.
Spaceflight & Ship Care
Boosters, Fuel, and Repairs
Boost for deliveries or pirate evasion.
Refuel & Repair at Chuck’s Gas locations scattered across the nebula. Full repairs grant a free Zuka.
Upgrades: Mega Booster and Quantum Booster unlock via Exploration skill.
Solar Panels = Exploration Range
The farther from the sun, the more panel output you need.
When your indicator goes red, you’re near the limit—turn toward the sun to return safely.
Advanced Solar Panels unlock the Outer Zone (see below).
Mining: Drills, Asteroids, and Control Tips
Unlock Rusty Drill by raising Exploration (space scouting, looting junk, exploring planets).
Controls while mining:
- Mouse users: Consider WASD/arrow keys to micro-adjust while drilling.
- Gamepad: Feather the stick to rotate and control speed—vital for moving asteroids.
Asteroid Types:
- There are 9 total; 8 telegraph their material via appearance.
- Some “plain rock” asteroids hide materials—worst case, you still gain Mining XP.
Gas Planets: Require Gas Skimmer (Mining Lv. 2). Mark them for a quick loop later.
People & Timetables (Inner Zone)
Characters move with the clock. The clock’s arrow helps:
- Morning: pointing left
- Noon: straight up
- Evening: pointing right
- Night: most characters unavailable
Where to find folks
- Billy: Morning/Evening Home • Noon Zlurkas
- Zoe: Morning Wreck It • Noon Park • Evening Zlurkas
- Dylan: Morning/Noon Zlurkas • Evening Bar 13
- Jack: Morning Home • Noon Galactic Burgers • Evening Zlurkas
- Gloria: Night/Morning Zlurkas • Evening Home
- Jenny: Morning Home • Noon/Evening Park
Tip: Chain errands by time—hit Zlurkas routes at Noon, parks in the evening, home calls in the morning.
Outer Zone (Two-Star Milestone)
Once you craft Advanced Solar Panels, the map opens: more customers, new people, grandma’s storyline beats, and fresh materials.
Crafting Advanced Solar Panels
- Unlock: Reach 2 reputation stars via deliveries.
- Materials: Refined Metal, Quartz, Glass.
Where to get components
- Refined Metal: Craft with the Multi Melter (Mining Lv. 1).
- Quartz: Orbits the sun; you’ll need Basic Hull Plating (Mining Lv. 3) and a Steel Drill (Mining Lv. 4) to harvest safely.
- Glass: Recycle Household Junk.
Plan a compact mining day: repair at Chuck’s → grab quartz near the sun (with plating) → swing past ice fields → run recyclables for glass → finish at your fabricators.
Space Chef’s loop is a satisfying triangle: cook to earn, farm/mine to supply, upgrade to explore further. Prioritize consistent orders, bring farming online early (soil, water, seeds), and level mining/exploration in parallel. Hitting two stars for Advanced Solar Panels is your first major spike; from there, the Outer Zone turns the game into a true roaming kitchen empire.