Once you start a new game, you'll find yourself at Camp Pinewood. This is basically the tutorial area of FitF with several tutorial boards around the map which you could inspect. You don't have to worry as well since stats are frozen on this place giving you all the time you need to sort things out.

That being said, your preparation should include the following:

• Looting everything you see - You don't have anything so better start picking things up.
  
• Familiarizing your controls - Obvious reasons... so go ahead at settings and look at it.
  
• Use your jar to gather polluted water on pond. But don't drink it yet.
  (Access to jar is through your quick deploy menu. Like I said, check settings for controls)
  
• If this is your first run, check all tutorial boards found all around the map.
  
• Interact with the mailbox to get your first task.

Now it's time to sail away, move to the dock up north and off you go.

Lets start with the four small circle meters on both sides of the player's icon. These meters monitor the 4 main survival stats of the player. From left to right:

• Hunger (Green) - maintained by eating food
  
• Thirst (Blue) - maintained by drinking water
  
• Temperature (Orange) - maintained by staying heated either through campfires or warm clothing. Can also be raised back up by sleeping.
  
• Fatigue (Yellow) - maintained by sleeping from time to time

Now, the blue bar above indicates your Stamina.

• You spend your stamina when sprinting or shoving.
  
• When on raft, you can boost by pressing space on keyboard and X on gamepad. You have a maximum of 3 boost until your full stamina is depleted.
  
• It will replenish back to full after resting for a few seconds.

And finally, the yellow bar below is your Raft's Health and will only be visible when you're rafting.
If it goes down to zero, your raft is destroyed and you'll die from drowning.

Once sailing, different icons will pop out your screen together with the indication of how far they are from you. At some points, you'll be forced to choose between two locations on opposite sides as it'll be impossible to visit both due to the drift.

Here's a list of these icons to help you consider which ones you'll prioritize based on your needs.

As most survival games, the early core is to start looting as you don't have that much to work around. Managing your inventory guarantees having more supplies. And managing supplies guarantees you'll have that one thing you need, when you need it.

It is important to note that there are three (3) separate inventories in the game. Access it anytime by pressing "I" in keyboard or "Y" on gamepad.

1. Scout
   Starts with a maximum capacity of 20 and will be accessible anytime, anywhere.
   How to utilize: Store items you think are needed for you to loot areas. These includes your bow and arrows, baits (tainted or live), foods, and items need to craft (often times you'll only need cat tails and saplings.
   
   That being said, you should also consider the location you're currently on before leaving the raft so you can consider the other items you should bring:
   
   • Yuccas, and corns when on Camp so you can make cooked yuccas and ashcakes. Cooked meat as well if ever you have some meat lying around.
     
   • Jars at Filling Station to be able to collect gas.
     
   • Crafting materials at Hardware Store for items you'll create at workbench.
   
   - You can upgrade scout's inventory by crafting Pouch (2 rabbit hide, 1 stitching kit) and using it from your inventory. It will expand your carrying capacity up to 28 slots (4 slots per pouch).
   Keep this in mind as extra pouches won't be useful when you're on max slots.
   
   
2. Aesop/Daisy
   Your friendly companion provides you with another set of 6 inventory slots which you could also access anytime. However, items on him/her won't be available for quick deploy. There are no options to upgrade it with more slots.
   
   - Note that once you die, every item Aesop/Daisy carries will still be available to him on your next playthrough.
   
   How to utilize: That mechanic is why most guides recommend placing important items like raft upgrades on Aesop when you're on near death. I would also recommend it, but our goal is not to die. So at the meantime, I would recommend placing items like crafting materials to him/her (flints, rags, jars, stock of cat tails and extra food if possible) depending on what items you consider building for the moment.
   
   
3. Raft Storage
   The raft has an initial storage of 12 inventory slots which can later be upgraded to add 12 more extra spaces. Check Raft section for information about upgrades.
   
   How to utilize:
   • Your raft should serve as your mobile hospital and storage. I recommend stocking up every piece of medical supply on this storage as well as raft upgrades.
     
   • If you still have space, consider storing up the items you won't always need for looting. And extra food that don't spoil (cooked yucca, ashcake, jerky).
   
   This is to provide as much free space as possible for your new loots. By the time you need them, just head back to the raft and pick them up. Don't forget to stack up your new loots on the ones that are on the raft once you're done scavenging.

Check this brief video showcasing each of the main wildlifes found in the game (crow, rabbit, boar, wolf, snake, bear). I suggest watching this before we tackle how to deal with them in a bit.

Wildlife can be found be found at almost all locations except for Marinas. Bait Shops will only have Crows, although Wolves can spawn overnight.

You can see these requirements at the crafting menu if you scroll down, but I'll leave this one here.

Behavior: As the video stated, crows attract wolves. To explain this further, every time a crow makes a noise, yellow line indicators will show. If you get close enough these lines will turn red and attract other wildlife.

How to handle: You can scare them off (spacebar on keyboard, X on gamepad) and drops feathers when you successfully drive them away. Feathers are used solely for arrows.

How to kill: (bow and arrow only) - 1 arrow
not recommended as they don't have loot other than feathers. Just scare them away.

Behavior: You can look out for rabbits by scouting the place for either the rabbits themselves, or for rabbit holes. You won't find them wandering around during nighttime and will always run away from you if they see you or when you get too close to them.

They are important because of two reasons: they are the cheapest source of meat, and because of their rabbit hide. Rabbit hides are used for both the pouch and leather kit. 2 of the most essential items in-game. *Pouch for upgrading your inventory slots and leather kit to create late-game clothings*.

How to kill: (bow and arrow, snare trap, gas bomb)

• Can be killed by a single arrow but you need to avoid being detected.
  
• Place the snare trap's rope trigger directly above a rabbit hole. Once setup is done, move as far as you can until the rabbit hole is out of your game screen. The rabbit will peek out and get out. It won't initially kill the rabbit but all you have to do is scare it back to its hole to get the job done.
  
• A gas bomb (jar + sumac - requires a camp fire) can kill multiple rabbits at once.
  
• You can catch a live rabbit by using a box trap instead of a snare trap. Deploy a live rabbit to distract a wolf.

Behavior: Boars don't roam around, but is guarding an area instead. The boar will begin to stalk you either when it sees you, or when it gets alerted by nearby crow/s.

How to handle: Look out for its charge animation/sound and just simply sidestep to avoid it. It will stop chasing you if you're far enough and it'll go back to its area afterwards.
You can lure wolves into fighting a boar if they are on the same map.

How to kill: (bow and arrow, spear trap)
Have a setup of 2 spear traps with their triggers right next to each other. Then lure the boar to the trap for a secure kill. Can also be killed by 2 arrows or 2 snake bites.
Provides a raw meat and a boar hide when killed. Boar Hides are used to make Boar Hide clothing and Steel Hammers.

Behavior: There will only be a maximum of 3 wolves at one location. They are completely hostile. You can sneak around them when they're far and busy munching another meal but will go stalk and attack you once you get near or when a a crow alerts them. Their line of sight is quite far compared to other wildlife and they can easily reach up to you when the chase took too long.

How to handle: Wolves are afraid of fire, so having a torch ready is a big yes. Just equip it and they won't even think of attacking you.
Alternatively, you can run and shoo them by pressing X or spacebar if they get too near. Always find an opportunity to block yourself from their sight when doing this.
You can lure wolves into fighting a boar if they are on the same map.

How to kill: (bow and arrow, spear trap, tainted meat/bait)

• Safest way to kill wolves is to throw a tainted meat/bait to them from the safe zone (the entire area around the entrance/exit of the location) as any wildlife won't attack you from there.
  
• They can also be killed by 1 spear trap, 3 arrows, or 3 snake bites.
  
• You can also lure it to a bear and have the bear kill it for you.

Behavior: Attacks anything that gets close (except Aesop/Daisy) and slithers off after biting. When the player is close, they will go on-guard and make a loud hissing noise. Also, they are attracted to fire, so having a torch or campfire up is not the best idea.

How to handle: Be alert as soon as you hear a hissing sound indicating that snakes are within your current location. Always hear Aesop/Daisy and check where they are looking. They will always bark at snakes nearby and will look at the direction where they're at.
If ever you got stung, immediately treat your snake bite. (Check Afflictions section)

How to kill: Snakes can be killed with a Bow and a single Arrow but drops nothing. Not recommended if you're not going for the Dead Eye achievement. Otherwise, just go ahead and stay away from them.

Behavior: You won't see bears until later in the game and you'll always find them guarding a bear den. You can sometimes sneak through and loot the den when the bear is sleeping. Bears will automatically attack any nearby wildlife.

How to handle: Bears won't attack you unless you provoke them. Once you do, there's no other way other than to run back to the dock.

How to kill: (arrows, spear traps, snake bites)

• It can be killed by four attacks from any combination of those 3.
  
• The safest way to kill it is to prepare 3 spear traps near the bear and have their triggers next to each other then lure the bear by hitting it with an arrow to provoke it.

Provides a 2 raw meats and a bear hide when killed. Bear hides are used to make Bear Hide clothing (the best clothing items on the game except for Elder and White wolf jackets).

Same behavior as a boar, but is bigger.
Can be easily killed with 4 arrows for 4 raw meat and 3 boar hides.

A wolf variant that follows you from location to location until you kill it. It can be characterized as a wolf having a red-orange hue.
Luring it to two spear traps can secure a kill.
It drops the Elder Wolf Hide which is used to make Elder Wolf Jacket.
(Cold Protection +20 and a chance to prevent Lacerations from wolf attacks)

A white wolf encounter is a rare one and it'll run/disappear if not killed right away.
A quick setup of 2 spear traps can secure a kill and provides you with a White Wolf Hide used to craft the White Wolf Jacket.
(Cold Protection +20 and a chance to prevent afflictions from any animal attacks)

Note that both Elder and White Wolf will run away after attacking you once or being attacked and not killed.

You have 2 meters dedicated to monitoring your nutrition (Hunger - green meter) and your hydration (Thirst - blue meter) which you obviously maintain by eating food and drinking water throughout the entire game. Each meter corresponds to 100 points each.

If you're new to the game, I don't suggest using your quick deploy when you eat. Go check it from your inventory instead so you won't waste nutrition from eating more than what you need. Your stats hud should show the exact point of your nutrition meter, and you'll be able to see how much points a food/water gives.

• Example: You have 75pts on your thirst meter. You then have to wait for it to go down to 50pts before drinking your clean water which gives out +50 hydration.

It won't be long until know the numbers which I won't be tackling one by one. By then, you can use your quick deploy for fast access.

Your food can be either from wild foods found across the map, or meat from killing animals.

• Wild foods (corn, mulberries, dandelions, wild garlic, yucca) are found all around the various locations. All of which are easy to find, but provides a fair amount of nutrition.
  
• Every wildife except crows and snakes provide at least 1 piece of meat when killed. Proceed to Wildlife section to know more about killing animals.
  
• If you have enough meat, you can cook some as cooked meat. One strategy is to cook it a day before it expires to prolong it's freshness.

ALWAYS MAKE SURE TO COOK RAW MEAT AND YUCCAS BEFORE EATING THEM.

And although cat tails can be eaten, I don't recommend towards it unless it's your very last resort.
It provides small pts on nutrition and is more useful as a crafting material.

Food spoilage is also available on this game so always make the following meals whenever possible. Their immunity to spoilage lets you stock them forever:

• Cooked Yucca - 1x yucca on campfire.
  
• Ashcake - 2 corns on campfire.
  
• Jerky - 1 raw meat and 1 salt. Can be crafted anywhere.

How to cook: Stand near a fire source and open your crafting menu. Make sure you have the required items in your inventory

The best source of water would be the rain. Fill your jar/s through your quick deploy when it's raining and it'll always hand you out with a jar full of clean water!

To explain it further, you can only collect water only if you have have an available jar. You can do so by selecting jar on quick deploy (2 on keyboard LT key on gamepad) and fill it when you're at a pond or anywhere when you're outside and it's raining.

However, a pond will give you Polluted Water. NEVER DRINK IT. Instead, craft a filter first if you don't have one yet, then craft your Clean Water afterwards.

You'll sometimes bump into water pumps and wells. Interacting with them will give you an option to drink straight from them or fill your jar.

• Drink when your hydration meter is below 50 as it will always fill to 100 no matter how low it is.
  
• Otherwise, Fill Jar (if you have one) so you can use it once your meter goes down to 50.

Aside from the game's survival aspect of staying alive, the other half of it's core gameplay is the part where you sail through the river towards your main goal. (I won't say much, just play the campaign.)

If the Raft reaches zero Durability then Scout dies by drowning.
Screenshot of a fully upgraded raft >>>

This symbol will pop out when a marina is nearby. This is the ONLY place where you'll be able to upgrade or repair your precious raft.
You'll be able to collect one jar of gas on every marina you dock in for your raft motor.
You can establish repairs and upgrades by interacting with the marina after docking.



The Raft has 100 Durability. Collisions with floating debris, islands, or the shorelines reduce the durability. Easy as that.
So here are the tips you need to know before you set o:

1. You have three boost at most before you run out of stamina. You'll have to wait a few seconds before your stamina replenishes to be able to use this ability again. However, you should only use it as a boost when you're on clear water. It is more useful as a dodge when obstacles are on the way.
   
2. Get your rudder upgrade as soon as possible. Having a rudder is a huge yes early in the game as it'll massively increase your steering capabilities, allowing you to be more in control of where you want your raft to go.
   
3. Always repair your raft. When your raft's health is low and you see a marina, do not hesitate dock right away. You can repair your raft with nuts n bolts (+10), old lumber (+20) or by a repair patch (+40)
   - Repair Patch = Nuts N Bolts + Old Limber using a Stone Hammer
   
4. The river is often a split between a calm flow and fast currents. Its best to stay away from the latter. Although its good for the speed it provides, it also makes your raft prone to collisions and damage. Take the calm side instead, no need to rush.
   
5. You can press "S" or back with gamepad to decrease your current speed when rafting.
   
6. Looting the shopping carts, crates within the river is possible, but you don't have to prioritize it. The raft will always be the priority when on water. If looting a crate will put you in an awkward position/spot, forget about it!
   
7. You'll often find yourself on an area where the water is so slow that you have to paddle the whole time, if so, you can do 3 boosts for additional speed followed by using your motor until your stamina is back. Utilizing both your stamina and motor at the same time.

Raft Motor's hidden capability. I'm not sure if everyone knows this, but you can use motor to push you back against the current. This is extremely helpful if you want to loot two nearby locations which you initially can't because of the river pushing you away.

The Raft can be upgraded at a Marina. Materials needed to upgrade the raft are raft schematics, raft frame, and raft hardware.

Consider this when deciding what your next raft upgrades will be:

Upgrades like raft shelter and water purifier will be very essential when you reach very late game.

If you don't know it yet, the 2nd tab (between quest tab and crafting tab) is dedicated solely for afflictions and details about them (their cure, what happens if left untreated, etc).

If ever you have an affliction, check there. You can heal it right away from that tab as long as the required cure is in your inventory.

Here's a list of all the cures and their recipe in case you're lazy enough to scroll down the crafting menu:

My main goal is to create a complete, elaborate and a clear guide for more players to come. I enjoyed playing this game and I hope you guys enjoy playing it as well.

Please comment below if ever my guide has some errors in it. Or if you have any more tips and suggestions you would like me to include. It would really help!

Most screenshots provided in this guide are gathered mainly from the internet as I don't have my own personal screenshots (I was playing with a gamepad). I won't be able to learn this game as well if not with the help of FitF wikis so credits go towards them as well.