Pick the starter before you worry about the roster
A new life begins as a baby. The create flow asks you to choose a wolf or a herbivore, and the advertised pair is the wolf and the deer. Name the animal in that same flow. The wolf is the hunter starter. The deer grazes. Every later species also starts from a baby model, so a bigger adult is something you grow into, not something you spawn as.
Clear the three tutorial steps
A brand-new wolf pup was recorded in Den Hollow, in Winter, at 6 percent GROWTH. The on-screen lesson is the loop you repeat afterward:
- Click to bite the highlighted mouse. The prompt says to click, and WASD is shown for movement.
- Eat the mouse. An eating bar fills, and that tutorial meal moved GROWTH from 7 percent to 12 percent.
- Keep growing. The game tells you that at 34 percent you become a teen and unlock LUNGE, which jumps at prey and bites.
Deer players get the same job: eat, drink, and grow. They do not get the wolf's mouse script described above.
Read the wolf meter, then check your own animal
| Stage | GROWTH in the wolf session | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| Baby | 6 percent at first spawn | F slot locked with a 34 percent marker |
| Teen | 34 percent | LUNGE unlocks on F. The banner switches toward adult |
| Adult | 67 percent | The teen bar was counting toward 67. The game then points you at elder |
One adult otter was told on screen, "Your otter is an adult. Keep going to be an elder." Other footage uses a juvenile goal between earlier stages. Treat 34 and 67 as the wolf session's thresholds. If your banner uses different words, follow the banner.
What to do once the mouse is gone
Stay fed and watered before you pick fights. A wolf cannot LUNGE until 34 percent, so the baby phase is food, water, and QUICK quests. One observed QUICK set was Drink at Tall Marsh for 36 Amber, Drink 20 water for 18 Amber, Travel 600 m for 34 Amber, and a finish-all bonus of 39 Amber. Another session showed Eat 30 Meat for 26, Rest for 75 seconds for 20, and a 700 m travel task. The list rotates. Open the QUESTS panel and do the tasks that are actually listed.
Discovering a new area paid 20 Amber in the same runs, including Alder Creek and Den Hollow. The Amber total sits at the bottom right.
Controls that showed up in play
- WASD moves. Click bites.
- F is the ability once it unlocks. While a wolf is latched, F lets go. One hunt showed an 18-count cooldown after release, and health had fallen to 40/46 while holding on.
- In water, E dives and Q surfaces.
- Scent marks food and water. One playthrough bound sniff to T, with a cooldown and separate trails for prey and water.
- That same playthrough bound crouch to C and used it to hide in vegetation.
- Night vision highlights other players. The territory view can be zoomed and marks contested ground.
T and C come from one control overlay, not from the written tutorial prompts. If your key prompts differ, follow the prompts.
If the life ends
A recorded death sent the wolf back to 1 percent GROWTH, restored the "grow into a teen" banner, and locked F again. Amber was kept. A separate death-screen description mentions a free revive button and a minus 40 percent growth note. Use the death guide before you buy a revive. The full roster is on the Animals page, and the next practical jobs are food, water, and staying out of a chase.