Hytale Guide for Beginners: Essential Tips and Tricks

Hytale is a sandbox game with survival and RPG elements that, even in early access, gives players total freedom, from exploring biomes to building your own bases. This guide covers how to start out right in Exploration mode, which world settings to choose, how to build your first shelter, and where to find the Forgotten Temple. It’s perfect for newcomers and will help you avoid the most common early mistakes.

There’s no main objective in the game, everyone decides for themselves what they want to do. You can build a cozy house with a garden and raise chickens, or venture into the deadlands to hunt for rare materials for the ultimate build. Still, when you’re just starting out, it’s smart to follow a certain strategy, especially if you haven’t played similar games before.

In the main menu, the first tab is “World.” For now, there are two game modes: “Exploration” (which this guide is focused on) and “Creative.” Between the world name field and the “Create World” button, you’ll see a gear icon for world settings.

If this is your first playthrough, we recommend turning off PvP, fall damage, and all death penalties (set Inventory Penalty On Death to None). It’s also best to leave the time speed setting at its default value. Later, you can always go back into the world settings and change any of these options as you like. This rule applies to worlds you’ve already created, too.

The game takes place on the planet Orbis. The world is divided into four major zones:

Each zone features unique biomes with their own types of blocks and trees. For example, the starting area has dark soil and birch trees, while the desert is filled with sand and palm trees. Also, the deep dungeons in each region are very different from one another.

The game always starts in the Forgotten Temple, your basic spawn point and the place you return to after dying. Your first goal is to gather resources, craft some basic survival tools, and build a shelter.

Right from the start, look for these materials:

Gather about 50 units of each resource, this should take no more than 20 minutes. Then, open your inventory (TAB) and craft the basic tools:

Each tool requires:

Now you need to build a simple shelter to survive your first night. Build your house near the spawn point, or use the Forgotten Temple as your base. You’ll need around 50 blocks of stone or wood for your shelter.

Next, craft a Crude Bedroll. To do this, you’ll need two Light Hides and three bundles of Plant Fiber. Light Hide drops from animals (Sheep, Cow, Boar, Deer, Rabbit, Rat) that you need to kill with your sword. Only hunt adult animals—small creatures won’t drop anything useful.

Place your bedroll in your shelter and build a campfire using four sticks and two stones. The fire is needed for cooking food. Any material from trees can be used as fuel. When burned, it turns into Charcoal, which lasts longer than most other resources. To cook food, use meat dropped by animals.

To avoid sitting in the dark, place torches, which require a stick, stone, and tree sap. Next, you’ll need to craft a Workbench from four wooden blocks and three stone blocks. This lets you craft advanced gear and other workbenches like the furnace or armorer’s table. For convenience, place a chest nearby, built from ten wooden blocks.

The Forgotten Temple is a unique structure with a portal to a magical dimension. It spawns in every zone and is marked on the map with a spiral icon. The entrance is guarded by a golem, and there are always two loot chests nearby. You don’t have to fight the mini-boss—you can just walk past.

In the magical dimension, there’s a statue that lets you collect Memories of all the creatures you can encounter on Orbis. There are 240 in total. When you meet a new one, a notification appears in the bottom left corner. To transfer your knowledge, return to the Forgotten Temple and interact with the monument. As you fill out your database, you’ll unlock useful recipes.

Now that you’ve built your first shelter and unlocked the Memories feature, you’re free to do whatever you want, build a fortress or set out for distant lands. But before you go, here’s a short list of practical tips: