After almost 12 years in early access, 7 Days to Die has fully released on PC with version 1.0, and a new console version is headed to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S later this month. This post-apocalyptic survival game can be unforgiving when you're just getting started, so here we provide some tips to help you find your footing in 7 Days to Die.

Both the PC and console versions of the game will include the same content and updates, so our starter tips will be applicable regardless of which platform you're playing on. This also means that if you're a player returning from the old PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of 7 Days to Die, the game will be vastly different than you previously experienced. The updated game includes plenty of new features. This guide will help you get acquainted with this updated version of the game.

Note: The old console version of 7 Days to Die on PS4 and Xbox One has been delisted and is no longer available to buy. You can still play this last-gen version if you own it, but if you want to play the new updated console version on PS5 or Xbox Series X|S, you'll need to purchase it.

Do your first challenge quest ASAP

You'll want to start working on your in-game challenges as soon as you spawn into the game. The very first tutorial didn't auto-activate for me, so make sure to open your menu and select the Challenge tab. Select the tutorial quest line to get started.

This will ensure that you learn the basics of crafting and survival as soon as possible. You're using the first six days of the week to prepare for the horde night on day seven, and time is something you never want to waste in 7 Days to Die.

After completing the tutorial quests, you'll want to make sure you go back to the Challenge menu and claim your rewards. You'll need to do this manually, but it gives you valuable XP. The last part of the tutorial tasks you with visiting one of the traders marked on the map. Head to the closest trader shop on the map because, again, time is so valuable in the beginning.

Build your home base

Pick an area near the trader you visited and near a water source if possible. You can eventually craft items for water collection, but starting near water can be the best for getting started, as you'll want a good supply of water to keep your character hydrated until you build things like the Dew Collector.

Best perks to focus on early in the game

The recommended perks to get you started in the game will be ones found in the fortitude skill tree:

• Pain Tolerance
• Healing Factor
• Iron Gut
• Cardio

As you level up, you'll be able to put up to five points in these perk categories mentioned above. You'll want to eventually max them out for the best survival benefits, such as reduced HP loss, no chance of getting stunned by enemies, fast health regeneration, reducing your food and water loss from physical exertion, buffing your stamina, and more.

Other helpful perks to focus on as you progress and level up will include:

• Parkour
• The Art of Mining
• The Night Stalker
• Urban Combat books 5 & 6

Building blocks are your best friend

I always recommend carrying a small stack of building blocks with you, as they are great for navigating the terrain and helping you get out of sticky situations. You can quickly place the blocks and pick them up when needed. This can be useful for climbing out of a hole in the ground or reaching higher locations.

Work towards better armor

You'll start out with the primitive armor you make during the tutorial challenge, but you want to work towards better armor. You'll need to collect armor scrap, sewing kits, and duct tape in order to make an armor crafting kit, which is used with other materials to make one of the game's sixteen new armor sets.

There are 16 full sets of unique armor, with male and female variants. These include light, medium, and heavy options, and several provide helpful bonuses.

Some good options to work towards are the Preacher set for several healing benefits, the Farmer set geared towards harvesting bonuses for your crops, and the Assassin set for stealth bonuses. You can craft several different sets and rotate them out to fit specific tasks and scenarios.

Read all the magazines

Magazines are an important part of the game. You'll often come across magazines that you can read to learn a specific crafting recipe or enhance a specific stat.

The most reliable place to find these magazines are inside mailboxes, so check every unopened mailbox you find. They can also be found in places like the desks inside homes, bookstores, traders, and random book piles.

Don't be discouraged with duplicate magazines either, as you'll need to read several of each kind to level up. For example, you need to read multiple copies of the Forged Ahead magazine in order to level up the workbench and tools tiers of your skills. Two copies will unlock the Dew Collector and 10 copies will give you allow you to craft the essential Workbench.

Knives are handy

While a knife isn't the most suitable weapon for killing enemies in the game, it is still useful to have on hand when hunting. You can scavenge a standard knife or craft a bone knife to harvest more raw materials from animals, including meat, leather, bone, and animal fat.

Grab a wrench

One of the most important tools is the wrench. The wrench is useful for stripping down materials from items you wouldn't be able to harvest from otherwise, such as cars, gas pumps, appliances, and vending machines. This is a great way to get batteries and engines needed to build a working vehicle.

You won't have access to this at the start, but the wrench can be looted at random (if you're lucky enough) or can be crafted after you've acquired forged iron, mechanical parts, and duct tape. So make sure to keep your eye out while scavenging, and work towards the materials needed to craft one.

Keep doing quests

Keep doing your trader quests even after you've found your footing in the game. These quests will grant valuable XP and sometimes offer better rewards than items you'll be scavenging.

Trader tips

The trader's shop opens at 4:05 and closes at 21:50. Don't go AFK or try to loiter there at night expecting safety, because you will be teleported out of the trader's safe perimeter at closing time.

Keep your eye on the clock

As mentioned before, time is very important in this game. You'll want to make the most of your daylight scavenging, working towards leveling up, and building a secure base.

You'll also want to make sure that you're hidden away indoors at night, which can either be a temporary shelter or your base. Zombies are more aggressive at night, and you'll be struggling to fight them until you've better geared and leveled up. This time is better served by doing tasks to level up your skills. Make some armor, cook some food, or whatever you can quietly manage indoors or within a safe perimeter.

Horde prep

As is suggested in the game title, every seven days you are faced with a deadly horde of zombies. All of the scavenging and tips mentioned above are important components of setting yourself up for survival, but you'll still want some specific tips for surviving horde night.

You can design a home with heavy fortifications to battle the horde on your own turf, but horde nights get messy and can create a lot of damage to repair. I recommend making yourself a nice base with defenses for daily threats, but then having a separate "horde house" for surviving the weekly onslaught of zombies during the blood moon. This can be a house or structure meant to fight off the wave of undead on day seven.

The first week's horde will feel like it comes fast. You likely won't have the best weapons or resources yet, so you can pick a random house or POI to use to survive until you can build a better structure.

Build as many wooden spikes as you can, and if you can dig holes for spike pits, that will work even better. However, this is a beginner tip for earlier weeks, and you'll need more advanced strategies as the game progresses and the strength of the horde grows.