Don’t Starve Adventure Mode Guide

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Arron Kluz

Arron is a featured team writer and lifelong gamer. Ever since he started playing games on his old SNES, and has been hooked ever since. He has a particular love for games like Pillars of Eternity, Skyrim, a variety of beloved indie titles, and also a few online shooters to serve as a means of avoiding open-world fatigue. Outside of gaming, he enjoys watching arthouse movies, playing Dungeons & Dragons, and writing fiction.

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Don’t Starve is one of the most demanding survival games in the industry. Managing one’s resources, hunger, temperature, and sanity can be a lot for players to learn as they try to survive as long as possible. However, once players have mastered that, they may want to try Don’t Starve‘s Adventure Mode.

Adventure Mode acts as the narrative of Don’t Starve and constantly mixes things up on the player, forcing them to react to crazy new environments and rebuild from near scratch multiple times. So, if you plan on taking on Adventure Mode or want to challenge yourself in Don’t Starve, you’ve come to the right Don’t Starve Adventure Mode guide.

Key Info Up Front

Adventure Mode is Don’t Starve‘s narrative equivalent. It challenges players to play through five chapters that are randomly chosen from a selection of six different worlds. In each world, players have to rebuild their camps and completely restart while accounting for the random elements of each level. This makes it one of the most difficult ways to play Don’t Starve.

Adventure Mode Overview

In the universe of Don’t Starve, the characters are trapped within a realm known as the Constant by a sinister mastermind named Maxwell. Adventure Mode is a battle between the player and Maxwell to see who can rule the constant by challenging the player to survive five unique levels.

Each level has its characteristics and challenges that require players to master all of the game’s mechanics to be successful. Players have to find a structure known as Maxwell’s Door to start Adventure Mode from the regular Sandbox Mode.

It is a large metal structure surrounded by Evergreens, Evil Flowers, and Fireflies that players can track down with a Divining Rod. Selecting to enter Adventure Mode this way completely resets the player in the first chapter.

They spawn with full Health, Hunger, and Sanity, no crafting recipes prototyped, and only their character’s starting items. If the player dies in Adventure Mode, they are respawned in front of the door exactly as they were before entering it.

Once inside Adventure Mode, the player is tasked with collecting four pieces of an item called a Wooden Thing or the Teleportato. Collecting all four pieces and combining them will allow the player to transport themselves to the next chapter. Still, the pieces are randomly scattered across the randomly generated maps of each chapter.

When being teleported to the next world, players have to carefully consider what to take with them, as they can only care four items to the next chapter. However, all of their prototyped recipes will remain, as will any built but not placed structures. If the player is playing as Wilson or Webber their beard also carries over to the next chapter, as are any upgrades found for WX-78.

The levels of a player’s needs are also carried over from one chapter to the next, so you should make sure to have them as full as possible before going through the portal to give yourself the strongest possible start in the new chapter.

Adventure Mode Levels

There are six possible levels in Adventure Mode, as well as an Epilogue chapter. They can randomly appear in nearly any order, but they never repeat within the same playthrough. This structure keeps players on their toes and forces them to adapt to the random requirements of each chapter when they arrive. So, suppose you plan on tackling Adventure Mode.

In that case, it is important to be familiar with the possibilities of what you may face so that you can prepare yourself with a strategy accordingly. According to the following table, the different levels can appear in chapters, with the Epilogue level, Checkmate, only appearing after all five chapters have been completed.

A Cold Reception

The level A Cold Reception looks very similar to a regular Sandbox Mode world on the surface. However, players will soon realize that it is far from it as it rapidly progresses through four seasons. There will be heavy rain for days followed by cold days where the world is covered in snow.

The world also makes it much harder to get at least one basic resource, like Saplings, Grass, or Flint. All of this comes together to put a serious strain on the player’s resources since you have to constantly adapt to changing weather patterns without a stable pool of supplies.

The combination of rain to make players wet and cold to freeze them to death is also particularly cruel and must be closely managed if you want to survive for more than a few days. The higher frequency of rain also means that building a lightning rod by your camp is a must, while frog rains are also much more likely. However, the latter can be a blessing if you’re prepared for it, as it is a good food source.

Tips for A Cold Reception:

• Try to seclude frogs before attacking them. If they are in a group, when you attack, you’ll have to deal with all of them at once, which makes it much more difficult. Alternatively, use traps to catch frogs rather than the typical rabbits.
• Straw Rolls and Tents are effective ways to regain Sanity, especially after it rains, and skip the night portion of a day. However, you should only do this if you have enough food to refill your drained Hunger from sleeping.
• Keep moving throughout the level as much as possible. Try only to set a fire every other night to cook food and gather wood. On other nights you should be exploring with a torch to continue tracking down the pieces you need to move on to the next chapter.
• With the frequency of rain, try to craft an umbrella if possible. Otherwise, wear a Garland or Top Hat to diminish or cancel out the sanity loss from being wet.
• One part will always be behind a Pig checkpoint. To easily get past it, place some grass and twigs along its border and light them on fire to burn your way through to the inside.

King of Winter

This level’s name implies that it is trapped in an eternal winter. At the start of the level, players are spawned in a Grasslands Biome surrounded by a burning forest to keep them warm during the introduction. However, players will have to quickly find a way to stay warm in the never-ending cold of the level.

Being stuck in winter also means that days are shortened to only three minutes, which means preparing for the night quickly is an absolute must. After about a week in the level, the Deerclops will spawn somewhere on the map. You may be able to take it on for some valuable supplies if you brought decent armor and a weapon with you from a previous weapon, but otherwise, it is best to leave him be so that he doesn’t kill you or spawn somewhere else on the map after you kill him.

To find all of the Teleportato pieces, you’ll have to journey through a series of Boulders or Obelisks for at least one piece. If you are unlucky and have to go through Obelisks, find a way to raise your Sanity back up afterward. The easiest way to do this is to sleep through the night, as long as you have the food supplies.

There is always a dead adventurer near your starting spawn with some crucial supplies to surviving this level. It always has a Heat Stone, Logs, Cut Grass, Twigs, a Torch, and a Blueprint for one random invention. You can also find blueprints for Rabbit Earmuffs, a Divining Rod, some more Logs, and an Axe near that body. Finding these supplies should always be your priority on this level to get you started.

Tips for King of Winter:

• If the Obelisks you have to pass through require you to have low Sanity, the easiest way to lower your Sanity on this level is by standing near Evil Flowers or digging up Graves.
• This level is extremely difficult. Due to how harsh the situations are, it is best to move as quickly as possible. Use the first few days to gather supplies, and then try to spend as much of your time after that searching for pieces and grabbing what supplies you need quickly on the go.
• Make sure to fully charge your Heat Stone whenever you build a fire before moving on to get as much warmth as possible.
• If you come across a cluster of Hound Mounds, an easy way to deal with them is to summon Beefalo with a Beefalo Horn to distract the Hounds while you destroy the Mounds.
• Try to make a Crock Pot as early as possible to make the most of your limited food supplies.
• Use Monster Meat to recruit Pigs to follow you. This will help you gather resources faster and help protect you from any monsters you encounter. Just be careful not to feed one Pig four Monster Meat, or they’ll turn into a hostile Werepig.

The Game is Afoot

This level is a bit more straightforward than the previous two. Players are spawned in a Marsh biome that Grassland surrounds. Nearby there is always a chest. The chest usually contains some Logs, a Winter Hat, and a few Flint but can occasionally spawn with ten Rot and four Blueprints for random recipes. However, there is also a chance that the chest will spawn with a campfire next to it that will instantly burn it before players can grab whatever was inside.

The map for this level is set up as a resource-rich central island where players can set up a base camp. Around that island, there are more dangerous lands that will hold the pieces of the Teleportato. This makes the level best approached by setting up a strong base on the central island and embarking on missions to the outer lands to gather the pieces.

As for the weather, The Game is Afoot always starts with ten days of Winter followed by an infinite Summer. This level also has occasional Hound Attacks that you’ll want to make sure you’re always ready for.

Tips for The Game is Afoot:

• The central island usually has spider dens, which can be very useful to craft Healing Salves before venturing out to the other lands.
• Craft a Log Suit as soon as possible for extra protection and kill some Pigs if you can to build a Football Helmet as well.
• Try to avoid the blockades that spawn by bridges connecting different areas as much as possible. Most do not give you enough resources for clearing them to be worth the risk or investment.

Archipelago

Archipelago is made up of six smaller islands. To travel between them, players have to use a connected Wormholes web that requires some Sanity to use. However, each island is guaranteed to have one thing except for the starting island, making hunting them down a bit easier.

Most of the islands do have multiple Wormholes, however, so players have to do their best to remember which ones lead to what islands, as you will likely have to return to some to gather resources and construct the Teleportato.

Each island also spawns with two biomes on it, with the first having a Forest biome and a Swamp. The Forest is an excellent place to gather food, as plenty of Carrots and Berry Bushes spawn there. The swamp is also an excellent place to gather supplies if you are well equipped enough, as it is filled with Spider Dens, Tentacles, and Merms. For weather, Archipelago always starts in the Spring and progresses through the seasons normally like Sandbox Mode.

Tips for Archipelago:

• Collect as many resources as possible on the first island, especially twigs, logs, and flint, to avoid going back later on and wasting time.
• You’ll also need a reliable way to raise your Sanity since this level requires you to travel with Wormholes frequently. For this, you can craft a Top Hat from clearing the Spider Dens or sleep in a tent if you have enough food.
• You come across the first island’s Swamp or any other Swamps and watch for fights between mobs. These can be great ways to get free resources that are dropped.
• Always be prepared to run when going through a Wormhole, as you never know where it will put you, and it could be in the middle of a field of Killer Bees or Spider Dens.

Two Worlds

This is one of the easiest levels players can get during Adventure Mode, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t without its challenges. Players spawn into the level in a nice area with cobblestones, a Fire Pit, Trees and Berry Bushes nearby, and even a Tent. Maxwell asks the player for a truce and says that he will honor it as long as they stay there indefinitely.

• This first island also has abnormally long days that last seven out of the eight minutes each day. These long days make surviving there much more accessible while helping the Berry Bushes and Trees grow faster than normal. However, there are now Things on the first island, so you’ll want to use them primarily to prepare for your adventure to the second island, much less hospitable. If Two Worlds is your fourth level, you’ll also want to use the opportunity to prepare supplies for the challenging final level.
• The second island is only reachable through Worm Holes. There are both regular Worm Holes and Sick Worm Holes that only work going one way. This island has a normal day/night cycle, so you’ll have to be careful not to be caught off guard by the day suddenly passing faster than it did before. This second island has a wider range of biomes, less helpful supplies, and a higher spawn rate for hostile creatures, so you’ll have to be prepared before jumping through the Worm Holes.

Tips for Two Worlds:

• Feel free to take your time on this level since the first island is hospitable.
• If Two Worlds is your fourth level, you should prepare plenty of Jerk and a stack of Fireflies for the next level to help you start strong.
• If Two Worlds is your third level, you should prepare some winter clothing to take with you when you advance, as there is a good chance you will get either The Game is Afoot or King of Winter next.
• Keep an eye on your Sanity after going through the Worm Holes so that you don’t get caught off guard when going through.

Darkness

This final level is brutal because it is trapped in a never-ending night. When players spawn in, they will be surrounded by Campfires and Fire Pits to keep them safe at first. Nearby there will also be a backpack that can be looted to find a Blueprint for a Miner Hat, some Grass and Logs, two randomized items, and an additional randomized Blueprint.

The lack of daytime means that most mobs you’ll come across will be sleeping, but it also slows the rate that resources like Grass and Trees will replenish. The darkness will also make keeping your Sanity up quite the challenge, so you’ll have to monitor it constantly.

The level is set up as a linear progression of Biomes connected with a bridge. Each of the biomes has a Thing on them, so make sure to grab it before moving on so that you don’t have to do any backtracking.

Food sources are also heavily reduced for this level, so make sure to grab any you are lucky enough to come across. The bridges connecting the Biomes also have a chance to be blocked by either Boulders or Obelisks, so make sure to have supplies to deal with them.

Tips for Darkness:

• Use the Maxwell Lights scattered across the level to take out your Divining Rod to try and detect a nearby Thing.
• Blue Mushrooms can be a life-saver as they can be eaten raw for Health and Hunger or cooked for Sanity.
• If you need food, try to kill a Tallbird rather than the sleeping Pigs in the level or a Koalefant.
• Having a Miner Hat will also make this level much more manageable.
• Only use Campfires to cook food, but do it as quickly as possible since Night Hands will continuously assault it. Don’t try to fight the Night Hands off as it is an unnecessary expense of your valuable Sanity.
• Keep a Log Suit on you when you go into the Swamp Biome. If you have a hard time avoiding the Tentacles because of the dark, you can switch to it at the expense of dropping your backpack and some resources.

Checkmate (Epilogue)

While Checkmate may be the Epilogue of Adventure Mode, it is still possible to meet your end just before finishing. Checkmate is also stuck in an eternal night with only Maxwell’s Lights for natural light sources. However, the level is structured as a long hallway with rooms branching off in both directions as you make your way down it.

The first side room has four chests with a random assortment of supplies for you to take. The second room has a cluster of Grass and Berry Bushes, but most of them are usually barren. The third room will have three Crafting Stations in it and three Crock Pots with ingredients on the ground around them.

This level also has the map covered in fog even after the player has explored it, but the linear nature makes it so that this isn’t too much of a hindrance. Once you make it to the end of the hallway, Maxwell will be sitting on a Throne with a phonograph near him playing music.

All the player has to do then is talk to Maxwell and make the final decision of the game, after which their character will be placed on the throne, and they will be returned to their Sandbox Mode game playing as Maxwell, their newly unlocked playable character.

Tips for Checkmate:

• There will still be occasional Hound attacks during this level, so make sure you’re prepared for combat in the dark. When they happen, try to get by a Maxwell Light or put down a Campfire to make seeing them more accessible.
• Move as quickly as possible through the level. Since you don’t have to find Things, make sure to grab the resources you need to survive from the extra rooms and then head straight for the final room. You don’t want to die this close to the end and have to restart the entire journey.

Do’s and Don’ts for Adventure Mode

Do

• Try to prototype as many recipes as possible in the first chapter. This will make surviving in later chapters much easier and allow you to avoid wasting resources on a Science Machine or Alchemy Engine at the start of every chapter.
• Get your Hunter, Health, and Sanity as high as possible before advancing to the next level because they carry over.
• Use Woodie or Willow if you have difficulty gathering resources in Adventure Mode.
• Use Green Mushrooms when passing through Obelisks that require different Sanity levels.
• Hunt NacTusk N’ Son if you can, as it has a solid chance of dropping the Tam o’ Shanter or a Walrus Tusk, both of which can be very useful.
• Use Bundling Wrap to bring extra items over to the next level.

Don’t

• Waste time gathering resources you don’t need or staying in a level for any longer than you have to. This drains your needs that would be better off filled for the next level.
• Waste item slots when traveling to a new level on the Divination Rod, as it will just turn to ash when you go through the teleportato.
• Engage in combat without armor and weapon equipped, which spells certain death.
• Eat Monster Meat unless necessary or prepared in a Crock Pot ahead of time.
• Be by a Pig Village when a Full Moon comes as all Pigs will turn into hostile Werepigs.

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