Your humble beginnings start on a 2x2 raft that can barely hold your dignity. The game doesn’t explain much, so here’s what you need to know:

Plastic and Wood Are Life: Hook everything floating by. Barrels are your best friends—they’re like piñatas filled with survival goodies.

Don’t Fall In: The water looks inviting, but Bruce is always lurking. If you fall in, you’re essentially a swimming buffet.

Drink or Die: Thirst will kill you faster than embarrassment after a bad hook throw. Prioritize making a Simple Purifier so you don’t have to drink salty tears.

1. Expand Wisely:

Build your raft outwards to avoid Bruce munching on your only bed.

Don’t go too big too fast—resources are limited, and Bruce will eat your mistakes.



2. Crafting Stations:

Start with essentials like the Simple Grill and Research Table.

Research everything you find because knowledge is power—and also because it unlocks cooler stuff, like nets and weapons.



3. Nets Are Game-Changers:

Collection Nets are the lazy person’s dream. Line your raft with them to catch debris automatically. You’ll feel like a genius until you realize Bruce is eating the net you forgot to reinforce.

He’s hungry, relentless, and apparently finds driftwood delicious.

He’ll attack your raft every five minutes, just to ruin your day.



2. Dealing with Bruce:

Spear him in the face when he attacks your raft. He’ll eventually swim away, but don’t get cocky—he always comes back.

Kill him if you can! It’s worth it for the shark meat and trophy. Plus, it’s personal now.



3. Bruce’s Revenge:

Don’t get comfortable after killing him. A new shark will spawn in a few minutes, angrier and possibly with a grudge.

1. Water:

Use the Simple Purifier to boil seawater into drinkable water.

Upgrade to the Advanced Purifier as soon as possible to avoid boiling water like a medieval peasant.



2. Food:

Fish are your first reliable food source. Craft a fishing rod and catch dinner.

Cook your fish on a grill—eating raw fish is for sushi chefs and bad decision-makers.

Don’t forget about fruits and veggies you find on islands. Pineapples and watermelons are basically hydration snacks.

1. Anchor Away:

Craft a throwable anchor to stop your raft from drifting away while you explore. Nothing’s worse than swimming back to… nothing.



2. Gather Everything:

Chop trees for wood and palm leaves.

Scavenge the ocean floor for scrap, clay, and sand, but beware of Bruce lurking below.



3. Catch the Seagulls:

If you plant crops, seagulls will show up to snack on them. Craft a scarecrow or whack them with a weapon. Bonus: roast seagull meat is surprisingly tasty.

1. Smelter:

This magical device turns raw materials like metal ore into bars. Metal tools and reinforced rafts are a game-changer.



2. Better Tools:

Upgrade to metal spears and hooks as soon as you can. They’re more durable and make you feel slightly less like a desperate castaway.



3. Biofuel and Engines:

Eventually, you’ll unlock engines and fuel systems. This is when your raft stops being a sad floating platform and becomes a cruise liner of destruction.

1. Seagulls:

They’ll ruin your crops and make obnoxious noises. Smack them on sight.



2. Pufferfish:

These explode when they’re too close. Use a bow and arrow to kill them from a safe distance. Their poison sacs are useful for crafting.



3. Clams and Scrap:

Dive near islands to gather resources, but keep an eye on Bruce. If you die underwater, your friends (if you have them) will laugh before rescuing you.

1. Teamwork:

Assign roles: one person collects resources, another handles cooking, and someone else keeps Bruce distracted.

In reality, everyone will just fight over who gets the next barrel.



2. Sabotage:

Accidentally (or intentionally) forget to anchor the raft while someone’s exploring an island. Enjoy the ensuing chaos as they swim frantically back.

Use all the plastic to make storage chests, then hoard random junk inside to confuse everyone.



3. The Power of Raft Design:

Build unnecessarily tall or wide rafts just to see how far you can push the game physics. Bonus points if you create a raft mansion complete with balconies and useless decorations.

1. Radio Tower:

Eventually, you’ll find a radio tower with clues about what happened to the world. Spoiler: it’s bad.



2. Story Locations:

Follow coordinates to find unique locations like a yacht, a giant dome city, and a desert island. Each has loot, lore, and new ways to almost die.



3. Endgame:

Without spoiling too much, let’s just say your ultimate goal involves science, survival, and probably yelling at Bruce one last time.

Organize Your Storage: Or don’t, and spend 10 minutes looking for one piece of rope.

Decorate Your Raft: Nothing says “I’ve given up on reality” like planting flowers and hanging paintings on a raft.

Experiment with Building: Stairs to nowhere? A tower of beds? A floating zoo? The world is your oyster (just don’t eat oysters—they’re not in the game).

In Raft, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll curse Bruce’s name until the end of time. Whether you’re building a floating utopia or struggling to keep your raft from becoming shark food, remember: the ocean is big, but your creativity is bigger.

Now grab your hook, point it at the horizon, and shout, “Let’s go get that barrel!” Good luck, sailor!