Table of Contents Show
These are some beginners tips, since the vastness of the game world can be a bit overwhelming at first.
Tutorial
During the tutorial, you can take your time familiarizing yourself with the controls and home island layout. Time doesn’t pass yet, and you don’t have your stamina or hunger bars so you don’t have to worry about fainting/being forced to sleep. You can explore the island to your heart’s content in-between completing your starter tasks from Yaya Haku.
First Day
After finishing the tutorial, you’ll notice that you have stamina and hunger bars in the upper left-hand corner. Time is visible in the upper right-hand corner.
- The clock is a 24 hour one, and as of yet there is no option to change it to a 12 hour one
- You wake up each day at 8:30
- Every action costs stamina
- Stamina can be recovered by eating/drinking, which of course also replenishes your hunger
- Once your hunger bar is at 1 apple or less, that will cause a strain on Koa and you will use up much more stamina
- You don’t have to necessarily keep Koa’s hunger at 4/4 apples at all time; as long as you don’t drop to 1 apple or below, there are no disadvantages
- Half of an apple disappears at 12:00 and 18:00 every day, regardless if you’ve eaten or not
- Stamina naturally regenerates when you sleep
- Stamina drastically decreases after midnight (24:00 on the clock)
- If you fully deplete your stamina, you will pass out and wake up with less stamina
- Time plays a part in regards to stores’ opening hours and the need for Koa to sleep, but there is no real day/month/year system like in Harvest Moon or Stardew Valley
After making berry juice, you can begin work on your small farm.
- You do not need to water your crops, as they will grow regardless
- This also applies to fruit/pine/etc. trees and bushes
- The point of watering crops is to make them grow a day faster, but since there is no actual calendar system, nothing is stopping you from sleeping days in a row in order to speed up crop growth (remember to eat, though!)
- After being used up, the well requires rainwater to fill back up…if you’re not having luck with rain, you can break the well and rebuild it because you get back all of the materials needed (I’m not sure if this is intentional or not, so this may get patched out one day)
Second Day
Continue to follow the starting questline by discovering the source of the weird light in the ocean and offering oranges to Nio and Nao on top of the mountain. You will eventually meet Napopo, an interesting little creature that can’t speak. Give her orange juice, then take the key to the chest in front of your house to obtain the crayons and writing board she needs. Napopo will then task you with grabbing the tank on the boat, which you can fill up by returning to the seashell next to the guardian door– while there, be sure to interact with the shrine for an achievement.
Miss you…
Gather the materials to craft the 2 oars, as well as the other items you need to fix up the boat. From this point on, you’ve truly opened up the game!
Exploring The Sea & Other Islands
Once the boat is fixed, you’re able to sail out whenever and wherever you wish. There are a few things to keep in mind:
- Oil can be replenished for free from the seashell next to the guardian door
- You can sleep in your boat, but you will take a stamina hit once you wake up
- It will be possible to upgrade the boat, allowing you to sail farther out and explore more islands; the questline to do so involves Saimi, the lady in the lighthouse on Qalis Island
The first island you come across will be Qalis Island, a bustling main hub with plenty of materials, shops, and NPCs.
- Stores are only open at certain times– as there is no waiting function, you will either have to let time pass naturally or sleep in order to skip to morning again
- You can obtain free water from the fountain near the pier, provided you have an empty bottle to fill up; I found an empty bottle randomly while cleaning up trash during my first visit
- There is a hotel you can sleep at for 40 coins per night if you don’t feel like sailing back home or sleeping on the boat
- Items such as sleeping bags and goggles are one-time consumables
- Each merchant has favorite items that they are willing to pay more coins for (Марина has an awesome guide showcasing said items, here)