Start here
voidkargo is a haulage strategy game in space. You found a haulage company, join one of two syndicates and carry goods between stations so they grow. A season lasts 28 days and runs in the browser.
Signing the contract
- Open the game and press Sign a contract.
- Fill in your contractor handle (3–20 characters: lowercase letters, digits and underscore), an access phrase and your company's name.
- Pick a syndicate, Zarya or Meridian. The rules are the same for both. When one syndicate has fewer members, it offers a 2,000 cr signing advance on top.
- Paint your first hull, or keep the factory paint. The livery can be changed at any time, see Livery and identity.
Next time, your handle, your access phrase and Resume your shift are enough.
What you start with
A company starts with 12,000 cr and one Light ship at its syndicate's capital. The upkeep of one Light is never charged, so the first ship runs free. A company that joins later in the season gets a catch-up grant: four times the starting 12,000 cr, times the share of the season already gone.
The map
After you sign in, the game frames the system holding your first ship and opens its station panel. Stars are systems; the lines between them are lanes. The Legend button in the bottom-left corner explains the marks:
- a dim star is a dormant system where nothing is made yet;
- a ring around a star is an outpost being founded, and the arc shows how full its basket is;
- a small solid shape is an industry, brighter the busier it is;
- a faint dashed arc is a gate locked until its era, a pulsing arc a gate under construction and a bright arc an open gate;
- a magenta arc is a dark gate: built, but its owner no longer holds one of its ends.
A syndicate sees only part of the galaxy: its home cluster, the systems it holds, every system where one of its ships is docked, both ends of every lane its ships are flying, and the neighbours of all of those. To see the rest, send a ship.
The top bar
Left to right: Credits, Net worth, Income / min (1h), Upkeep / min, Era / next, Board directive and Season ends. In a narrow window the stats hide one by one; credits and the season clock always stay.
The buttons on the bar open the big panels: Board, Tenders, Induction, Memos, Alliance, Ranks and Livery. Only one is open at a time; tapping its button again closes it. The last button logs out.
Your first shift
- In the Fleet panel on the left, select your ship.
- Set a trade route: tap the origin system, then the destination. The ship buys at one end, sells at the other and runs back and forth. It picks its own cargo, always the one that earns the most on the leg ahead.
- Watch the notices at the edge of the map: each delivery shows what it earned.
- Spend the earnings on another ship. The details are in Your company and fleet.
Induction and daily KPIs
The induction panel walks you through eight steps. Each is paid as soon as it is done, in any order.
| Step | Reward |
|---|---|
| File your first route | 500 cr |
| Feed a station's growth basket | 800 cr |
| Requisition a second vessel | 1,000 cr |
| Deliver to an industry | 1,500 cr |
| Join a syndicate alliance | 1,000 cr |
| Win a tender bracket | 2,500 cr |
| Contribute to a Board requisition | 2,000 cr |
| Found an outpost | 5,000 cr |
On top of that, three of six daily KPIs are set each day, 800 cr each: haul 200 units to stations, deliver to 3 different stations, settle 50 units of Board requisitions, book 3,000 cr of trade profit, deliver 3 different goods and complete 10 deliveries.