Winter Survival Guide | Tips and Tricks for Beginners

Our Winter Survival Guide will teach you the basics of the game, explain the HUD, and walk you through the opening hour of the Story Mode!

Winter Survival challenges players to find the resources they need to survive while dealing with harsh weather and fighting off hostile wildlife. You'll need to understand the basics of the game to make it out alive, so read on for an explanation of the HUD and a walkthrough of the Story Mode's first hour!

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Winter Survival HUD Explanation

1. Bug Report: Press F7 to submit a bug report or feedback.
2. Buffs/Debuffs: Any Buffs or Debuffs are listed here.
3. Energy: This shows how tired you are. You can restore this by sleeping.
4. Hunger: This shows how badly you need to eat. You can restore Hunger by eating Food.
5. Thirst: This shows how thirsty you are. You can restore Thirst by drinking Water and eating certain Foods.
6. Temperature: This shows how cold you are.
   • In the above image, a circle is going around the Temperature icon; this happens when a particular need is not adequately fulfilled. Each time the circle goes around, it will slightly increase your Trauma.
7. Temperature Status: This shows whether your temperature is going up or down and by how much.
8. Trauma: This shows how bad your Trauma is. Trauma is increased by certain debuffs or by not having your other needs fulfilled.
9. Health: This is your standard Health bar. If it goes to zero, you die.

Winter Survival Guide | Starter Guide Walkthrough

Now that you understand the HUD, let's get to the Starter Guide Walkthrough portion of our Winter Survival Guide. You can choose between Story Mode or Endless Mode, but Story Mode is probably the best for learning the game's basic mechanics; this guide will walk you through the basics of Story Mode.

Keep in mind that WInter Survival has a robust tutorial system built in called "How to Play" that will teach you about all of the basic mechanics in an interactive environment. We won't cover those here — you can learn about the basic mechanics of the game yourself very easily!

A Bad Start

You'll begin the game standing out in the cold without much in the way of supplies and surrounded by wolves. Your very first lesson will be one of stealth: you're going to have to avoid the wolves by slowly moving through tall grass.

Fortunately, you have a friend who is guiding you along the way. Listen to his instructions and take your time, and you'll eventually get clear of the wolves. You'll have to run for a short burst once they see you, but you'll manage to make an escape.

Setting Up the Cave

The next task will be to build a campfire and get cozy in the cave where you're taking shelter. Follow the on-screen instructions and build everything that's required, then move on to Cooking your first piece of Food.

Unfortunately, a Bear will catch the scent of cooked Food and you'll have to hide. You'll be able to eat some scraps of meat, but that's about it. Go to sleep and you'll have to deal with a new encounter the next day.

Bear With It

Once you wake up, you'll experience a cutscene where you're chased by the same bear who ate your food. Seeing as you're completely unarmed, there isn't much choice but to run.

You'll end up running straight off of a cliff and landing on the ground below. You're safe from the bear, but there are still plenty of dangers to contend with.

Hungry Like the Wolf

Your troubles are far from over. Although you've evaded the bear, you're freezing cold and you need to warm up fast. Your character has an idea to go to some hot springs, so follow the markers on the map.

You'll reach a doorway that you can't quite get through without any tools, so you'll have to go around the long way. Before you leave, grab the items in the chest to the left of the door.

Follow the markers to an alternate route around the door. As you continue down the path, you'll run into some wolves and you'll have to run for your life yet again. You will fall a second time once you try to cross over a log.

The downside is that your leg is hurt, you're still pretty cold, and you've lost your equipment. The upside is that there's a cabin nearby where you can recuperate.

Cabin Life

Head into the cabin. Open up the drawers in the cabinet and you'll find a Leg Stabilizer. Use it immediately to fix your leg. Search through the cabin and pick up everything that isn't nailed down.

Put away everything in the Woodcutter's Chest except for Rope; you'll want to keep Rope in your inventory for an upcoming Quest. Make sure to equip the Spear Holder, too.

Your next step will be to light the campfire. Cook any food you might have and eat it, then get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to suck, but at least you'll be well-rested.

Traumatized

The events of the last few hours have increased your "Trauma" meter — the red glowing brain at the bottom left of the screen. When Trauma hits 100%, you are guaranteed to gain a permanent debuff.

There are two ways that Trauma can be increased:

1. Not adequately meeting your needs such as Hunger or Temperature
2. Certain events, such as being attacked by wolves

Basically, you want to ensure that you meet all of your needs and avoid negative situations as much as possible so you can prevent your Trauma from hitting 100%. If you're not careful about managing your health, you'll eventually rack up a debilitating number of permanent debuffs.

I recommend taking "Perception Fatigue" for this mandatory selection as it's the least obtrusive of the Trauma debuffs.

Finding Your Backpack

It's a new day! Although you're not tired, you are hungry, thirsty, and freezing your butt off. It's time to get moving.

First, look in this direction:

If you head straight this way, you'll find a small stream that isn't frozen over. You can walk up to it and drink directly from the stream. Take care not to step in the water or you'll get wet and you'll have a harder time staying warm.

Once you've sated your thirst, you'll want to start moving toward your missing backpack. Pick up all of the Tall Grass that you can find along the way — you'll need it to craft some Rope shortly.

Your backpack is hanging off of a branch above you. Walk to the right and head uphill; you'll be able to climb up some rocks to get to it. Pick it up and you'll get your gear back.

Walkie-Talkie Time

Picking up your backpack will start a new Quest to retrieve a walkie-talkie. It's in a nearby pit, but you won't be able to reach it easily. You'll need 9 pieces of Rope to get down below.

Craft however much Rope you need to make a total of 9, then interact with the nearby rock and climb down. Picking up the walkie-talkie will start a new quest that we'll get to later.

Press F to turn on your flashlight and work your way out of the cave, making sure to pick up any supplies that you find along the way. Don't miss the chest in the cave after you pick up the walkie-talkie! You'll exit just outside of the hot springs door where you encountered the wolves earlier.

In The Footsteps of Friends

Your trip to pick up the backpack also automatically started a Quest "In the Footsteps of Friends." Look for the tracking marker on the screen and head toward it. When you get to the marker, activate Instinct Mode by pressing Q to see footprints and bear tracks.

Following the trail will cause you to pass by a broken-down shack. The "Neighborhood" Quest will start, but don't worry about it just yet — we'll take care of this objective later. For now, continue to follow the trail.

You'll eventually see a person standing on the other side of a rope bridge. Attempt to cross and you'll fall down to the ground below. You'll land on a small cliff. Grab all of the Torches in a nearby barrel and head into the small cave nearby.

This cave has the Softwood Stone Axe, two chests full of supplies, and your first Spear. You'll need a Spear Holder to equip the Spear, so reload your earlier save if you forgot to bring it. Picking up these items will also give you the crafting recipes for them.

Equip the Softwood Stone Axe and use it to break down the door. Then, exit the cave.

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Once you're out of the cave, you should see the marker for the Neighborhood Quest. Head toward it. The Quest marker points towards a cellar.

Head down and you'll find a treasure trove of supplies. Pick up everything you can. You'll find a Rusted Key in one of the cabinets which will open the steel door and complete the Quest.

Returning Home

After exiting the cellar, turn left and follow the road. This will eventually take you back to the cabin where you can unload all of your supplies into the Woodcutter's Chest.

You now have a Spear, a Softwood Axe, a little more food, and some useful crafting supplies — you've got all of the basics you need to comfortably survive the challenges of Story Mode. That's the end of our Starter Guide, but there's plenty more to learn about this game — make sure to check out our other guides below!

A note on the Winter Survival Save Location

You can find the Winter Survival save file here: C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\WSS\Saved\SaveGames

• "USERNAME" is your Windows username.

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Thanks for reading our Winter Survival Guide. Make sure to check out our other guides below!