Ark is in early access at the moment so it would be unjust of me to write a review. Instead I thought it would be more useful sharing some experiences I have had with the game and imparting some of my hard earned wisdom to anyone considering getting on board with the early access or picking the full game up upon its release.

Right off the bat. You will die. It won’t always be quick, it won’t always be painless. Sometimes you will starve to death. Sometimes you will pass out and never wake up. SOMEtimes you will be drugged by a hostile tribe and kept in a cage and force-fed until you are made to retire that character (Yes this actually happens). If any of that sounds like it might be too much for you to handle then it’s probably best to walk away now. This game can be absolutely brutal, and that is before we even take any of the dinosaurs into consideration.

Survival 101

The very beginning

Following in the footsteps of minecraft, the first thing any new survivor should do is find a tree and aggressively punch it until you are furnished with its precious resources. Once you have these items and have picked up a few pebbles from the beach, some fiber from nearby shrubs you can make your first tool. Once you have your pickaxe you can really get to work!

After the pick the other basic survival items I would suggest working towards in the early game are as follows:

Axe, Spear, Shelter (Thatch), Clothes (Cloth), Campfire.

Everything, and i do mean everything, is made exponentially easier if you team up with some friends. Each unlock costs something called “engram points” which you get a finite amount of each time your character levels up. If you have a few good friends around you then you can share the load and have tribe mates specialise in certain areas. One person learns and builds the shelter, another focuses on clothes, an aggressive friend to craft the weapons and tools etc. The other benefit (other than the obvious one of safety in numbers) is that you actually gain xp with every action a tribe mate does who is close to you. Not emotionally close, purely proximity based…

Picking a location

Once you have had fun with your character creation (and for the love of god please change the name from “Joe”) you will be confronted with a map of the Island. The southern portion is best for low level players so make this your starting point (South-East is a personal favourite area).

Instinct may tell you to make a hut on the idyllic beachfront complete with palm trees and tiki torch. DO NOT DO THIS. The seafront is inhabited by fresh-spawns who are at best annoying & Intrusive, and at their worst murderous & Destructive! I would suggest staying close to water (Rivers work too) and up and away from the seafront. Nothing wrong with being within running distance of the coast but behind the tree line or out of sight is the way to go.

Remember…southern sections are a much easier starting point.

Your first home

Much like the previous advice of not getting attached to your character’s life early on, you should absolutely be ready for your home to be demolished, infested with dinosaurs, or just become defunct due to how crap you will be when you first start.

Simplicity is king. Building a massive tall structure will only serve to draw attention to yourself so avoid this. Foundations, walls a roof and a door will suffice. You don’t need a whole lot of room anyway so don’t spend all your precious time building 20 foundations to start off your mansion. 2 x 3 is more than enough for any starter home and won’t break your back in terms of collecting all of that wood and thatch. Once you are secure i would suggest getting a campfire (inside is fine. It won’t burn your house down!). Also a storage box and a sleeping bag. This will allow you to respawn at your home should you die but ultimately you will want to get yourself a nice bed as the sleeping bag is a one use only deal.

Humble beginnings don’t have to stay that way.

Hunting

Ok so obviously you need to eat. Berries are good when you are in a bind but give nowhere near the same nourishment as some of the more tasty beasts that inhabit the island. Now this may seem a bit macabre for some but if you see a sleeping player…. Or a passed out player…or a dead player…a couple of hits with your pick will result in a very edible chunk of fresh meat. Which when cooked presents exactly the same as every other meat. No need to feel bad about it either, i can almost promise they would have done the same to you given the chance. The saying may be dog-eat-dog in the real world but it is literally player-eat-player within Ark, just accept it.

Actual hunting is also good…. For low levels you want to be looking along the coast for Dodos or wading in the shallows for Coel (fish). Neither of these bite back and both provide a modest amount of meat and hide. Under no circumstances should you go for a nice swim out to sea in the tropical water. You will be eaten by a megalodon. Compys & insects (couple of different types of these) also provide a good amount of resources for the effort expended but be careful if they swarm. One or two is fine but if you get attacked by several you might find yourself becoming the dinner. These creatures alone will give you enough food to see you through your first days and nights on the island.

The more people you play with, the bigger the creatures you can hunt.

Onward into the world

Well that covers the very basics of the game and that is where i will stop. This game is so complicated and packed full of features that you could write a novel and still miss bits out. As with most things your best bet is to play, and die, then respawn, and repeat! If you are feeling particularly brave then you will have chosen a PvP server. If this is the case my parting advice for you would be to avoid giving away your location by knocking down tall trees during the day. Or carrying a torch at night. At least, If you are carrying a torch make sure to extinguish it as soon as you see someone who looks like they might even remotely be heading your direction. Also, most players will be travelling by air so be wary of anything in the sky. See someone in the sky, get under cover and wait for the danger to pass. In truth, hiding or running are two skills that it is going to be important to master. There is absolutely no shame in this style of play and the instinct towards flight over fight is one that will very much keep you alive, until the next encounter at least!

Dan Latham

I started my gaming life on an incredibly old Amstrad PC and have loved PC gaming ever since. Consoles are my secondary passion and I am one of the few humans to have never owned a Sony console. Not by preference, it just never panned out that way…