Getting started
From your invitation to your first week: choose your founders, learn with Garry, care for your collection and find your next step.
Contents
Your invitation and account
Your beta invitation opens the gate to Gecktopia. Follow its link to the Invite page. Its code identifies the invitation; it can be claimed only once. If the link has lapsed, use the request for a new link on that page. If you already have an account, choose Sign in instead.
On Sign up, enter your email and password under Your account, then choose the name of your breeding program under Your program. The invitation is carried through these steps. Keep access to the email address you use: it is where hatch notifications go. When the account is ready, you move to the founder draft.
Each invitation is personal. If a code has already been claimed, sign in to the account that claimed it. Read Claiming founder rewards if you also have a founder purchase.
Claiming founder rewards
A founder purchase has its own claim link, sent to the purchase email. Open that link to reach Claim your founder rewards. Sign in to the account that should receive them, or create an account from the claim page. Then choose Claim to this account. The claim belongs to that account once accepted.
If the claim link has stopped working, use the new-link option on the Claim page. Check the purchase email for the replacement. Do not create a second breeding program just to retry a claim. The claim page explains a link that is already used and how to continue.
Your founder rewards and the founder draft serve different purposes: the draft starts your program, while claimed rewards attach to your account. Continue with Choosing your founders.
Choosing your founders
The founder draft introduces 6 unrelated candidates. You keep 3. Each is an adult ready to begin, but your trio must include a female and a male who can pair. Hidden genes may be present even when a gecko does not show them. Their appearance, traits and build give you different starting goals; no choice promises a particular hatchling.
On the founder draft, choose Start looking, open a candidate for a closer look, and use Pick on the geckos you want. Picked changes to Unpick if you change your mind. The tally shows your progress. Choose Keep these 3, review your trio in the confirmation dialog, and confirm. The candidates left behind do not return, so read each before committing.
A useful first path is to pick a female and male whose traits you want to explore, then use the remaining choice to broaden the program. If your picks cannot form a pair, adjust the trio before confirming. Later, the Morph Library explains the traits you see, and the section on hidden genes explains where to see what you know and what may still be hidden.
Naming your geckos
After the draft, Name your founders shows a name field for each gecko. Keep a suggested name or write one of your own, then save the names. Choose Name them later if you want to reach the Collection first. Names help you follow pairings and family lines; they do not change genetics or build.
For an individual gecko, open it from the Collection and use the pencil beside its name to rename it. Suggested names are there if you want a starting point. A hatch reveal also lets you name a new hatchling. Use names that help you recognise a gecko in the Collection, on its own page, in pairings and in the family record.
Learning with Gecko Garry
Garry appears on the Collection after the founder draft. His bar says what to do next and takes you to the relevant screen. Follow the task in the game, then return to the Collection to see the next step. The tutorial introduces care, pairing, the Incubator and your first hatch without making you guess which page to open.
Garry's Complete now control can advance the current step while he is here. If you need a quieter screen, use the guidance control on his bar; you can show his help again. When a pairing needs an unrelated gecko, follow Choose an outcross rather than repeating a refused pairing. The pairing guide explains how to compare candidates.
Finishing the tutorial opens a Foundation Voucher and the First week row. The voucher helps you bring an unrelated gecko into your program; see Foundation stock. Continue with the Collection to find your next task.
Finding your way around the Collection
Open Collection from the sidebar. The top of the page gives your program's current state; care and time-sensitive notices appear before the geckos. Each gecko card leads to its own page for details, genetics and breeding history. Start with the next action the page names, then come back to the collection to see what changed.
Care for the whole collection from the Care row: Feed, Clean and Mist. Each action becomes available again after 24 hours. Supplies are spent for geckos that eat; a missed day does not create a debt. See Daily care for the full routine.
Use the view control to switch between cards and a list. Search, sort and filter the collection when you need a particular gecko or a pair that is eligible now. These choices change what is shown, not what you own. If a gecko is missing from view, clear the search and filters before looking elsewhere.
Choose a card to open that gecko's page. Overview shows its current state. In Genetics, Known genetics shows what the gecko displays and what it is known to carry. A gene can be hidden even when it is carried: breeding can prove one, and a genetic test can reveal one directly. Genes still unknown do not appear as known. Breeding record shows its pairing and clutch history. On a phone, open these sections to read them.
Your first week
After Garry's tutorial, Your first week appears on the Collection. It records 6 milestones for experiences you can complete in your own order. Open the row to see what each asks and follow its action link. The highlighted milestone is a suggested next step, not a requirement to finish the others in sequence.
- First natural hatch: Hatch an egg from one of your own pairings. An egg takes a day or two in the Incubator, so while it waits, look at who else could pair. Completing it earns 10 reputation. Open the Incubator.
- First pairing of your own: Choose a female and a male and start a pairing. Completing it earns 5 reputation. Start a pairing.
- First gecko from the market: Bring in a gecko from the market, with your Foundation Voucher or from another keeper. Completing it earns 5 reputation. Visit the market.
- First hidden trait confirmed: Test a gecko to find a trait it carries but does not show. Completing it earns 25 reputation. See the genetic tests.
- First sale: Sell a gecko to another keeper or to an NPC keeper. Completing it earns 5 reputation. Visit the market.
- First retirement: Retire a gecko from breeding when you choose to. It stays in your collection. Completing it earns 5 reputation. Open your collection.
For your first days, begin with daily care and a pairing your founders can make. While a clutch and egg develop, inspect the Morph Library, read your geckos' genetics, and decide whether the Foundation Voucher would give you a useful outcross. Come back to the Incubator when an egg is ready. A sale, test or retirement can wait until it fits the program you want; no milestone asks you to rush a decision.
The row can be collapsed, and completed milestones remain recorded. See Daily care, pairing to clutch and genetic testing when those steps are new.
Coming back
Return to the Collection to see what changed while you were away. The welcome-back notice summarises the return, and the Collection shows care, ready eggs and other work in their own places. Read those states before taking an action.
Start with care that is ready, then open the Incubator if an egg is waiting. A locked gecko or paused collection follows its own clock; read the notice before assuming a timer has advanced. If your collection is paused, use Resume on the Collection when you are ready for its clocks to run again. See Locking and pausing.
The bell in the top bar gathers the few things that need your attention and your unread notifications. Open it from any game page, then choose an item to go directly to the relevant screen. The count includes every waiting group, even when the quick list shows only the highest-priority items.
What is new
Open What is new from the sidebar to read game updates. An important announcement may also appear as a pop-up when you next visit; it remains until you dismiss it. Open the update to read its full details before returning to your Collection.
Updates explain what has changed in the game. If an announcement describes a feature you cannot see yet, check its stated availability rather than treating the message as an action to take today. For help with a specific task, use the matching section of this guide.
Settings and reminders
Open Settings from the sidebar. Your player number appears at the top. Under reminders, choose how often you want gameplay email and save the choice. The page shows the send time in your time zone when it knows it. Reminders help you return; the Collection remains the place to check what is ready.
Under Celebrations, choose All for big moment pop-ups and small moments in Updates, Big only to keep small moments in Recent moments, or Quiet to keep moments in your list without a pop-up. Save your choice. It changes how moments are presented, not whether your milestones are recorded. You can change either choice later. Open Recent moments to find moments that did not pop up. Recognition controls how you appear in the Founders' Hall.
Open a keeper's profile and choose Message to begin a private conversation. New messages also appear in Recent moments, so you can return to the conversation without leaving the game. Blocking a keeper stops messages in either direction.
Reporting a problem
Use Report a bug from the game when something does not work as expected. Describe what you were trying to do, what happened, and which page you were on. Add a picture if it helps show the problem, then send the report. The reporter includes useful page context so the team can investigate.
If an action was refused, first read the reason shown on that page; it may be a game rule rather than a fault. Do not repeat a purchase or other irreversible action while unsure of its result. The Community feed is also a place to discuss ideas with other keepers, while the reporter is the direct path for a fault.
Next: Care and daily life