Below is a game that doesn’t offer you a lot of information. The game is very tight-lipped on everything from how crafting works to how to read the map to what you’re even doing there in the first place. (Check the links above for our other guides.)

We’ve explored the first few floors of The Depths a lot (and died a lot along the way). Something we discovered is that knowing where you’re going helps a lot. The in-game map is useful (which we mentioned in our beginner’s guide), but it’s pretty light on the details. This guide is here to fill in some of those missing details for you. Below, you’ll find maps to Below’s starting beach and the first four floors along with some notes about each.

Using these maps

First, we purposefully left these maps simple and unadorned to keep with the philosophy of the game. We tried to make the icons as intuitive as possible. Icons that are blue generally have something to do with your Lantern — like a door or path that opens when you shine your Lantern’s beam on it. Icons with a keyhole or an arrow indicate doors that you can’t open on your first encounter — they’re probably a shortcut that will open once you find the other end.

The problem with making maps for Below is that some part of every floor is procedurally generated every time your adventurer arrives on the beach. There are, however, fixed points on every floor — usually the entrance, exit and any shortcuts. We’ve identified these rooms with solid lines around them, while the variable rooms have dashed outlines.

The Beach

The beach where your adventurer first arrives is a hub of sorts. Within a short walk, there are a couple of Campfires, a supply box and one of those glowing pillars that give you a piece of gear. (We recommend visiting the box and the pillar as your first step with every new adventurer.)

More importantly, several shortcuts from lower floors link to the beach. You have to open them from below, but once you do, they provide a quick way to get several floors down without having to slog through the early ones.

Floor 1

Floor 1 serves as a pretty gentle introduction to the way floors and rooms work in Below. You won’t encounter many enemies and there aren’t any (deadly) traps. This is a great place to stock up on basic supplies like String and Morsels before you venture further down.

There’s only one entrance and one exit to this floor, and no shortcuts to worry about finding. In the southernmost floor, you’ll find your first locked door right next to your first Floor Key.

Floor 2

Floor 2 introduces a lot of new concepts to the game. You’ll have to watch for deadly spike traps and enemies throughout.

Head to the east first. Somewhere between the entrance and the easternmost room, you’ll find this floor’s Floor Key. In the easternmost room, you’ll find a door that blocked by an overgrown plant. Burn it out of your way with a Fire Arrow (Stick + Leather + Ember) to reveal a room with another treasure chest inside.

Off to the west and north, you’ll find an area called Northshore. To the northeast of the entrance, you’ll find the Northshore Key (which you’ll use momentarily) and a Lantern Bit.

To the west of the entrance, there’s a Campfire and supply box. Up the stairs next to the Campfire, the Northshore Key unlocks a path to an elevator that goes back up to the beach (near where you picked up the Lantern the first time).

If you swim through all the shipwrecks heading north from the entrance, you’ll find a larger-than-the-rest wreck you can walk on. Here, you’ll find another glowing pillar that will give you another piece of gear.

In the south, use the Floor Key to open the exit and continue along the path to the next Campfire. A wall will block your path, but if you shine your Lantern’s beam on it, you’ll open the path and unlock the Pocket (a pocket dimension Campfire and storage room).

Floor 3

Start Floor 3 by heading to the southwest and west. You’ll pass a locked door that requires the Tempest Hammer to unlock (which you’ll find on Floor 5). Continue past that door to find the Floor Key. To the north, you’ll find a Campfire and another Lantern Bit along a river. Keep swimming north to find a Lantern-beam door down to Floor 4 and a shortcut back up to Floor 2.

Back in the main area of the floor in about the middle, you’ll find a door marked with some swirled blue inlays. If you deposit 200 Gems in this door, it’ll unlock and give you access to a shop. Here, you can spend Gems to pick up gear and items.

To the south and east, you’ll find this floor’s main exit (down a lot of stairs). This path skips over Floor 4 and heads straight to Floor 5.

Floor 4

Floor 4 introduces environmental hazards and tougher enemies. The entire floor is freezing and will drain your Cold meter. You can combat this by lighting braziers and standing near them. The new, tougher enemy is a shielded version of the monsters you’ve faced before. To create an opening, keep your shield raised, then bash them with it when they raise an arm to attack.

Start this floor by heading to the southeast. In one of the westernmost rooms (indicated by the dashed arrows on the map because we’ve seen it in three places), you’ll find a pile of rocks blocking a doorway. Use a Bomb (Skull + String + Phosphor) or a Bomb Arrow (Stick + String + Phosphor) to blow it open. Inside, you’ll find a Campfire and another gear pillar. This one will usually give you a Tuque that will help you in the cold.

In the center of the floor, you’ll find a room with a teleporter panel in the floor. This will warp you all the way back up to the grassland above the beach. If you continue past the teleporter, you’ll find an elevator that leads you far below to a new area that, frankly, we haven’t explored yet.

Down to the southeast, you’ll find an exit that drops you out onto the stairs leading from Floor 3 down to Floor 5.