The information on this page of the guide is fairly general and is meant to help out with the basics of the game. Some of the sections below have expansions that give details and show images that could be considered spoilers. Use the orange links to turn mysteries into knowledge.
I apologize for any inaccuracies. I’m not claiming to be an expert on Desertopia; I made this guide to offer what information I have and created the forums so that we can combine our knowledge. At the moment, there is very little information out there, at least in English.
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The windmill generates a steady stream of energy, and more if you tap it. Levelling it up increases your earnings per minute and per tap. Its level also determines how much energy you get from watching ads at the cargo ship.
When you touch the rain button, a grid showing the tile layout will appear over your island, reef, and polar region. Tap on a tile to see its statistics and to add rain or sunshine with the rain and sun buttons. Each tile has a landform type (use sun or rain to change it), an elevation (fixed), a food level, and a moisture level (sun/rain buttons).
The life detector allows you to find animals on your territory. It lets you choose a tile to search and gives you a list of up to 8 creatures whose survival requirements (as shown in the 
A catalog of all the species that can be discovered in your game and a list of their survival requirements (landform type, elevation, amount of food). Tap an entry on the left to see your creature’s cover photo, name, and habitat, elevation level, and food requirements. You can check the requirements of undiscovered species here to get clues as to where to search for them.
If you want to keep the creatures on a tile or group of tiles alive, you must maintain their survival requirements as shown in the 
Version 3 of Desertopia brings a new feature to the game: recycling! Clean your island of marine debris and make 
The cargo ship gives you opportunities to earn energy for watching ads. The amount you earn depends on the level of your windmill. You will be watching a lot of ads to get a green island if you don’t level up at least a couple of times. Occasionally the cargo ship will pay out 4x, but only rarely.
The cruise ship floats up a couple of times a day, giving you opportunities to choose whether or not you want one of several possible intrusions to occur on your island. As the game mentions, there are upsides and downsides to each.
The conch can be found on the beach, given to you as a daily reward, or purchased for 20 gems from the store. It gives you a chance to accept one of the 
The meteor resets a huge section of your terrain, destroying everything in the area. Be cautious! You do get to choose a center tile for the destruction, which will extend two tiles outward in every direction, resulting in the resetting of up to 19 tiles. When you tap this tile, it happens immediately. There is no confirmation dialog!! Consider your rare, mutant, or event creatures before you do this.
Take pictures of your creatures and island and save or share them. When you find a new animal for the first time, first exit raining mode if you are in it, tap on the creature and a picture will automatically be taken with the caption “NEW SPECIES [species] DESERTOPIA [date]”. This picture will appear in your field guide as the animal’s cover photo. If you want to take more pictures of that animal later, go into your camera window, tap the creature (when the camera starts tracking it, a tiny white animal head appears to the left of your frame), and snap a photo when you are ready.
Earn a gem for every goal you clear. A notification pops up telling you when you’ve made an achievement. Go into the achievements screen and look for numbered items that have a full bar. Touch to receive your reward. The ones with stars are complete.