How to Survive in Don't Starve

Surviving Day One

Gather Twigs and Cut Grass. At the very start of the game, you must gather Twigs so you can chop down trees. You can gather some from saplings around the world. Also, make sure to pick up Cut Grass whenever you can. A Twig is one of the requirements to create an Axe and craft Torches. Twigs are also a source of firewood. Cut Grass is useful in creating Traps, Torches, Campfire, and basic armor later in the game.

Gather Flint, Rock, and Wood. As you explore the world, pick up Flint and Stones lying on the ground along the way. They can also be mined from boulders later on when you have the tools. Now you can combine 1 Twig and 1 Flint to make an Axe. Use the Axe by right-clicking on it from the belt, and then right-click-hold a tree to start cutting it down. The cut tree will get you Pinecones (which can be planted to get new tree saplings) and Wood for firewood. The flame from Wood lasts longer compared to other materials. An Axe has 100 durability and can be used as weapon that can inflict 27.2 damage to the enemy. With 2 Twigs and 2 Flints, you can also make a Pickaxe so you can start mining.

Gather food. Food is very important in this game as your character is supposed to defy starvation. There are many kinds of food, but in the early part of the game, the food you can gather quickly are Berries, Carrots, Rabbits, and Frogs. On Day One, get 5–10 Berries to survive the day. Eat only when your Hunger decreases to 80%. Make a Trap out of 6 Cut Grass and 2 Twigs. Place the Trap over a rabbit hole to trap Rabbits or near a pond for Frogs. Just leave the Trap and carry on with gathering materials, but be sure to check if you've caught anything. The Trap shakes if there's something caught in it, and you can simply pick it up to gather both the Trap and the animal inside. To get the meat, drag the Rabbit or Frog icon in your belt to the ground. When the animal stays still for a few seconds as if frightened, kill it with your Axe to get its meat. Remember that food spoils, so gather food only if you're running low. The only food that doesn't spoil are Tallbird Eggs, Mandrakes, Deerclops Eyeballs, and Guardian's Horn. Any food can be eaten raw, but cooked food gives more health and satisfies your hunger better. Ideally, only eat Berries cooked, as that increases the hunger to 12.5 from 9.25. Most other early game foods give the same amount of hunger cooked or uncooked. Meat, however, will decrease sanity raw.

Build a Campfire. A Campfire is key to basic survival in the world. It provides light and heat, and allows you to cook food. Build a Campfire as soon as it gets dark, and stay within its range. Once night falls, it's dangerous to travel unless you have a torch or Willow's lighter. This is because there is a monster in all darkness that deals very high damage, and reduces sanity. To make a Campfire, you need 2 Wood and 3 Cut Grass. Remember not to make it too near flammable objects such as grass, trees and bushes. A Campfire only lasts for 2 minutes and 15 seconds, unless more fuel is added. Be careful when doing so as adding too much fuel may cause nearby trees, grass, saplings, and any other flammable objects to catch fire, which can worsen into a forest fire. Use a Fire Pit to be safer even though it requires more materials compared to a Campfire. A Torch can be used as a source of light as well, but it dies out after a minute or so, leaving you in complete darkness and making your character vulnerable to monsters.

Gather Gold. Come morning, continue with your gathering of food and supplies. Dig boulders for Gold or look for it on the cemetery grounds. The cemetery is hard to miss what with its eerie atmosphere and the fog that leads to it.

Craft a Backpack. A Backpack is a survival item that serves to expand your inventory and gives +8 inventory slots. It's very handy for players who have yet to find a perfect spot for their base. You easily can make a Backpack by using the Science Machine, and 4 Cut Grass and 4 Twigs for the Backpack To make a Science Machine, you need 1 Gold, 4 Wood, and 4 Rocks.

Building a Base

Find a Wormhole. Wormholes are living tunnels that connect two points in the world. They may appear as mouths on the ground that open when approached. Once you jump inside the Wormhole, your character will be spat out the other side of the tunnel. They will also lose a small amount of sanity. Often, Wormholes will be book-ended by two completely different areas with different resources, such as a Forest and a Savanna. Building a base near a Wormhole is wise because of the quick travel and the easy escape it offers if MacTusk or a large pack of Hounds and Deerclops attack your camp. When you're ready, return to kill them and reclaim your camp. Having a camp at both ends of the tunnel will work in your favor. Using the Wormhole decreases your Sanity. Pick up Flowers or let your character sleep well during the night. A sick Wormhole can only be used for one-way travel. Once these Wormholes are used, they shrivel up and die. Sick Wormholes look like the healthy ones, but with lips more steeply tinted in yellow or green.

Create a Fire Pit. It's a perfectly safe source of light and warmth for your base since a Fire Pit doesn't burn down flammable materials nearby. You can also cook food in it, and a Fire Pit makes fuel last twice as long compared to a Campfire. To create a Fire Pit, you need 2 Logs and 12 Rocks.

Create a Spear. Inflicting 34 damage and with 150 uses, the Spear is an effective, easy-to-use weapon for players just starting the game. Use it to hunt down monsters such as spiders, which drop Silk that can be used for crafting. Make your Spear with 2 Twigs, 2 Ropes, and 1 Flint using the Science Machine. Make Rope with 3 Cut Grass. You can also kill Frogs using the Spear as an alternative to catching them with a Trap.

Create a Log Suit. Now that you have a weapon, you will need a basic armor to survive the long fight. The Log Suit is the second easiest armor to craft with 8 Logs and 2 Ropes using the Science Machine. The easiest requires only 10 Grass and 2 Twigs, but it doesn't offer as much protection as a Log Suit.

Create a Chest. With the different kinds of materials already in your belt, it's dangerous to lug them around during explorations. If you die, the items you have in your belt will be dropped. Once you have a base, make a Chest as storage for your belongings. Make a Chest with 3 Boards using the Science Machine. Make Boards with 4 Woods using the Science Machine. You can also create multiple Chests. You can place food in the Chest, but it won't stop food from spoiling.

Make a Tent. Lastly, you can craft a Tent for your character since waiting for sunrise every night takes time and decreases your Sanity. Using a Tent restores 50 Sanity and 60 Health at the cost of 75 Hunger, and sets the player's body temperature to maximum when used. A Tent can be used six times before it disappears. Create a Tent with 6 Silks, 4 Twigs, and 3 Ropes using the Alchemy Engine. If you don't have the Alchemy Engine yet, you can use a Straw Roll instead. The Straw Roll is a one-time survival item that, like a Tent, can be used to skip dusk and night. Make your Straw Roll with 6 Cut Grass and 1 Rope using the Science Machine. Using the Straw Roll restores 33 Sanity but consumes 75 Hunger.

Crafting More Inventions

Make a Crock Pot for better food. As you continue playing, surviving becomes painful, and eating Cooked Morsel, Frog Legs, and Berries won't be enough. Food you gathered are also easily spoiled and with hardly enough good effect on health. You need a Crock Pot to have better food for health regeneration. A Crock Pot is a contraption that lets you combine and cook four food items into a recipe. Craft it with 3 Cut Stones, 6 Charcoal, and 6 Twigs using the Alchemy Engine. Get Cut Stones from 3 Rocks using the Science Machine. Charcoal can be gathered from burnt trees. If there are no burnt trees around, look for a small patch of trees (preferably far from the thick forest), and torch them down. Twigs can be used as filler for some foods in the Crock Pot. There are lots of food you can whip up with your Crock Pot, and it's not really necessary to use 4 food items for a meal. For example, you only need Frog Legs and a Mushroom and 2 Twigs for a Froggle Bunwich.

Create an Alchemy Engine. An Alchemy Engine is a craftable science structure that unlocks more crafting recipes to aid in your survival. With much more powerful weapons and tougher armor, you can withstand any Hound attack and increase your chances of survival, especially during harsh winters. To create an Alchemy Engine, you need 6 Gold, 4 Boards, and 2 Cut Stones. With the Alchemy Engine, create an Ice Box where you can store your food, thereby reducing the spoilage rate by 50%. An Ice Box requires 2 Gold, 1 Board, and 1 Gear. You can gather Gear from clockwork monsters.

Build a Farm. Having a Farm is possible in the game. Weapons, armor, and other items can be crafted easily with the proper materials gathered around the world. A Farm, however, requires patience, and you need seeds to plant. To have a really good and fast harvest, you need an Improved Farm, which can be crafted with 10 Cut Grass, 6 Manure, and 4 Rocks using the Alchemy Machine. Manure can be found and gathered by exploring a Beefalo Field when you chance upon one. Beefalo herds can be found in Savanna biomes and won't attack you unless provoked. You can also use Manure as fertilizer for your plants. Farming seeds give you random results, with plants producing either vegetables or fruits.

Build, explore, and gather. Now that you have the essentials, you can survive the game for days. Just make sure you've built walls around your base, and you have enough food in your Ice Box. Explore the area to unravel its mysteries, and gather what you need for your next weapon and armor. Keep in mind that going up a level will have you starting all over again.