Stranded Deep: Survival Guide

A survival-first guide to Stranded Deep: what to do on day one, how to keep water and food stable, how crafting tiers and skills work, how to build rafts and bases, how to deal with sharks and other hazards, and how the three sea-monster bosses and the escape ending fit together.

Researched September 2026 — current as of stable build 1.0.38.0 (January 2024), the latest PC patch. Stranded Deep 2 is in early development; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

• Water first, always. Coconuts are your first water. Crack green coconuts for drinks and keep a stack. Build a Water Still as soon as you can.
• Make a Stone Tool immediately. It opens coconuts, cuts fibers, and unlocks basic crafting ("Back To The Stone Age").
• Gather sticks, rocks, fibrous leaves, palm fronds, and lashing — these feed nearly every early recipe.
• Build a campfire to cook crabs, fish, and meat. Raw meat is dangerous and drops your health.
• Stay out of deep water early. Sharks patrol deeper water; the shallow reef inside an island's ring is safer.
• Check your watch. The survival watch shows health, hunger, thirst, and status effects like poison, bleeding, sunstroke and broken bones.
• Sleep to save and pass the night. Night is dark and dangerous for exploring.
• Build a raft early. The inflatable lifeboat is not a long-term vehicle. A basic raft lets you island-hop for supplies.
• Loot shipwrecks. Sunken and beached wrecks hold tools, food, medical items and crafting parts you cannot make early.
• Skills level by doing. Harvesting, Craftsmanship, Cooking, Physical, and Hunting improve as you use them and unlock better recipes.

Survival Vitals

Vital | What drains it | How to keep it up

Health | Injuries, starvation, dehydration, poison | Rest, eating, medical items

Hunger | Time, activity | Cooked crab, fish, meat, fruit, crops

Thirst | Time, heat | Coconuts, Water Still, Coconut Flask, clay flasks

Sleep / fatigue | Time awake | Sleeping on a bed, shelter, or sleeping bag

Status effects:

• Poison: from certain fish, venomous animals, and some food. Treat with the appropriate medical item or plant-based remedy.
• Bleeding: bandage it.
• Broken bones: splint them; falls and heavy attacks cause them.
• Sunstroke / exposure: avoid long stretches in direct sun; drink and rest in shade.

Medicinal plants such as Aloe Vera and Ajuga grow on islands; gather them whenever you see them.

Day One Checklist

• Finish the short intro (the "Horrific Pacific" achievement).
• Crack coconuts; drink and eat.
• Craft a Stone Tool.
• Gather sticks, rocks, fibrous leaves, palm fronds, and make lashing.
• Build a campfire and cook crab meat ("Crabby Patty").
• Make a crude spear and crude axe.
• Put up a simple palm frond shelter or lean-to near the beach.
• Explore the island for supplies, crates, and wrecks in the shallows.

Crafting and Tiers

Crafting is done from the crafting menu or the quick-craft wheel, using items in your inventory and on the ground nearby.

Tier | Typical materials | Examples

Primitive | Sticks, rocks, fibers, palm fronds, lashing | Stone Tool, crude spear, crude axe, campfire, lean-to

Wood | Logs, planks | Wooden walls and floors, raft pieces, storage

Corrugated scrap | Scrap metal from wrecks | Furniture, shelves, stronger building pieces

Clay / brick | Clay from islands | Clay flask, brick house pieces

Mechanical | Engine parts, fuel | Boat Motor, Gyrocopter

Notable crafts:

• Water Still — steady water without coconuts. Build several.
• Hobo Stove — better cooking ("Moving Up").
• Loom — cloth and fabric items ("New Threads").
• Sleeping Bag — portable sleep spot ("Nomad").
• Spyglass — scout islands from a distance.
• Speargun, bow and arrows — ranged hunting and underwater defense.
• Clay flask — better water storage ("Unchained Melody").

Achievements "Working With My Hands" and "Lean, Mean, Crafting Machine" come naturally from crafting 20 and 40 tools.

Food

Source | Notes

Crabs | Easy early food; skin them first ("Knife Skills")

Fish | Spear them in shallows or fish with a rod; catch 10 for "The Seas Harvest"

Wild animals | Boars and other animals yield more meat but fight back

Fruit and crops | Coconuts, potatoes and other plants; farm plots for a steady supply

Smoked meat | Keeps longer than cooked meat

Farming: plant crops on a farm plot and keep them watered; different crops unlock over time. Having one of each crop planted on the same island earns "Horticulturalist".

Base Building

• Start with a palm frond shelter; upgrade to wooden and then corrugated or brick buildings as materials allow.
• Build on an island with fresh resources nearby: trees, rocks, crabs, and a sheltered beach.
• Put Water Stills, a cooking station, storage, and a bed close together.
• Mark your home island on the map so you can always navigate back.
• Destroyed furniture now refunds materials (fixed in 1.0.31.0), so rearranging is cheap.

Rafts, Boats, and the Gyrocopter

• Raft: built from a base, floor and propulsion. Different bases, floors and propellers change weight, speed and sturdiness.
• Customize with sails, canopies, storage, anchors and motors.
• Boat Motor: uses fuel; build a Motor Boat for "Powah!". As of 1.0.38.0 the motor also uses fuel in reverse.
• Anchor your raft every time you leave it. Losing a raft to drift is a classic early death sentence.
• Gyrocopter: a flying vehicle built from specific parts ("Da Vinci"). It makes long-distance exploration far faster.

Threats

Threat | Where | How to handle it

Sharks (reef, tiger, great white, hammerhead) | Deeper water, reefs | Avoid deep water early; carry a spear; get out quickly

Venomous and spiny fish | Reefs | Watch where you swim and step

Snakes | Islands | Kill from range or avoid

Boars and other land animals | Islands | Fight with a spear; do not engage at low health

Giant crabs | Some islands | Keep your distance and use a spear

Weather | Anywhere | Stay on land during storms

Drowning | Diving | Watch your oxygen; surface early

The Bosses and the Escape Ending

Stranded Deep has three boss creatures, each tied to its own location:

Boss | Creature

Megalodon | Giant prehistoric shark

Lusca | Giant squid

Abaia | Giant eel

• Each defeated boss gives a trophy you can mount on a wall, plus an important reward that ties into escaping. Killing your first boss earns "Hunter Of The High Seas"; all trophies earn "Call Me Ahab".
• The escape: find the abandoned aircraft carrier and the plane on it. Repairing and boarding the plane triggers the ending cutscene (no spoilers here; it is worth watching).
• Prepare before boss fights: a good raft or motorboat, several spearguns or spears, full health and hydration, and medical supplies.
• "Magnets" requires escaping without using the compass.

Map Editor, Co-op, and Settings

• Cartographer / map editor: sculpt terrain and place every tree, rock and creature to make custom islands, then add them to your world or share them.
• Multiplayer: online co-op and split-screen co-op are both supported. The 1.0.38.0 patch fixed several co-op desyncs (Water Still servings, bird flocks, weather, time of day).
• Difficulty: you can change the game difficulty to fit your playstyle.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Not anchoring the raft.
• Diving into deep water early. Sharks kill new players more than anything else.
• Eating raw meat. Always cook it.
• Only drinking coconuts. Build Water Stills early.
• Ignoring shipwrecks. Many key items come only from wrecks.
• Fighting animals at low health. Heal first.
• Wandering at night without a light.

Advanced Tips

• Scout with the Spyglass before sailing; pick islands with the resources you need.
• Build a small "outpost" camp on frequently visited islands. Camps on 5 and 10 islands earn "Another Day, Another Shore" and "Columbus".
• Bring a sleeping bag on long voyages.
• Smoke meat for long expeditions.
• Look for survivor remnants — the lore of previous castaways, and all of them earn "Archaeologist".
• Wolley is a hidden volleyball; finding it earns "Special Package".

FAQ

Is Stranded Deep still being updated? The latest PC stable build is 1.0.38.0 (January 2024); 2025-2026 Steam posts are sales and streams, not patches. Beam Team is working on Stranded Deep 2 (its last development check-in on Steam was November 2024).

Can I play co-op? Yes, online co-op and split-screen co-op are supported.

How do I escape? Find the aircraft carrier, repair the plane, and board it. Defeating the three bosses is part of the endgame.

What are the bosses? The Megalodon (shark), Lusca (giant squid), and Abaia (giant eel).

How do I get water reliably? Crack coconuts early, then build multiple Water Stills and store water in flasks.

Is there a map editor? Yes. You can build custom islands and add them to your world.

Sources

• Stranded Deep on Steam
• Stranded Deep Steam news (1.0.31.0, 1.0.38.0, Stranded Deep 2 posts)
• Stranded Deep Steam achievements
• Stranded Deep on Wikipedia