Crafting
Start with picking grass and slate — build magnificent buildings and complex contraptions.
Crafting in A Tale in the Desert is a core part of the game — from structural materials to food and drink, all you need to grow and thrive is craftable.
Start with picking grass, let it dry in the Egyptian sun to turn into straw, use it on its own to feed camels, or mix with sand and mud to make bricks in a brick rack. Plane wood harvested from nearby trees to make boards. Fabricate a custom compound where you can build complex structures for making anything from glassware to pottery.
Metals
Dig ore from the ground by solving puzzles — the more elaborate the chain of solutions, the more ore you recover per dig attempt. Smelt the ore in a furnace; get the timing right and boost the yield, leave it too long and watch your ore turn to slag. Mix and match metals to make complex alloys, guide the reactory's crystallisation process to maximise the yield.
Wine
Grow grapes in a vineyard, tend to your crop to alter its acidity, colour and flavour. Cross-breed cuttings to make new strains. Learn cooperage to make wine barrels, fill with wine to ferment, and craft the perfect vintage. Share your creations with other players to help pass the Test of the Banquet.
Citrus trees
Let bees cross-pollinate nearby trees to create fantastic new varieties of citrus fruit. Make flavoured honey and find uses for powerful citrus varieties through a diverse cooking system.
Beer brewing
Try your hand at brewing beer, the national beverage of Egypt. Find the best combination of malt, wheat, honey, and the right microbes to craft that special flavour and potency. Beer can also be brewed into ambrosia or distilled into spirits, to help appease the Egyptian gods.
Blacksmithing
Starting with a formless hunk of metal, shape it into a variety of useful items like hatchets and shovels based off a template. As the quality of your items improves with practice, they gain additional mechanical benefits and can be sold for a profit.
Glassblowing
Turn raw materials into glass objects such as jars, sheet glass, and ritual torches. Or try your hand at glassblowing and craft high-quality, sought-after items like thermometers, hookah bowls, and wine glasses.