So, you've tried the game and die over and over.

What is experience? What are all the items?

How do I live past day 1?

I can't answer all of these, or rather, I can, but I'm not sure exactly what the question is. So, this guide focuses on 1 point: How to gain experience quickly.

In order to get experience, there's around 3 ways, only 1 of which will actually help you.

1. Be insane. ( Gives roughly an experience per ~20 ticks.)
2. Find blank pages written in previous games. ( Equals the experience spent, and therefore counter intuitive.)
3. Survive a night. ( Only gives a SINGLE experience point. You need at least 50.)

Edit: Nights actually give scaling experience! Therefore, surviving while SANE can actually work. However, this requires surviving a lot of nights! (1 exp for the first night, 3 for the second, 7 for the third, and so on!)

Since number 2 is hardly worthwhile, and 3 is slow, we can simply focus on number 1.

To begin with, you want several items before being insane:

1. Food and water ( As much as you want, but usually 1 food and 1 water works.)
2. A way to regain sanity. ( Books, alcohol, and pills all work.)
3. A way out.

To get number 1, all you need to do is find some items such as : Sodas or water bottles for the water, and ANY food. Literally any EXCEPT FOR chips or strange fruits, as they don't restore as much as you need.

Stockpile these and get to stage two.

Now, you should have the food and drink you'll need to survive approximately a day.

Now you need a way to regain sanity.
You'll want to find alcohol or pills. A book CAN work, but it means you may also die in the case of a... bad encounter.

Alcohol is found regularly in furniture and on the ground. Pills are significantly rarer in normal places, but can be just as common in some areas. Books are also rare and less viable.

Gather this into your inventory as well.

Now, you want to find a nice, quiet place to settle down. A building with no enemies, with no windows, and a little furniture will do the trick.

Push/pull the furniture in place to block most of the doors in or out. You want to find a nice, small room (Less than 4x4.) and push furniture in the way to block the door.

Now, go insane. Eat all the bad food you have. ( OR, wait until night time, and sit in the dark. Beware of enemies. As soon as you are insane, run into your hideout.)

Now, you're an insane, trapped man in a tiny room with only a single door out and meagre rations to survive.

Considering you should have met all the requirements ( Or, at very least, you are insane) you should be gaining experience while progressing time.

After some time, you'll want to progress to stage 3.

You're an insane, deranged human being.

Just as bad as the monsters outside, you've hidden in a room and scrawled on the walls and have clawed at yourself in your insanity.


The good news is, you should have some experience after waiting some time!

Getting roughly 10-25 experience is neat-o, and you don't want to push that luck of yours! Once you reach this point, move on.

OR, if your character says, "I feel a presence", it's time to go. Immediately move on regardless of how much experience you have. Be prepared to run or fight for your life. ( And, be prepared to move to the LAST step.)

Down some alcohol, or pop some pills, or read a book. Make sure you aren't hungry/starving or thirsty/dehydrated. You'll regain a little bit of sanity. Even 1/100 will work.


At this point, you should have a weapon.


At this point, you have experience. Nothing else matters. The world is mad. You are mad. The monsters slavering outside your door are mad.


Put that gun up to yourself. Get the knife. Pull the trigger.


Kill yourself. Seriously. No joke. If you aren't insane, and you want to keep your experience, you have to die. Restart. You'll keep the experience gained as long as you are even a little sane. If you die while insane, you'll lose it all.

That's the end of the guide: Literally, go insane, then get to 1/100 sanity, then kill yourself.

Good luck! You'll need it.

PS: I highly, HIGHLY recommend the madman as a scenario. He is almost always insane, and that means you'll always be gaining experience. The moment you become sane again, you can kill yourself, or you lose nothing.

Also, he can see the dangers around the walls.