ARK: Survival Evolved is one of many early access games that focuses on Survival and crafting. The difference this time round, is the shear amount of content that is already in the game. There are still bugs and glitches, but even AAA titles apparently have no problem shipping games with mass amounts of problems these days, so that is easily forgiveable for a game that isn’t even finished.
In all honesty, ARK could be shipped in it’s current state as a full game. There is hours worth of gameplay, and plenty of progression to work your way through. However, with a game of this scale, there is a pretty steep learning curve, so here is some advice on how to get yourself started in this dino infested paradise.

*NOTE* As ARK: Survival Evolved is an early access, anything could change at any moment, so some of these hints may be outdated very quickly.

1. Punching trees hurts.

Though wood is a necessity, don’t over do it, you can do some real damage to yourself. A certain blocky game made a new trend in survival games, and though it didn’t make much sense in Minecraft, it makes even less sense in games that have a certain sense of realism to them. ARK addresses this strange new “first level” that many survival games.

2. The right tool for the right job.

To get yourself started in ARK, you need tools. Every 5 levels you unlock new “engrams” that allow you to craft a whole load of new stuff. However you start with two crafting recipes at the ready, one for a torch and one for a pickaxe.

3. Get stoned.

Stones are essential for a lot of recipes, including the aforementioned pickaxe. “How do you get stones without a pickaxe?” I hear you screaming as a raptor chases you down the beach. Well if you take a second to check the floor of beaches and rivers you can find stones scattered around, so tap “E” and pick it up.