Merge Games' Smalland: Survive The Wilds sees players immersed in the giant world of the Smallfolk. These human-insect hybrids are both intelligent and agile, but many foes and dangers lie beyond the safety of The Burrows. The world is both vast and complex with dynamic seasons and weather events, a variety of materials, foods and creatures that players will need and encounter, as well as multiple ways of traversing this giant landscape.
Smalland: Survive The Wilds can be extremely unforgiving to newcomers, and dying will cause players to lose all items in their inventory. Every step must be taken carefully and with consideration, with life as a Smallfolk being particularly fragile.
Since Smalland: Survive The Wilds is still in Early Access, new gameplay features are likely to be added and may affect this list.
6 Use Antenna Vision
As a human-insect hybrid, one of the main benefits granted to players is Antenna Vision. This special power (activated by pressing 'V') will change the world to become colorless and only highlight useful materials which, in a world as dense and diverse as Smalland, can be key. Many craftable objects will require a considerable amount of resources, as will building bases and constructions, therefore it is crucial to hoard as many of these resources as possible when they are available.
Different materials will require different items in order to break them down or extract them, but many items can simply be harvested by pressing 'F'. Once harvested, players will need to gather the materials from the floor, the most efficient way of doing so is to simply hold 'F' again.
5 Eat Mushrooms
Throughout the world of Smalland, players will notice an abundance of different mushrooms throughout the world. Just like in real-life, some mushroom species are more beneficial than others, and some are just outright poisonous and not fit for consumption. Brown mushrooms are one of the easiest forms of food to access in the game and can often be felled using a simple axe.
In order to gain the maximum benefit from them, however, it will be necessary to take the ingredients to a crafted fire and combine them into a Mushroom Steak. This will provide considerably more beneficial boons than simply eating the mushrooms raw. Poisonous mushrooms are usually red and based on the Amanita Muscaria species - these mushrooms can also be harvested in order to create poisons.
4 Avoid Water
As any players who have tried to cross the river near the game's starting area will know - Smallfolk cannot swim and will drown in water. There are ways around this, however, such as wings and certain flying mounts, but before then players should also be able to jump across lily pads or walk across any branches and logs that may offer access across the fast-flowing water.
As for leaves - players will fall straight through, so generally it is only logs or mushrooms that players should use to climb. Beware also, that any flying predators will be able to maintain pursuit across these waters, so crossing isn't necessarily always a passage to safety.
3 Visit The Owl
When players exit The Burrows for the first time, they will be able to see an owl statue in the distance, considerably larger than the usual effigies which litter the game world and provide hints and tips. This larger owl will be accessible by scaling the roots, branches and mushrooms that line the tree's surface. Once players have reached the top, they will notice that there is an abundance of food left as an offering.
Players can take and store this food with no negative consequences, but trying to build in this area may prove limited as it is not strictly an inhabitable area. Other trees can be more successfully inhabited and will provide much more space and resources.
2 Prepare For Storms
As well as a seasonal, dynamic weather system, Smalland: Survive The Wilds also features Storms as a gameplay mechanic. Since the Smallfolk are only insect-sized, these storms can cause player damage and even death, and they are much worse during the Winter. Fortunately many clothes and armor in the game will come with "Protection" stats, either for cold or just in general, which will help to mitigate the damage received from these storms.
In addition to this, player bases and constructions can also be damaged and destroyed by the storms, but by building roofs for each structure, this effect can be countered, and the structures will not receive damage from storms.
1 Use Mounts
Throughout the world of Smalland: Survive The Wilds there are all manner of insects and arachnids players can either battle or tame. In order to tame mounts they will usually have to be injured below half-health, at which point a tame mechanic is presented (Press "F") this will enable players to tame mounts such as Grasshoppers, Geckos and Damselflies.
The Damselfly is probably the most useful of the available mounts due to its flying ability, but other mounts can also be very useful in combat. Creatures will also require players to craft treats and complete requisite boss battles in order to domesticate any wild creatures.
Smalland: Survive The Wilds is currently in Early Access and is available on Steam.