ARK: Survival Evolved is currently available for free on PC until June 11 via the Epic Games Store and it’s yours to keep forever thanks to Epic’s Free Game Fridays’ deal. ARK: Survival Evolved offers a fantastically rich survival sandbox, but all those dinosaurs wandering around can put a quick end to unsuspecting new players. So here are a few basic tips to stop you from being stomped on by a T.Rex the moment you poke your head out of the reeds.
Tools of the trade
When you first spawn in ARK: Survival Evolved’s world, your immediate priority is to create some basic survival tools to survive. Picking up a few rocks and punching some trees will let you create a rudimentary pickaxe, which you can use to mine some flint and create a better pickaxe that will double as a basic weapon.
Do in a dodo
Once you’ve crafted a basic tool, your next priority is to see to your basic needs, namely food, water, clothing and shelter. Water can be drunk from lakes, and we’ll cover shelter in the next tip. As for food and clothing, both can be supplied by the humble dodo. These flightless birds are easy prey, providing meat for eating, and hide which can be turned into clothes. Killing dodos will also net you a few experience points, which you’ll need for the next tip.
Build your first shelter
Shelters are very important in ARK: Survival Evolved. Even the most rudimentary shelter will help protect you against hypothermia, as well as reducing the risk of being squashed by a roaming dinosaur. To build a basic shelter, you’ll need to unlock the “Thatch” Engrams (ARK’s equivalent of crafting recipes) by levelling up a couple of times. Ideally, a shelter should be constructed on a high-ish point to avoid roaming dinosaurs, but close enough to resources so that you don’t have to trek too far to get them.
