Terraria runs deep. Miles into the earth deep. While this 2D action-adventure sandbox game has been an App Store staple for some time, it still holds many mysteries.



With thousands of items to craft and numerous bosses to defeat, it’s jam-packed with little-known strategies and hidden secrets. Here are five of our favorites:

Find Hardmode

You’ve built your home base, fully explored the world, and amassed some amazing gear. So what’s next? Time to up the challenge.



To trigger the next stage of the game, gather a Guide Voodoo Doll and toss it into the lava flowing throughout the Underworld. This summons the Wall of Flesh boss. Defeat it and the world permanently converts to Hardmode, introducing new challenges and goodies.

Go crate fishing

As the name implies, Hardmode can be tough! Getting your hands on Hardmode ore to craft better gear is key to your survival.



One great trick: Fish for crates early, but only open them once you’ve unlocked Hardmode. You’ll save yourself hours of difficult mining and acquire some amazing gear in the process.



To increase your chances of catching crates, raise your fishing power above 50 percent. Mixing worms with stars to create Enchanted Nightcrawlers helps, as does crafting or purchasing a decent pole. And double your odds of getting a crate by using a potion. Mix Deathweed, Moonglow, Amber, and bottled water to craft the elixir—or complete quests for the Angler NPC.

Farm the Golem

The Golem boss can be daunting, but fighting this beast presents one of the best ways to get money, potions, and rare items.



First, brave the Jungle Temple to reach the Golem (be sure to bring along a pair of wire cutters to easily spot and disable traps). Once you reach the boss, stay mobile to keep its deadly lasers from locking on.



Successfully take down the Golem and you can acquire the Picksaw. Use this to remove the Lihzahrd Altar. Now transport the altar to a safer location—somewhere above the surface, for instance—and you can summon and defeat the Golem at will to earn great treasures.



Pro tip: To quickly gather the Lihzahrd Power Cells needed to summon the Golem, grapple yourself to a tall ceiling in the Temple (Golem’s room works great for this) and fire away at the enemies below.

Build a potion garden

Dayblooms are a central ingredient in several vital potions, but they can grow scarce as the game progresses. So make them yourself!



Start by mining for clay. Once you have a good stack, craft some Clay Pots at a furnace. Take a Daybloom seed—any Daybloom you find in the wild and harvest during the day will yield at least one—and plant it in a pot.



The seed will soon grow into a beautiful Daybloom flower. Harvest it during the day when it is in full bloom, and it will generate at least two Daybloom seeds. Replant these and start the cycle again.



Over time, you will amass more Dayblooms—essentially an unlimited quantity of one of the most important crafting ingredients in Terraria. Next stop: Ironskin and Regeneration potions, both of which are useful for taking down bosses!

Earn your wings early

Flight is one of the coolest abilities in Terraria. But getting your first pair of wings represents a stiff challenge, requiring that you battle deadly Wyverns up in the clouds for Souls of Flight.



Or try this shortcut.



Before you head into Hardmode, make sure that you have unlocked the Witch Doctor NPC by defeating a Queen Bee boss in the Jungle biome. After the Witch Doctor is unlocked, build him a house in the Jungle and have him move in.



Once you reach Hardmode, wait until nightfall and pay the doctor a visit to purchase Leaf Wings for just one platinum coin—much faster (and safer) than all those Wyverns!