Getting Started

Your first moments
You will most likely find yourself, wearing only jeans and a t-shirt, in The Shallows (desert island) biome or possibly bobbing in the sea just a few metres from the beach. Or, you may start in or near a Mangrove Forest biome or in The Swamp biome.

Assuming you are in The Shallows (you might like to go back to the menu and start a new game so you can better follow this quick start), you'll be needing some tools. Have a look around (controls are typical WASD to move plus mouse to look around) and you should quickly see one or more clusters of small rocks. Walk over and point your crosshair which is actually a small dot at one of them and you should see it's name, some icons and a description of the object and [some of] its uses.

You will want to find four rocks initially; a Small Stone, a Stone Bar and 2 x Stone Slates. Pick each one up by pressing the 'E' key.

Craft your first tools
Find a clean work area - if you're on the beach this will be easy, but if you've found yourself in grass, consider moving.

Drop all but the Small Stone. If you're not sure where the stones are, hit the 'Tab' key to view your inventory. You may find them in either your hands or your T-Shirt (somehow) or Jeans (pocket). Hover your mouse pointer over a stone and press 'Q' on your keyboard to drop it. If the Small Stone isn't in your right hand, click once on it then click on your right hand to move it there. Leave your inventory view by pressing 'Tab' again or alternatively you can press the 'Escape' key. Start by making a Stone Blade. To make one of these, you need to toggle Crafting Mode by pressing 'T'. The view should zoom in slightly closer to your shoulder. Now, with the Small Stone in your right hand if you point the crosshair at the Stone Slate. You should see one of the first two images to the right. If you see the first one, move the crosshair a little more to point at the hammer icon and you should see the Crafting Wheel in the 'Knap' mode. Roll your mouse wheel and it should rotate round to the 'Grind' mode. Roll back to Knap for now and press and hold the left mouse button.

Your avatar will now start animating the knapping (striking) action to shape the Stone Slate and after a few seconds the Stone Slate will have turned into a Stone Blade. Go through the same process to grind the other Stone Slate to make a Stone Axe Head and also grind the Stone Bar, making a Stone Chisel. You may notice there is currently a Knap option for the Stone Bar but it does not appear to achieve anything.

Congratulations! You now have your first (very) basic tools which can be used on wood (i.e. the branches you may have noticed on the beach or the various trees. Once you start shaping those you can build more advanced tools.

Don't forget to pick up your tools with the 'E' key before you move off!

Camp
Next, you might like to think about "setting up camp." No, you're not going to be building anything just yet but you could do with being close to some other resources. Look for a really big rock; there will often be one or more smaller flat rocks nearby which can be used as a workbench. Point your crosshair at any likely candidates, you're looking for one with this icon just under the title:

You need access to a workbench as you start crafting beyond the basic tools and garments. If you can't find one of those rocks you can cut down a large Palm Tree; the stump from the biggest ones can also be used as a workbench.