Raft beginner’s guide, tips, and tricks

Raft This game was recently released to early access. It can be difficult to get started, as it is with many open-world survival games. To help aid you on your journey, we’ve compiled some tips that we wish we knew when starting out on our tiny plank raft. We are grateful for your support. Raft beginner’s guide lists out tips and tricks that both new and old players may not know.

You can take your time building your raft.

There’s no need to rush through the story. Make sure you take time to gather the right materials and expand your boat so that it can become a home. You’ll need to sail around to find basic building materials (planks, plastic, and palm leaves), so don’t worry if you need to explore more before hitting up any of the story islands.

Be sure to include items in your Research Table

To learn new ways to use the material, you will need one piece of each material. It can be easy to forget to do this, so make sure you’re using the table as you explore new environments.

You can search for materials underwater on islands

You can find scrap and seaweed underwater, as well as other materials around islands. You’ll want to swim down to collect these must-have materials, so you’ll want to explore underwater just as much as you explore the land.

Redbeet Interactive/Axolot games

Shark Bait: Take Advantage

The shark will not be afraid to attack your boat if it sees you under water. The shark can be easily taken down by a kite or Shark Bait. Sharks will eat the bait and you can take a free swing at it. The shark will return to the bait until it is finished eating, meaning you can defeat them before they do.

You can kill the shark and then you can eat it. The shark will respawn.

Don’t stay at random islands for too long

It may seem tempting at first to spend a while on an island. However, you’ll need to have more planks, plastic, and tools to keep your fuel and tools fueled. If you run out of clean water or cooked food, you’ll eventually die of starvation or dehydration, so you should set sail for more materials way before that happens.

While you’re out exploring, keep food and drinks close by

Take food and water with you to the bigger islands. Some later islands have cooked food tucked away inside to help tide you over, but there’s no reliable source of food and water. You won’t want to end your trip early just to trek back to the ship for food, so keep it on you.

The key to tons of delicious food is fishing

Fishing is an excellent source of fresh food. Get a fishing rod today! Slap any fish on the grill and you’ll be set for a long time. You’ll also need specific fish to make Shark Bait.

Redbeet Interactive/Axolot games

Place your poters indoors to keep seagulls away

Evil seagulls will eat your crops unless they’re planted inside or you have a scarecrow nearby. Scarecrows don’t keep the birds away and only bait them away for a little while before they break. If your raft ends up too big or you’re not good at keeping tabs on those sea rats, just place your planters inside to avoid them altogether.

You can use the scroll wheel for specific quantities of items in stacks.

Though this is less of a gameplay tip and more of a quality-of-life tip, if you love proper organization, know that you don’t have to only take things out of the storage one-by-one or in their entirety. You can choose the amount of material you want to remove by using the scroll wheel.