Developer Update: Life, STEM, Troves, Farming, and Animals

With Life approaching and Protem now fully transitioned into STEM, this is the right moment to step back and share how these systems are being designed to work together over time.

This is not just about introducing new features. It is about extending the core of Upland, which has always been property ownership and development, into systems that give those properties ongoing purpose. The goal is to move from static ownership toward something more active, where what you build and how you build it directly shapes what your property produces and how it participates in the broader economy.

STEM

STEM has been introduced with a very specific intention. It is account bound and inflationary on purpose. The objective is not to restrict access but to ensure that as many players as possible can participate in the systems built around it.

That intention shows up directly in how players will be able to get it.

STEM will be available permanently in the store, similar to UPX. But purchasing is only one part of the picture. There will be a wide range of ways for players to earn STEM through gameplay, some available at launch and others rolling out over time as these systems expand.

In the near term, Totems will continue, with at least one more cycle planned. This next cycle will reward STEM instead of Protem, with updated reward structures that better align with the broader STEM economy.

While we build toward Troves and other gameplay systems that allow players to earn STEM directly in-game, Season Pass holders will receive STEM each season, with one pass per player. This is intended as a temporary bridge to ensure consistent access to STEM as these systems come online.

In parallel, players will also eventually be able to earn STEM through in-game events, seasonal events, and ongoing engagement like daily logins.

Over time, STEM will increasingly be distributed through systems like Troves, farming, and other gameplay loops as they come online.

The goal is not to point players to a single source. It is to create an environment where STEM is constantly being earned, collected, and used across multiple systems at once. When all of these are active together, the result should feel like there are always opportunities to pick up STEM simply by participating in Upland.

Troves

Troves are where the system starts to come together, but the key is understanding that they are not tied to a single activity.

Plants are one of the most visible ways players will interact with troves. All plants in Upland will produce them, including decorative plants used for design as well as functional plants placed for production. This ensures that every property has the ability to contribute something into the system.

Within that, there is a second layer. Certain plants will be STEM bearing. These include things like fruit trees, crops, and other resource producing vegetation. These plants introduce a chance to collect resource troves that can be exchanged for STEM at service structures like supermarkets.

For example, if a player owns an apple tree or another STEM-bearing plant, that plant will produce resource troves over time. In the case of an apple tree, this would be an apple trove. These can be taken to service structures like supermarkets and exchanged for STEM, or used later as part of recipes.

Only resource troves can be exchanged for STEM, but every trove is used in recipes, making all of them valuable to collect. We’ll cover recipes in more detail later in this post.

At the same time, plants are only one part of how troves are generated.

Players will also be able to collect troves from structures and other map assets. This includes buildings, vehicles and other features that have already been introduced, like fishing and trade routes.

The result is a system where troves are not limited to a single playstyle. They can be earned through development, exploration, movement across the map, and participation in different gameplay loops.

Even when a trove does not convert directly into STEM, it still contributes to progression by serving as an input for crafting and other systems.

The important takeaway is that there will be countless ways to earn troves across Upland. Whether a player is building, exploring, farming, or engaging with systems like fishing and trade routes, they are consistently contributing to and benefiting from the same interconnected resource layer.

Recipes Drive Everything

Recipes are what give every trove its purpose.

Instead of resources existing on their own, they are combined into new outputs that drive progression across the game. A simple example illustrates how this will work in practice. You can imagine a recipe where wheat troves and milk troves can be brought to a bakery and combined into bread troves. That bread is not just another collectible. It becomes something that is required somewhere else.

For instance, an Uppie may request a certain number of bread troves. Fulfilling that request is what allows a player to befriend and mint that Uppie. What started as basic resource collection becomes part of a larger chain that leads directly into progression.

This is what ties the entire system together. Players will be able to collect a variety of trove types, including Care, Resource, Social, Utility, and Valuables, each designed to serve a different role across the ecosystem. We’ll be sharing more details on how these are used in future updates.

More broadly, recipes define how troves are used across Upland. What players harvest from STEM-bearing plants are resource troves, which can be exchanged for STEM. Other types of troves feed into recipes that produce different outcomes across the game.

This creates a system where everything collected has a role. Some troves convert directly into STEM, while others are used to create new items, fulfill requests, or unlock progression. Over time, nearly everything in Upland can become part of a recipe, either as an input or an output.

This ultimately creates a system where collecting all types of troves plays a role, encouraging players to engage in multiple gameplay loops.

Development

Troves and recipes are directly tied to how properties are built and how neighborhoods evolve.

The types of troves available, their rarity, and the overall output are influenced by the level of development of the property. This means development is no longer just about appearance. It has a direct impact on what a property produces and how valuable that production becomes.

As properties are built up and neighborhoods become more complete, they begin to generate better outcomes. This directly impacts the amount,type, and quality of troves a property can generate. More residents and players are then drawn to those areas, more troves are collected, and more recipes can be fulfilled. Activity builds on itself.

This creates a clear incentive structure. Ownership is the starting point, but development determineshow much a property contributes to and benefits from the system.

Farming

Farming introduces scale, but more importantly, it introduces scale specifically for STEM-bearing production.

There is a clear difference between having a single STEM-bearing plant on a residential property and operating a farm. A fruit tree in a yard may occasionally produce a trove that can be exchanged for STEM. Farming takes that same concept and expands it into something much more consistent and much higher output.

Farms will allow players to plant and manage large-scale production of STEM-bearing crops and orchards such as wheat, corn, apples, and grapes. Instead of relying on chance interactions across scattered properties, farming creates a more structured and reliable way to generate STEM-bearing troves at volume. This makes farming one of the most effective ways for players toconsistently generate STEMthrough gameplay.

This creates a distinct role within the ecosystem. Some players will choose to focus on farming as a primary way to generate STEM-bearing troves, optimizing for efficiency and output over time.

At the same time, farming does not replace other forms of play. Residential properties, decorative builds, and other systems will continue to generate a wide variety of troves that are required for recipes. Farming simply becomes an effective way to scale one specific part of the system.

The result is a balance between scale and variety. Farming drives consistent STEM-bearing output, while the broader world continues to produce the full range of troves needed for recipes and progression.

Animals

Farming also opens the door to an entirely new category of gameplay that we are actively working on behind the scenes.

For the first time in Upland, we are planning to introduce animals into the ecosystem. This will begin with farm animals, which players will be able to earn through gameplay by submitting specific combinations of troves at farming-related structures. For example, certain recipes may be required at a stable for a chance to receive a horse.

These animals will not just exist visually, they will also produce their own types of troves. Cows may produce milk, sheep may produce wool, and chickens may produce eggs. These animal-based troves will feed directly into recipes, expanding the range and depth of what players can create.

What makes this system significant is not just how animals are earned, but how they exist in the world. These will not be static items. Animals will be visible and moving in 3D on the map, directly tied to the properties and systems that produce them.

This is another meaningful step toward making Upland feel more alive. As properties are developed and these systems come online, the world itself will begin to reflect that activity in a more dynamic way.

Over time, this system is planned to expand beyond farm animals. We see a path toward pets and even breeding mechanics, where new animals can be created through recipes using specific inputs collected across the game. This adds another layer of long-term progression, while staying consistent with how systems work across Upland.

This is an area we are actively building toward, and we will be sharing more details as development progresses.

Everything Ties Back to Properties

All of these systems are designed to work together, building on the same foundation that Upland has always been built on: property ownership and development.

Plants, structures, vehicles, fishing, and trade routes all produce troves. Some of those troves can be exchanged for STEM, while all of them are used in recipes.Recipes unlock progression through systems like Uppies. Farming allows players to scale production of STEM-bearing troves, and animals expand the types of resources that can be collected while bringing more life into the world.

What matters is not any single system on its own. It is how they connect.

Every layer ties back to properties. What you build, how you develop it, and how your neighborhood evolves will directly influence what your property produces and how valuable it becomes within the broader economy. Development is no longer just visual. It determines output, activity, and opportunity.

At the same time, these systems create more choice in how players engage with Upland.

Some players may continue to focus on only buying and selling properties. Others may focus on development and construction, building high-output properties and neighborhoods. Some may specialize in collecting troves and optimizing recipes. Others may focus on Uppies, racing, or exploring the map through systems like fishing and trade routes.

These are not separate paths. They are all connected through the same underlying systems.

The goal is not to push players into a single way to play, but to expand what is possible while reinforcing what already exists. Property ownership remains the foundation, but with these systems in place, it becomes more important than ever. Every property has the potential to produce, to contribute, and to participate in a larger, player-driven economy.

LIFE is the entry point into this evolution, not the endpoint. As these systems continue to roll out, they will build on each other, creating a more dynamic and interconnected experience over time.

More details will be shared as each of these systems approaches release.