Welcome aboard, fellow survivors! If you’re just starting your journey into the floating world of Raft, or if you’re floundering somewhere in the early game, this guide is here to toss you a life preserver. Raft may look simple at first glance—a little plastic, some wood, a few islands—but beneath that surface lies a surprisingly nuanced survival experience. These are the ten most important things I wish I knew before I loaded into my first ocean-bound world.

1. Choose Your Difficulty Carefully

Before you even begin building your raft, you’re hit with one of the most impactful choices in the game: difficulty. Rafthas five modes, but only four are true survival experiences:

• Peaceful: No enemy attacks, slow hunger/thirst decay.
• Easy: Enemies exist, but you respawn with full inventory.
• Normal: Lose 2/3 of your inventory and tool durability on death.
• Hard: Faster hunger/thirst decay, more enemy damage, and no solo respawn unless a teammate helps.

Hard mode also throws in extra sharks and lower player damage output. Choose based on your playstyle—whether you want a chill build or a relentless battle for survival.

2. Mastering the Hook Mechanics

Your plastic hook is your lifeline early on. Charging it up affects throw distance, but so does your angle. Throwing at a low angle barely moves it, but a bit above 45 degrees lets you reach far-off debris.

Here’s the trick: don’t waste time reeling in an empty hook. Right-click to cancel instantly. Upgraded hooks do reel faster and cast farther—especially useful underwater—so it’s absolutely worth upgrading to a Scrap Hook as soon as you can.

3. The Research Table Is Your Best Friend

Progress in Raft is tied to the Research Table. Drop in a raw material, click Research, and you unlock that item permanently. You only ever need to research one of each item.

Mid-tier items like bolts, hinges, and batteries also need to be crafted and researched to unlock advanced blueprints. Speaking of blueprints—they unlock instantly on pickup and can be tossed afterward. Don’t hoard them.

4. Prioritize the Smelter

Few things matter more in the early game than getting a Smelter up and running. It unlocks nearly every advanced recipe and is essential for story progress. Most early islands have enough Sand and Clay to make your first Wet Bricks—you’ll need 14 of each to make a smelter.

Lay the bricks down to dry, wait five minutes, and start smelting. Don’t wait several islands like most new players—get on this early.

5. Outsmart the Shark (aka Jeremiah)

Jeremiah loves to chew your raft apart. Fortifying edges with metal is the permanent solution, but early on, metal is scarce. Here’s a trick: build a Sacrificial Foundation—a triangle plank off to the side. Jeremiah almost always targets corners or farthest-out pieces, so this lets you control where he attacks.

Another budget trick is creating small buffer rows with triangles at the ends. This shark-proof design lets you protect your real raft until you can afford full fortifications.

6. Eat Smart, Cook Smarter

Surviving hunger and thirst is brutal in the first 30 minutes. Raft uses a “craving” system—the hungrier or thirstier you are, the more efficient cooked food becomes.

Never eat raw unless you’re about to die. Wait until your bar is low to get the most from your food. Cooked food is always more valuable, and a small delay can save big in the long run.

7. Dive Deep—Underwater Loot Is Essential

Many of Raft‘s key resources are underwater, especially around Small Tropical Islands—your bread and butter in the early game. Look for scrap, clay, sand, and sometimes metal ore near the edges.

Large Tropical Islands are where things get exciting—with trading posts, aggressive animals, and passive livestock. Poison puffers, screechers, and underwater dangers will test you, so bring a bow or shark bait if you want to dive in peace.

8. Your Raft Is the World Center

Literally. The game world, trash streams, and island spawns revolve around your initial 4×4 raft center. Build your collection nets in a 28-square span centered around that core for max efficiency.

If you unknowingly build your raft five tiles to the right, all your trash will spawn five tiles to the left—frustrating for symmetry. Mark the center early and build outward evenly.

9. Navigating the World: Sails, Engines, and Paddles

By default, your raft floats north. A Sail can steer you gently but doesn’t increase speed. You only need one sail—more don’t help.

Engines, unlocked later, are your real power source: one engine per 100 foundations, with a max of six. Paddles, though manual, can save you when stuck.

And don’t worry if you miss a story island—just travel 3,000 meters away, and it will respawn ahead of you.

10. Enjoy the Journey, Learn by Doing

Raft hides a lot of depth behind its charming style. From learning when to upgrade to managing enemy spawns and resource cycles, the game offers a lot to master. The early grind is tough, but once you get your systems going—smelters, cookpots, nets, storage—it becomes an incredibly satisfying survival sim.

Whether you’re playing solo or dragging your chaotic friend along, these tips will help smooth out those frustrating first hours. Trust me, I’ve been there—and once you learn how to ride the waves, there’s nothing quite like it.