Before the first night
You spawn at a camp with a crafting bench. The game tells you to chop trees and feed the campfire. That fire is the safe circle: the Deer stays out of its light. If the fire dies you lose the home marker, you stop the safety the light was giving you, and threats that were waiting outside can come in.
IGN's survival guide, updated September 4, 2025, says the first campfire upgrade takes about 5 to 6 logs. Small trees in the opening area were giving about 3 logs each. Cut those, carry the logs back, and throw them onto the fire. That first upgrade expands the map.
Later campfire levels accept more than logs. Coal, fuel canisters, oil, and biofuel all feed the fire. Published log-only prices for levels 2 through 6 do not match each other, so follow the upgrade bar in the run instead of a single wood number from a guide.
Clear the trees around camp and put extra logs into the bench grinder. Craft the Map as soon as you have 3 Wood. It opens from anywhere and marks places such as cabins and chests.
Night 1 and day 2
On the first night the Deer comes toward camp but does not attack. Use that night to keep gathering logs, scrap, and pelts inside the area the fire has opened.
From day 2, the Deer will attack you outside camp if you do not have a flashlight. Craft or loot a Sundial so you can see how much day or night is left. The Compass, after you check the missing-children board, keeps a child marker on screen.
The Pelt Trader arrives on day 2. The first two requests are a Rabbit's Foot and a Wolf Skin. Both are random drops from the white bunnies and wolves in the opened area. Axes can kill those early animals. Bring every pelt home. Later visits ask for Alpha Wolf and Bear pelts.
A strong early purchase from that trader is the Good Sack, then a Spear. On PC, Ctrl toggles target lock so a Spear can hit while you back away.
What to ignore at first
Do not spend the opening day walking into fog the fire has not cleared. Child caves, the Workshop, and stronger chests sit farther out. Upgrade the fire, get the Map, and come home with pelts before you commit to a long trip.
Cook food you plan to rely on. A Farm Plot and Crock Pot come from later bench tiers and are the stable food loop. Raw foraging is the bridge until those exist.
Flames on the fire
Up to three Flames can sit on the campfire in one run. A Flame changes which event shows up, or how the fire behaves. Reported effects include:
| Flame | Reported effect |
|---|---|
| Blue | Weather drains the campfire less |
| Alien | Alien event is set for day 3 |
| Alien's Revenge | Alien Revenge event is set for day 3 |
| Frog | Frog event is set for day 3 |
| Meteor | Meteor shower is set for day 3 |
| Halloween Carnival | Halloween Carnival is set for night 3 |
| Coinsplosion | Coins burst in the fire and coins spawn more often on the map |
| Fairy | Plants level 1 of every seed type on the map |
| Valentines | Starts the Valentines event |
| Fishing | Boosts fishing and drops Old Fishing Rods at the fire |
Some promo codes pay random Flames. Read the Flame name in the reward before you burn a code on a run that does not want that event.