Trade Mode is the combat-free mode: alien attacks are replaced by economic pressure, so a Trade run is entirely about resource management and long-term planning. Nothing interrupts you mid-build — no waves, no drop pods — which makes the run a pure supply-and-weight problem: production chains, energy, fuel, workforce and the mass of the ship you are growing are all the game.
What changes in a Hull Rupture Trade Mode run
Alien attacks are replaced by economic pressure, and that is the whole rule change. Everything else about the ship still applies: you still build modules, still place turrets, still travel the map and still meet the same kinds of star.
The mode was introduced alongside Classic Mode in the Steam Next Fest demo, and the developers were explicit about its purpose. Rather than simply adjusting a few numbers, they want different modes to encourage entirely different strategies and priorities — so Trade Mode is not Classic with the turrets removed.
What still matters
Because no waves come at you, the whole run becomes a supply-and-weight problem:
- Production chains carry the run, since there is no combat to fall back on. The production chain guide applies unchanged.
- Energy and fuel are the constraint rather than the resource you spend freely, and ship mass is the tax on everything you build.
- Workforce is the only sink that never stops pulling, and in a mode with no waves to interrupt you, you will happily over-staff a converter. The workforce guide covers why that is usually a mistake.
- Ship weight is the tax on everything you build, and the ship weight and fuel guide covers the slow route and the fast route that follow from it.
Nothing interrupts you mid-build, which cuts both ways: you can plan further ahead than in Classic, but you also lose the pressure that would have told you when to stop expanding.
Why the mode exists
Trade Mode is the developers' first step toward expanding the mode selection beyond the standard experience. Their stated design goal is that each mode puts a different spin on the core gameplay, and the point of the mode is the change in priorities rather than the change in numbers — which is why it plays as a slower, heavier, more deliberate version of the same ship.
What carries over from the demo
Unlocking Trade Mode in the demo transfers to the full game. The launch post lists exactly two things that carry over from the demo — a completed tutorial and an unlocked Trade Mode — so if you played the demo and unlocked it, you will already have it on November 4.
Everything else, including artifacts, resets. The demo progress guide covers that list in full, and the game modes guide places Trade Mode against the other five.