Our Raft tips & tricks guide helps you survive the early days of the game.
Over the last couple of years, survival games have become one of the most popular genres of the gaming industry. But nothing screams survival like being stuck on a raft, surrounded by ravenous sharks, picking trash.
When you start Raft, you are dumped into the ocean on a 4 tile raft. Without any rips & tricks or tutorials, getting used to the game can be difficult. Knowing how to expand can be a nightmare.
Read our in-depth Raft tips & tricks to learn how to survive, beat the shark, and gather materials to expand.
Table of contents
1. Keep backup fishing rods & cups
The first obstacle you will face in Raft is just how quickly your food and thirst are depleted. You need to jump on top of this straight away.
Dealing with thirst: Create a plastic storage box and fill it up with cups. Keep turning those cups into freshwater; this will mean you have a constant backup if you lose track of your thirst and don’t have time to make new freshwater.
Dealing with hunger: Hunger is one of the most frustrating things to deal with in Raft. No matter how much you eat, you seem to be hungry again in no time.
The first thing you want to do is build a fishing rod, and catch as many fish as you can. When you have enough materials, make sure to build a few backup rods, as they break very easily until you get the upgraded ones.
The other trick to surviving hunger at the start of Raft is to chop down fruit trees on the islands you find all over the map. Many of these will also help towards thirst, and each tree will give you multiple fruits.
2. Don’t build on the edge of the raft
You will have undoubtedly noticed that there is a shark that constantly follows your raft. Every now and then the shark will try and eat your raft, which will destroy any items that are built on that tile.
By not building on the edge, you give yourself a safety net. Thus, making sure that if he does manage to take a bite, it’s only a foundation and nothing else important.
You can also stop him by hitting him with the spear a couple of times. Repair the broken foundation with the hammer by holding down the right mouse button and selecting the repair option.
3. Research everything quickly
What you can craft at the start of Raft is just the beginning.
Create a research table and start putting in items, and before you know it you will have tons of new items at your disposal. Many of them are designed to make surviving easier.
Most research requires you to add a couple of different types of resources before you unlock anything.
I personally aim to get the simple collection net, which catches any items that float through it. This can save the amount of time you need to spend scavenging.
Once you’ve been to an island, you should have an excess of items. Use these to unlock some new recipes in the research table.
4. Search coral reefs around islands too
Islands can be a great way to get food, as well as other resources. They often contain crates with valuable loot in them, as well as often having animals, which can be used as a source of food.
But did you know that most islands are filled with treasures under the water, surrounding the island?
You can find the following resources, just by swimming in the shallow water surrounding most islands:
- Seaweed
- Metal
- Copper
- Scrap
- Stone
- Sand
- Giant Clams
- Clay
Make sure to have a hook on you before you go diving into the water. It is worth taking a couple with you, as collecting these resources can do some serious damage to the hook.
Depending on how deep the water is, you might need to also make some shark bait. Keep the shark busy while you go exploring the depths around the island.
5. Surround your raft with simple collection nets
Using a hook to gather items isn’t the most practical solution, nor is it the most time-efficient. Thankfully, there’s another way.
Simple collection nets can be researched early on in Raft, using the research table. They are fairly cheap to build.
Surrounding your raft in these will make sure that anything the raft goes over, gets caught in a net for you to pick up.
Just make sure to build a row of foundations in front of the simple collection nets. This will stop the shark from destroying them and costing you more resources.
6. Craft shark bait
As explained above, some of the best resources in the game can be found underwater. But how do you manage to look around with a giant shark trying to eat you?
Shark bait will keep the shark busy for a short period. This gives you time to dive underwater and grab some valuable resources to keep expanding your raft.
7. More sails does not mean more speed
You would think that having multiple sails would make your raft go faster. Sadly this isn’t the case. Without the help of a paddle or engine, the raft will go the same speed, no matter how many sails you put on it.
8. Barrels and crates are important
Barrels and crates both offer great items, and in bulk, so whenever you see either of these in the water, make sure to aim for them.
Crates can also offer some new furniture recipes. While these aren’t useful for survival, they can make great additions to your raft’s decor.
Raft Tips & Tricks Summary
Now that you know the basics of Raft, it’s time to discover more islands and gather more materials. You can use the Raft antennas and receiver to discover new locations, allowing you to build a bigger and more decorative raft.
