Recently the Playstation plus free game of the month “Don’t Starve” was released on the Playstation Network, if you haven’t got it yet, go grab it!

The game does however pose an interesting challenge, armed with only the instructions “Don’t Starve” you are to survive as long as possible in this hostile environment with no help along the way, but now comes our Don’t Starve survival guide.



Right from the start Don’t Starve gives you no tutorial and your character wakes up next to a strange figure who disappears a few seconds later, with the first night quickly approaching, what are you to do? Well, read below for a basic guide into your first few days and nights in the Don’t Starve world and some handy tips for your survival.

Day 1: Start by immediately collecting 12 flowers to build the headdress to constantly give you a sanity boost. They last around 5 days so don’t have to be replaced often. The next step on this first day is to collect as many resources as you can see, grass, sticks and flint are all extremely important. Build an axe and cut down some trees in order to start a fire, remember to have enough wood to keep the fire going through the night. Placement of the fire is not especially important in the first night as you have plenty of time to plan over the next few days.

Days 2-5: These days are usually spent exploring for a place to camp permanently, ideally you want to find a place near to rocks as well as trees and if possible near beefalos or pigs and most importantly, a source of food. Beefalos can be very helpful when hounds attack as the beefalos will protect the player. Pigs, likewise, are also helpful and if given a morsel will follow and help with combat and also resource collection. These days are also the time when the hounds are likely to come, if an axe is built they shouldn’t pose a huge threat and can be killed reasonably easily. (See part two for more details). During this time its best to try and explore as much of the map as possible. My personal tactic is to find a group of at least 5 rabbit holes and camp nearby, by placing traps over the rabbit holes they can be a permanent and easy to collect source of food. Finding rocks is essential at this stage to build a science machine and to make tools such as the permanent campfire. Rocks are not needed ofter however so the best tactic is to find some, mine them and then find a better place to camp and put the rocks in chests.

Days 6 onwards: Exploration still comes into play in this stage however most of the time you spend will generally be nearby the main camp, a science machine should have been created by this time so that a spear can be crafted to deal with hounds and other monsters. You should also have traps over at least four or five rabbit holes if that is how you will rely on food. Plant the pinecones you take from trees around your camp as these will enable you to grow a forrest where you live, giving you a huge supply of wood. Make a small collection of chests to store wood and food in, if you leave rabbits uncooked you can leave them for as long as you want without them spoiling. However only one rabbit can occupy a place if they are not cooked. You can however stack twenty logs and fill up nine spaces in a chest giving you 180 pieces of wood per chest. These resources are especially handy when surviving winter as the days become shorter and more hazards arise.

When you feel comfortably settled and safe in your new home start to explore a bit further, if you bring a few resources you can go on several day long expeditions to find rarer resources and explore your world further. But remember to be ready for your first winter.

This was a basic survival guide for the first few days in Don’t starve. Check part two of the guide for more detailed information about the Don’t Starve world and how you can make your time there more effective as well as how to survive the winter.

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