Don't Starve | Guide for Complete Beginners | Episode 1

Don't Starve is an amazing survival game that has now become iconic. It is a brutal game, and it intentionally leaves much of the game unexplained, to be figured out through trial and error--and usually death. Don't Starve is can be overwhelming and this guide aims to help you get a foothold. In this guide for complete beginners to Don't Starve, I will start a brand new game and walk you through the basics of the controls, the UI, and tips and tricks to help you survive in the beginning of the game and learn how to grow and evolve crafting abilities, tools, and survival chances on your own terms. This is a completely non-spoiler guide, meant only to help you learn the fundamentals so you can explore and enjoy the surprises Don't Starve offers on your own. This guide is meant for you to play along or watch to hear my thought process and see how everything is done within the flow and context of an actual game.

Come learn to play Don't Starve!

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Dr. Incompetent aims to teach you how to get better at games while having a blast and maybe exposing you to a game you haven't yet tried--or even heard of by producing gaming guides, tutorials, let's plays, and tips, tricks, and strategies. He also tries out recent hits to determine if they are worth buying. He is more than happy to answer any questions you have about the games covered, either live during his Twitch Stream or in the YT comments below.

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Dr. Incompetent is a college professor by day and gamer by night (and day). He has been playing games since his first ATARI, got hooked on PITFALL 2 and never looked back. He focuses mainly on RPGs, Strategy games, Simulations, ARPGs, and... well he plays pretty much everything ;) He thanks you so profoundly for watching!

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[julieford]

This is the best beginner guide I’ve found so far! I just bought this game yesterday and I didn’t understand why I was going insane! Getting rained on makes you mad! 😂

[yokoelf]

Just got this game, this was super useful! Thanks!

[atryeu]

I couldn't help but watch this and had fun with it still :D I have 2 tips (well a tip and a heads up) for new beginners for early game stuff that won't spoil anything :) Another good source of food early game is honestly seeds. They are usually incredibly easy to find just laying around everywhere and they can be roasted over the fire :) You mentioned the farming which they are important for as well but until you find the other needed materials seeds are a quick and easy food source until you get access to the farming or other better foods. As for the heads up, it is an incredibly small chance (but very real chance) that because the maps are randomly generated you can get a map and a spawn location that does not have any of the early game important resources nearby. They will be "somewhere" on the map but they are not always in an area you can get to within the first day before nightfall. I have had a map where I had absolutely no twigs at all making it impossible for me to make a fire or tools to survive the first night and I have had one with highly limited flint within range of the spawn areas making it hard to make tools. It's only happened 3 or 4 of the many maps I've played on but it can happen so a heads up if you struggle to find certain resources on a random map suddenly. Good luck and have fun! It's a brutal game but still so much fun to play :)

[dreadnought]

One more tip!! Build drying racks. 10 racks are good. Hang your meat on those. Not monster meat. Jerky is very beneficial and lasts a long time... Good for taking to the caves...

[michaeltalpas]

By the way, Don't Starve lore is incredibly rich. For example, the creature that kills you in the dark is called Charlie. You may see her in commercials depicted as a tall, willowy woman in black. She has basically become the living embodiment of darkness. I've been enjoying your series on the game. I need to go back and reacquaint myself with the lore.

[internetuser]

I absolutely love the art style of this game.

I played it for a bit when it first came out, but I kinda just gave up because I found the combat frustrating and unintuitive, but I'm likely just bad at the game. Can't remember how far I got, definitely past the first winter.

[curtisedwards]

He said squared away. I see you battle.

[dreadnought]

Some of these guys like to run the edge of the entire map before basing. I just run the roads and find the biomes. I like to be near some protection from the dogs. Close to beefalo or the swamp. Spiders come in handy too... Just not too close to base. Make a science machine asap and get a backpack and a spear and a shovel... You can always have several small bases around the map. This gives you stopping points. Save the pine cones from your first chopping. Plant them together so you can burn them to get charcoal. You can burn them once they grow one cycle. Now you can make a crock pot... Meatballs are a staple. 1 meat and any type of filler in the pot... No more than 1 monster meat.

[dreadnought]

You giving a guide on this? You in my territory now!! LMAO!! You know I'm going to troll you!! Let's give it a watch.... ;-]

[dreadnought]

Cook your food, use your axe entirely up. 1 medium sized tree, the rest large trees. Will use an entire axe so you're not carrying it around. Fire will last you an entire night . Rabbit traps, not at the beginning. Try and base in the middle of the map. So look around first... Get gold asap! Make a miners hat asap!! LMAO!! Dig grass and twigs up and plant them at your base... Trees too... Don't get the regular rocks. Get the ones with the gold.
You brought this on, Doc!! ;-] Now play Reign of Giants!! How to know a newb? He's wearing garland.... Love it Brother!! ;-]

[dreadnought]

Just one more thing, Klei has some awesome videos out on this game. Gives you some background into the story. Animated. I am not affiliated with them. Few pennies I get from my channel goes to charity. Fighting Looking forward to the next video, my Friend....

[dreadnought]

This game best played on a PC, mouse, keyboard....

[peanutbutter]

That's Wilson that's not Maxwell