Don’t Starve has been a favorite for many fans of the survival genre for quite a few years now. Releasing in April 2013, Don’t Starve’s awesome art style and unforgiving mechanics made it an unforgettable entry into a genre that’s littered with unremarkable carbon copies and games that simply never, ever get finished.
But the release wasn’t the end for Don’t Starve. A year later, an expansion called Reign of Giants was released. A little over a year after that, another expansion, Shipwrecked, released. And now, three years after Shipwrecked, the next expansion has arrived: Hamlet.
Hamlet adds an incredible wealth of new content and gameplay systems to wrap your head around; here are some pointers to help get you started on your newest adventure:
9. Hamlet
The first piece of advice I can give is to find the town that the expansion is named after. You don’t spawn in the Hamlet, and sometimes, it’s quite the walk to get there. I’ve sunk quite a few hours into Hamlet over multiple saves, and in my experience, the town was typically about half an in-game days walk from where I spawned.
Meandering around on your first day grabbing food, flowers, and sticks is always vital in Don’t Starve, but make sure you keep moving; the sooner you find the Hamlet, the better. There are light sources in the town that you can huddle around at night, saving you from having to build a fire right off the bat. When you do build a fire, I’d recommend doing so out of the Pig Guards sight; while they’re friendly (provided you don’t break any Pig Laws), they will scramble to put out your fire the moment they see it.
8. Early Resources
Anybody who’s made it past the first couple days of Don’t Starve knows to grab flint, and a lot of it. But in Hamlet, flint doesn’t seem to be as readily available. Don’t worry, it’s not rare, just hidden. There will be quite a few rocks that you can flip scattered around the new game-world, and underneath can be any number of things — one of the most useful being flint.
Another useful resource that you’ll need to work a little harder to get is grass. There are plenty of patches of tall grass around, but you’ll need to craft a machete in order to snag some. Around the Hamlet, there are some normal patches of grass you can grab, though; just make each bit count until you’ve got that machete.
7. Hamlet Help
While you’ll certainly still need to craft armor and weapons, you don’t need to worry about it right off that bat. Pretty soon into the game, you’ll be attacked by a couple of Vampire Bats, basically the equivalent of the Hounds in the vanilla game. They might seem formidable, but you really don’t need to deal with them much at all, provided you’re near the Hamlet. Run right over to some of the Pig Guards, and they’ll take care of those Vampire Bats for you. Just be sure not to accidentally hit one of the guards; they don’t seem to take that very well.
6. Oincs
There’s a new currency system in the Hamlet expansion called Oincs. These can be earned and spent in the town, and with a little bit of time and effort, it isn’t difficult to amass quite the fortune. Different Pigs have different things that they’ll buy, each depending on the Pig type. For example, the older female Pigs are fond of flowers and will buy one flower per day, earning you one Oinc for each flower you sell. Other Pigs will buy hedge clippings, which you can grab in abundance throughout the town. (You can also eat the clippings. Whether or not that’s intended or going to be changed I don’t know, but they don’t seem to spoil, so free food!)
There are a lot of different things that can be sold throughout town, and plenty of useful items that can be bought in different stores, as well. Keep an eye out for things you need; sometimes it’s a lot easier to buy something than it is to craft it outright.
5. Humble Abode
Have a bunch of Oincs but don’t know what to do with them? Ever thought of settling down in a nice Hamlet? Well, today’s your lucky day! Visit your local Town Hall, and for the low price of 50 Oincs, you can become a permanent resident!
Having your own home in the Hamlet ensures that you’ve got shelter from the seasons and your own light source. If you’re willing to sink a few more Oincs into your home, you can even decorate it!
4. Ripe Bounty
If you like living dangerously, then there are plenty of resources readily available to you. There are a variety of Pig Farms around the outside of the Hamlet ripe with food, flowers, and grass. Why earn it if you can just take it?
Well, there can be a steep cost for your thievery. The moment you grab something that doesn’t belong to you, the Pig Guard that spends day and night protecting the goods will make it their life mission to ensure they pry back what you stole from your cold, dead hands. And believe me; they don’t have a short memory.
3. Another Thief?
It hurts being on the other end of it, doesn’t it? It turns out you might not be the only thief in town. A masked Pig Thief occasionally pokes around the village, taking what he can before darting back into the shadows. If you’re unlucky enough to be his target, you’re going to get a rough smack in the face before finding all of your Oincs on the ground. The worst part? The thief isn’t going to be the only one grabbing your hard earned cash; every Pig in the vicinity is going to clamber to the free money, leaving you penniless, sad, and at significantly lower health than you were moments before.
2. Seasons
You’re bloody and bruised, but you’ve managed to make it to day 11, the end of your first Temperate season in Hamlet. So, what’s next?
The Humid season, that’s what.
Coming with plenty of rain and thunderstorms, the Humid season is going to ensure you long for the old days. But it doesn’t stop there; fog is a new weather type that comes into play. Severely limiting your sight, the fog has a debilitating effect on your movement, as well. Unless you take off both your armor (or backpack) and whatever hat you may be wearing, you’ll be moving at a snail’s pace until it lets up.
Made it through the Humid season? Welcome to the Lush season, full of brambles, hay fever, and sneezing. You’ll definitely need a way to cut a path through all of the new plant life, and a way to deal with the hay fever would come in handy, too. Every time you sneeze your sanity goes down, and you might drop some items, as well. Wearing a gas mask will stop the sneezing, though the gas mask lowers your sanity, as well.
The best solution is eating seed pods, nettles, or nettle rolls, which will keep the hay fever at bay for a while.
1. Characters
Lastly, Hamlet comes complete with two new characters, too:
Wilba – She’s Pig Royalty. Steal whatever you like with no repercussions; no one is going to arrest a member of the Royal Family. Other Pigs will even occasionally gift her with resources. But stay clear of the dark; Wilba isn’t a fan.
Warbucks – A longtime explorer, Warbucks is a big fan of money, gaining sanity the more Oincs that he holds. But be careful what you eat; Warbucks is picky. Anything that wasn’t prepared in a crockpot is liable to drive him to a mental breaking point.
