Don't Starve Together: Beginner's Guide & Best Tips

What Makes This Game So Loveable (and So Painful)

Yeah, this game can be brutal at first. I mean, really brutal. You start, you pick a character, you run around for about ten minutes thinking "okay, I got this, I'll just collect some berries and make a fire." Then night hits, you can't see anything, something growls in the dark, and you're dead before you even figure out how to equip a torch. I've been there. My first three runs ended before day 2 because I didn't realize you needed to hold the torch in your hand slot, not just have it in your inventory. I know. Ouch.

Here's the honest truth: Don't Starve Together is not a game that holds your hand. It doesn't even give you a map pin to find your hands. But once you get past that first wall of "what the hell is happening," it becomes one of the most rewarding survival games ever made. The art style is gorgeous in that creepy, Tim Burton-meets-childhood-nightmare way. The seasons actually mean something—winter isn't just a visual effect, it kills you if you're not ready. And playing with friends? That's where the magic really happens. Until one of them eats all the crockpot food you've been saving for winter. I'm still mad at Dave.

What's annoying? Let me count the ways: the deerclops showing up on night 30 when you have no armor. The fact that you can spend an hour building a base and then a single lightning strike burns everything. The sanity system that makes shadows attack you when you're already stressed about not dying. It's a game that wants you to rage-quit. But that's also why it's great. Every death teaches you something. Every time you come back, you're smarter. This guide is me handing you my hard-earned death knowledge so you skip the worst of it.

Why You're Getting Wrecked (and It's Not Your Fault)

I spent my first three runs trying to stack berries and carrots and thinking I was set for life. Then day 7 hit, the berries rotted, and I had nothing to eat. Then I got cold. Then I died. That's the pain point most beginners hit: you can't just pick food and survive. The game punishes passive gameplay. You have to actively prepare for the future.

Can't beat the first boss? Wasting all your resources? Here's exactly what's going wrong:

• You're not scouting before building. I cannot stress this enough. I spent an entire playthrough building my base in a nice open field, only to realize I was right next to a beefalo herd. Day 15, mating season hit, and those fluffy cows turned into murder machines. My base became a crime scene. Always walk around for the first two days before you drop a single campfire. You want to be near a renewable food source (like spiders or berry bushes) but not next to something that will kill you.
• You're ignoring armor. A log suit costs 8 logs and 2 rope. That's it. It absorbs 80% of damage. I see so many new players running around with no armor and then wondering why a single spider bite takes a third of their health. Make a log suit on day 2. Make a football helmet as soon as you find a pig head in a touchstone. You will survive fights you have no business winning.
• You're not managing sanity. Sanity is the hidden killer. When it drops below 30%, shadow creatures spawn. They hit hard. You can't outrun them forever. Picking flowers gives you +5 sanity each. Cooked green mushrooms give +15. A tent lets you sleep at night to regain sanity. Keep that sanity bar above half at all times if you can.
• You're trying to kill everything. This is not a combat game where you fight every mob. The game is about survival, not heroics. If you see a group of 6 spiders, run away. Come back with traps or lead them to a beefalo herd. Let the environment do the work for you.

Your first goal is not to beat the game. Your first goal is to survive to winter. If you can make it to day 21 without dying to something stupid, you've already won the beginner phase. Everything after that is learning the boss patterns.

First 10 Days: What I Wish Someone Sat Me Down and Told Me

Day 1–10 is the most critical window in the entire game. Mess this up and you'll be scrounging for resources while freezing to death. Here's my exact routine I've used across 50+ playthroughs:

• Day 1: Gather 20 grass, 20 twigs, and 40 flint. Immediately. Don't explore. Don't fight. Just pick up everything you see on the ground. Craft a science machine if you have enough resources. If not, mark the spot and come back. Make a backpack first—extra inventory space is life.
• Day 2: Scout the entire map edge. You're looking for: pig king (trade meat for gold), beefalo herd (winter warmth and poo for farms), spider dens (silk and monster meat), and set pieces (pre-built structures that save you resources). Do not set up camp until you find a good spot near all of these.
• Day 3–5: Build a base camp near beefalo and a water source. Craft a campfire, a science machine, and an alchemy engine (upgraded science). Make a spear and log suit. Start placing trap traps — you can catch rabbits and frogs for easy food. Place 4-5 traps near rabbit holes and check them every morning.
• Day 6–10: Start collecting berry bushes (dig them with a shovel) and grass tufts. Plant them near your base. You need about 20 berry bushes and 20 grass tufts for a stable food supply. Fertilize them with manure from the beefalo. Seriously, follow the beefalo around for a minute and collect their droppings. You'll thank me when you have a renewable food source.

One thing I see everyone mess up: don't build walls yet. Walls seem like a good idea for defense, but they actually trap you in and make it harder to kite enemies. You don't need walls until you're fighting bosses. Just put a few campfires around as emergency light sources.

The Stuff You Only Learn After 200 Hours of Death

I'm going to skip the basics you can find in any wiki. These are the real tips that turned me from a corpse collector into someone who actually survives past day 100.

• Kite like your life depends on it. Every enemy in this game has a fixed attack cooldown. For spiders: hit them 2 times, then back off. They lunge, miss, then you hit them 2 more times. The timing is exactly 1.5 seconds between their attacks. For hounds: hit 3 times, run away. For beefalo (if you're crazy enough): hit 4 times, dodge. Practice on spiders first. They're the easiest. Once you get the rhythm, you can kill almost anything with just a spear and log suit.
• Use the sewing kit on your clothes. I let my winter hat fall apart because I didn't repair it, then froze to death two steps from my fire pit. Sewing kits cost 1 spider silk and 1 hound's tooth. Repair your clothes when they hit 50% durability. A full repair only takes 1 use of the kit, and the kit has 5 uses. Keep one in your pocket at all times.
• Don't bother with farms until you're stable. Farms need seeds, water, and time. In the early game, they're a resource trap. Berry bushes and cooked monster meat (feed it to a bird in a birdcage to get eggs) will keep you fed with zero effort. I built four farms on my second run and spent all my time watering them. Meanwhile, my friend who just ate berries and cooked monster meat was thriving. Farms are a late-game luxury, not a beginner tool.
• The ice box is your best friend. Craft it as soon as you can. It doubles food spoilage time. A stack of 20 berries will last 12 days instead of 6. This is how you survive winter. Fill it with cooked meat, berries, and crockpot meals. If you're playing with friends, assign one person to just cook and stockpile food. That's not a waste of a player—that's the person who will save your run.
• Winter starts on day 21. You have exactly 20 days to prepare. By day 15, you should have: a winter hat (from a beefalo horn and silk), a thermal stone (from 10 rocks, 3 flint, and 1 pickaxe), and at least 30 pieces of cooked food in your ice box. The thermal stone keeps you warm for a full day cycle if you cook it by a fire first. Warm it up until it glows white, then put it in your pocket. You'll stay warm even while gathering wood.
• Don't fight deerclops head on. Deerclops appears on night 30-ish (I've seen it as early as day 28 and as late as day 32). He has 4000 health and hits like a truck. Run away from your base. Lead him to a forest or a herd of beefalo. He'll destroy the trees or fight the beefalo. The beefalo can kill him while you dodge. After he's dead, you get an eye that lets you make the eyebrella—a hat that protects you from rain in spring. Don't try to tank him. Just don't.
• Learn the crockpot recipes. Raw food is inefficient. A meat stew (2 big meats, 1 monster meat, 1 vegetable) gives 150 hunger and heals 12 health. A fish sticks (1 fish, 1 sticks, 2 filler) heals 40 health. These are the two recipes you'll use most. Memorize them. Write them on a sticky note if you have to. They're the difference between thriving and starving.

Common Mistakes That Showed Up on My Grave Marker

I've died so many stupid deaths. Here are the ones I see every new player making, with the exact fix you need:

• Mistake: Running through a spider den at night. Spiders come out at night. Their dens are full of them. I learned this when I was running from a hound attack, passed through a tier 3 spider den, and got swarmed by 8 spiders at once. Fix: Always carry a torch. Light the ground to see where dens are. You can also place a campfire near a den to clear it out during the day while spiders sleep. I always clear spider dens in the morning, not at night.
• Mistake: Ignoring touchstones. Touchstones are those stone statues with a pig head on them. If you die near one, you'll respawn there. I ignored them on my first 10 runs, thinking they were just decoration. Then I died to darkness on day 18 and lost everything. Fix: Always activate every touchstone you find. Put a set of basic supplies nearby—a torch, some food, and a log suit. That way if you die, you don't starve before you can get back to your base.
• Mistake: Eating raw monster meat. Monster meat deals 20 damage to your health and drops your sanity by 15. I thought "it's meat, I'll cook it first, it'll be fine." Nope. Cooked monster meat still hurts you. Fix: Only eat cooked monster meat if you're Wolfgang or have a way to heal. Otherwise, use it as crockpot filler or give it to pigs to befriend them. Don't eat it directly unless you're desperate and have healing salves ready.
• Mistake: Building too close to the coast. I built my base on a peninsula because it looked pretty. Then spring came. Frogs started spawning from ponds. Dozens of them. They stole all my food and attacked me every time I stepped outside. Fix: Build at least 1 screen away from any frog pond or spider den. You want a buffer zone. If you're near water, build 20 tiles away from the edge. Trust me on this.
• Mistake: Not kiting the hounds. Hounds attack in waves. If you stand still and fight, you'll get overwhelmed. The fix is hit and run. Hit a hound 2–3 times, then run away until they stop chasing. Repeat. If you're playing solo, always fight them near your base so you can retreat to a fire or a safe zone. If you're in a group, all players should focus on one hound at a time. Splitting damage across three hounds is how you die one by one.
• Mistake: Forgetting to turn off the fire when leaving base. A fire left unattended can spread to nearby grass or trees. I came back from a resource run to find my entire base burned down because a stray ember hit a dry birch tree. Fix: Hold the backpack button and click on the fire to put it out. Or just never build a fire within 5 tiles of any plant. I use a stone fire pit (12 rocks) which doesn't spread fire. Worth the investment.

FAQ From People Who Just Watched Their Base Burn Down

Q: Why did I die on day 2 to darkness? I had a torch.
A: You need to hold the torch in your hand slot, not just have it in your inventory. Equip it like a weapon. Also, make two torches at the start. One will run out before the night ends. I always craft three torches on day 1 just to be safe. The grass and twigs cost nothing.

Q: How do I survive the first winter without freezing?
A: Thermal stone + fire pit. Make a thermal stone before day 20 (10 rocks, 3 flint, 1 pickaxe). Warm it up by a fire until it glows white. It stays hot for a full day. When it turns gray, warm it again. You also need a beefalo hat (2 beefalo horns, 5 silk) or a winter hat. If you can't find beefalo, wear a puffy vest (from a tam o' shanter or a yule goat). I keep two thermal stones in a rotating cycle—one in my pocket, one by the fire. Swap them as needed.

Q: What's the best character for a beginner?
A: Wilson is literally designed for beginners. He grows a beard that keeps him warm in winter and can be shaved for beard hair used in magic items. No downsides, no weird mechanics. Wendy is also good because her ghost sister Abigail helps with spiders and hounds. Avoid Wes, Wickerbottom, and Wolfgang until you know what you're doing. Wes is a challenge character, Wickerbottom can't sleep, and Wolfgang takes extra damage when hungry. I learned this the hard way by picking Wickerbottom first and dying because I couldn't sleep to regain sanity.

Q: How do I get more gold?
A: Trade meat to the pig king. Drop 1 meat (any meat except monster meat) near the pig king in the swamp biome. He gives you 1 gold nugget per meat. You can also find gold in boulders in the swamp. Or kite clockwork knights — they drop gears and gold. I usually set up a pig farm: trap a pig, feed it 4 monster meat to turn it into a werepig, then kill it for 2 meat and 1 pig skin. The pig skin can be traded for gold at the pig king too.

Q: Why do I keep going insane from the dark?
A: Sanity falls by 10 per minute in total darkness. Solution: don't be in the dark. Ever. Carry a lantern (2 gold, 3 twigs, 1 spider silk) or a miner hat (from a old bell or a broken clockwork). These free up your hands. Also, wear a top hat (6 silk, 4 sprigs) for +6.6 sanity per minute. If you're desperate, cook green mushrooms for +15 sanity each. I always keep 10 cooked green mushrooms in my inventory for sanity emergencies.

Q: How do I find the teleportato to move to the next world?
A: The teleportato is a set piece that spawns near the center of the map. Look for a wooden thing (a small structure) surrounded by chess pieces. You need to find all four pieces: the crank, the box, the ring, and the stone. They're scattered around the map, usually guarded by clockwork robots. Don't bother with this until you've survived a full year. The game resets everything on the next world. It's a true reset, not a save. Only do this if you're ready to start fresh.

Q: Is it worth playing solo or is the game designed for teams?
A: You can play solo fine. The game scales enemies based on player count—more players mean more hounds and tougher bosses. Playing solo means fewer enemies and easier seasons. But the game is way more fun with 2-3 people. You can divide tasks: one gathers, one cooks, one fights. I've had my best runs with a single partner. Three people is where the game starts feeling crowded, but still manageable. If you play solo, turn off boss spawning in the world settings until you're confident. No shame in that.

Look, the biggest thing I can tell you is this: don't be afraid to die. Every death is a lesson. I died to starvation, to cold, to spiders, to the deerclops, to my own fire. Each time I came back with one more piece of knowledge. This game isn't about winning on your first try. It's about learning the patterns, respecting the seasons, and never, ever forgetting to turn off your fire. Now go out there, pick Wilson, and survive your first winter. I believe in you. Even if the game doesn't.