Dark Strands

SURVIVAL GUIDE

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⚔ Movement

Walk & Sprint

Use WASD to move freely. Hold SHIFT to sprint at double speed.

Jump & Double Jump

Press SPACE to jump. Press again mid-air for a double jump. You can also jump briefly after walking off a ledge.

Zoom

Hold Right-click for 3x zoom. Scout distant threats and landmarks before approaching.

💬 Interaction

Interact

Press E near doors, soldiers, flowers, rocks, torches, or beds. Watch for the [E] prompt floating in the world.

Throw & Place

Select a stone and left-click to throw. Press E with a stone selected to enter placement mode -- a green preview shows where it will land. Click to place.

Flowers & Torches

Pick up flowers and torches with E. Select and left-click to place them -- flowers go on terrain, torches on walls or ground.

🎯 Camera & HUD

Camera

Press V to switch between first-person and over-the-shoulder third-person view.

Hotbar

Press 1-5 to select slots. Hold ALT for a virtual cursor -- drag items between slots to reorder.

Pause

TAB pauses with mouse trapped. ESC frees cursor (game keeps running). Click to re-lock.

Fast-Forward

Hold Q to run the world at 3x speed -- time, movement, and animations all accelerate.

⚔ Touch Controls

Move

Touch and drag the left side of the screen. A virtual joystick appears where you touch.

Look Around

Swipe the right side of the screen to rotate the camera. Use both thumbs -- left to move, right to look.

Jump

Tap the JUMP button (bottom-right). Tap again mid-air for a double jump.

Interact

Hold still on the right side for 1 second near doors, soldiers, flowers, rocks, torches, or beds. A progress circle fills to confirm.

Use Item

Tap the USE button to throw stones, enter placement mode, or place torches/flowers.

Hotbar & Camera

Tap a hotbar slot to select it. Tap CAM to switch between first and third person.

🏠 Exploration

Buildings

Stone structures with doorways, breakable windows, and furniture. Some rise two stories with staircases, tables, chairs, and beds.

Rooftops

Climb onto rooftops if you can find a way up. Slanted roofs are slippery -- thrown stones will roll off. Flat roofs make good vantage points.

Terrain & Water

Rolling hills shape the landscape. Walk into water for an underwater view -- movement slows to 40% and gravity gets floaty.

Snow Biome

Toggle from the main menu for a frozen landscape. Water turns to walkable ice and trees take on a wintry look.

💥 Rocks & Physics

Throwing

Select a stone and left-click to throw. Stones bounce off walls and terrain with realistic physics. Slanted roofs are slippery -- stones roll right off.

Placement Mode

Press E with a stone selected to toggle placement mode. A green preview shows where the stone will land. Click to place it gently instead of throwing.

Rock Splitting

Thrown stones that hit stationary pebbles will knock them loose with momentum transfer. Chain reactions are possible -- experiment with angles.

Breaking Windows

Throw a stone at a window pane to shatter it. Glass shards scatter on impact. Broken windows let projectiles pass through freely.

💬 Creatures & NPCs

Soldiers

Green-tinted warriors wander the land. Get close to hear their stories -- some wise, some strange.

Foxes

Skittish foxes roam the wilderness. They flee if you get too close -- try sneaking up on them.

☀ Day & Night

Time Cycle

Enable from the main menu. The sun arcs across the sky, torches ignite at dusk, and stars emerge at night.

Sleeping

Find a bed inside a building and interact to sleep until morning. Requires the day/night cycle to be enabled.

🎯 HUD

Minimap

Top-right corner shows your position (yellow dot), buildings (brown), and flowers (cyan).

DARKSTRANDS

SURVIVAL GUIDE

Rest Until Dawn