The tutorial zone consists of 3 locations (+ 1 secret location, but you don't want to go there!) It's a no-distractions, simplified environment, where you can safely learn the core mechanics, such as scouting, traveling, gather, crafting, and baking things in an oven.

You need to craft one of the 4 primitive weapons to unlock Zone 2. One of the locations in the tutorial zone has a stone deposit, and two of them have wood deposits. (It's also possible to get wood and stone from the "random finds" icons, so while it's possible to finish the tutorial without visiting all 3 main locations, you gain more XP if you visit all of them.)

Everyone starts at level 0. Reach level 1 to unlock stone cleaver and sharpened stick, or stay until level 2 to make a stone axe or a stone spear. Any action that spends AP or uses timers rewards you with XP. Also defeating animals in combat is rewarded with XP, but it might be difficult without a weapon. By level 2, you are ready to exit into zone 2 if you did not already do so earlier.

The main world starts from Zone 2. Each zone has its own unlock requirements. You can scout for locations either in your current zone, or the next zone, provided that it has been unlocked. The first time you visit a location, you explore it, and after that, it will cost less AP to visit on subsequent visits.

While traveling consumes water, you can go quite far before your thirst gets critical. If you put water inside a waterskin, it will be consumed automatically as you travel. If you travel on a boat or in a horse cart, you can build a barrel on board and all characters inside the vehicle will automatically consume water from the barrel when traveling.

Automated characters are marked with the tag NPC. Everyone else is controlled by a real player. The game purges inactive characters periodically, so everyone you see has been online at least within 2 weeks. People are generally happy to share resources and machinery.

You can find wild animals through hunting or run into them by random chance. There are three possible approaches: Fight, flee, or intimidate. If you manage to kill the animal before it runs away, you get meat and usually also hide, which can be turned into leather. If the animal is giving you a hard time, you should either flee or try to intimidate it. Aggressive animals such as wolves are more likely to give chase.

Note that currently animals don't make a move if you don't, so waiting for someone else to deal with it can also be an option. Leaving the location when you have an unresolved encounter causes the animal to attack and attempt to give chase.

Once you reach level 4, start looking into making iron. Iron is made from iron ore and coal, while steel is made of iron and coal. There are smelters in the central towns, and it's possible to build a new one with no tools if you stumble upon a location that doesn't have one yet.

Note that it's not possible to make iron in the tutorial region, due to lack of resources, since characters are only meant to stay there long enough to get a grasp of the core mechanics.

Characters gradually gain hunger, even while idle, but moreso when crafting and traveling. While you can eat raw vegetables, it’s also possible to make several types of prepared food if you have a mixing bowl (a fired clay pot, an iron pot, or a barrel will also do). Mix the ingredients to get the intermediary raw product, then cook it in a pot or bake it in an oven. There's a list of receipes available on the mixing page. If a recipe is not recognized, it makes slop, which can be cooked to increase its nutritional value.

If your character is starving, they will start losing health. Currently the lowest you can go is 1 HP. That makes you very fragile and anyone can defeat you in combat and take your stuff.

Some of the locations and zones require a boat to access. The locations are sorted out by which lake, sea, or river they border. The same location can border multiple bodies of water. When sailing on a boat, all passengers will consume water from a barrel on board, provided that one has been crafted.

Lost souls are incorporeal characters that cannot travel on their own. They each have a place they long to be, visible in their profile. You can start leading them and once you take them to their destination, they disappear, leaving you with a handful of coins, which you can exchange for goods once you manage to locate one of the merchant characters. You can spend your coins to purchase items from Charlotte, the trader, or Rambutan, the livestock merchant. Player characters can also become traders by crafting and equipping a trader's badge.