Raft Guides - Guide Hub

Water is a big part of survival games, and many of these games feature boats. Raft is unique in that your entire base is a boat that's always on the move -- our Raft guides will help you get started with the game and expand your knowledge!

Raft Walkthrough and Story Guide

General Raft Guides

• Raft Building Guide
• Raft Cooking Guide
• Raft Engine and Biofuel Guide
• Raft Farming Guide
• Raft Fishing Guide
• Raft Modding Guide
• Raft Recycler and Trash Cube Guide
• Raft Research and Blueprints Guide
• How to Kill the Mama Bear in Raft

Raft Resource Guides

• How to Get Clay in Raft
• How to Get Copper in Raft
• How to Get Dirt in Raft
• How to Get Metal in Raft
• How to Get Sand in Raft
• How to Get Seaweed and Vine Goo in Raft
• How to Get Scrap in Raft
• How to Get Stone in Raft

Raft Starter Guide

Your adventure begins on an open ocean with a small Raft, a Plastic Hook, and a dream. This Raft Starter Guide will help you make sense of the world around you.

With Contributions from Courtney Ehrenhofler.

Gathering Resources in Raft

The most basic thing that you need to do is collect resources from the ocean around you. This will enable you to craft items and materials, as well as expand your raft. To do this, you start the game with one Plastic Hook that you can throw out into the ocean and hook debris. Resources that float to your raft can also be picked up by hand without a plastic hook, but you need to be extremely close to the resource to get it and there is a narrow timing window -- take care not to fall off of your Raft if you're trying to grab items this way! Your Plastic Hook also has durability and you'll eventually need to Craft a new one, so make sure to hold onto some spare resources for when that time comes.

The debris you'll find is either wooden planks, palm leaves, or plastic, and you’ll need all three of these for your crafting. Planks and plastic are both extremely useful by themselves, and you'll also need a lot of palm leaves to craft into rope for some of your basic items and tools. The best items to hook are actually crates and barrels that float by. They’re rarer than the other materials, but both items contain a variety of materials inside, such as blueprints, stones, and other resources, and each crate or barrel contains multiple resources.

Most of the time, you'll be using your Plastic Hook to collect resources. The best technique to use is to aim at items coming toward your raft, that way if you overshoot you can get the items as you reel your hook in, or wait for items to drift closer. Throwing the hook at things that are moving away from your raft just wears down your hook and you’re more likely to miss as things just get further away.

Watch Out for Shark Attacks

You will be constantly tormented by a Shark while you're playing Raft. If you dive into the water, it will eat away a chunk of your health. You won't be safe staying on your Raft all the time, though -- the Shark will also eat your Raft if you're not able to fend it off.

What to Craft First in Raft

The first thing you should craft first in Raft is a Paddle. This will allow you to propel your Raft in a particular direction. You'll be able to get close to an island earlier and gather some critical resources for more advanced Crafting.

After you've made a Paddle, your next task will be to make a Wooden Spear. This will allow you to fend off an attacking Shark and save a piece of your Raft from getting destroyed. Never have any important parts of your Raft around the edges, just in case you can't fight off the Shark in time!

Expanding Your Raft

When you start out, your raft is 2x2 tiles big. This is a bit of a problem, because the main hazard of the game, sharks, enjoy eating corner tiles of your raft, which means that literally, every tile is a corner tile. So let’s fix that now that we have some resources!

You’ll need to use the hammer you crafted to expand your raft, along with plastic and wooden planks. We recommend expanding first to 3x3 and then building a Small Storage for your excess resources -- always make sure to have some extra Planks and Plastic on hand to expand or repair your Raft as needed. This gives you room to craft plenty of items and ensures that in the event of a shark attack, you don’t fall into the ocean yourself.

The hammer can also craft a variety of items for your raft, including walls, roof pieces, and stairs if you have the right resources. For now, we recommend keeping your raft an open, one-story vehicle so it's easier for you to move around and easier to repair or expand when necessary.

Landing On Your First Island

Odds are, you'll encounter your first island before you can do any significant work on your Raft. If you've Crafted a Paddle, you'll be able to steer near it, but don't land just yet!

Before you land on the island, you'll want to make sure that you have at least 2 Planks and 4 Rope (the latter of which takes 2 Palm Leaves a piece to Craft). Ideally, you'll want 8 Planks and 4 Rope. If you have these items, its time to make landfall and move fast:

1. Paddle your Raft so it impacts the island and comes to a stop.
2. Immediately dive into the water and get 4 Stone. Keep an eye on your Raft and make sure it doesn't drift away.
3. Return to your Raft. Craft a Throwable Anchor, place it on your Raft, and use it to keep your Raft from drifting away.
4. Explore the Island, gathering all of the supplies you can. Make sure to get Clay, Sand, Scrap, and Stone from the shallow waters, too!
5. (Optional) Gather more Stone, craft an Axe, and chop down Trees for additional Planks.

Beyond Your First Island

Once you've cleared out that first island, it's time to get moving! In the next few hours, you'll Research new items, explore exciting locations, and more. You have the basics down for now -- good luck!

Raft F.A.Q.

What is Raft?

Raft is an open-world survival crafting game developed by Redbeet Interactive and published by Axolot Games. As the name implies, your base will be on a constantly-moving Raft rather than on land.

Is Raft Multiplayer?

Yes, Raft has multiplayer, although you can play it by yourself if you prefer.

What Happens When You Die in Raft?

The consequences of dying in Raft depends on your difficulty level:

• Creative - You cannot die.
• Peaceful - Your inventory is not lost on death. You respawn with low health, hunger, and thirst.
• Easy - Your inventory is not lost on death. You respawn with low health, hunger, and thirst.
• Normal - Some of your inventory is lost on death. You respawn with low health, hunger, and thirst.
• Hard - Your inventory is lost on death. You cannot respawn unless another player rescues you. You respawn with low health, hunger, and thirst.

You can mitigate some of the consequences of death by building a Simple Bed, Hammock, or Bed. A Simple Bed will let you respawn with some more health, and a Hammock or Bed (which are functionally identical) will let you respawn with even more health after death.

What Happens if You Lose Your Raft in Raft?

If you lose your Raft, the world will literally disappear around you. The islands you see in the world spawn if your Raft is nearby, not you -- therefore, you could literally see the island you're standing on disappear beneath your feet.

This is a major reason why it's generally a bad idea to let your Raft drift without being anchored. Always anchor your Raft!

Is There a Raft Console?

No, there is not a Raft console.

Are There Raft Cheats?

No, there are no longer Raft cheats as of Version 1.04 (8987866). However, you can mod Raft to accomplish many of the things you would want to do with cheats such as spawning items.