Life is Simply Unfair: A Spoiler-Free Primer to Rain World

Rain World is a deeply difficult game, both in terms of mechanic and in how willing it is to make itself explained. Here's a few tips to make your first hours less teeth gnashingly hard, while preserving some of its mystery. This guide has been written with the Survivor in mind.

Introduction

Rain World is a "hands-off" game in every sense. It does little to guide you in how any of its convoluted systems work. It rarely guideposts any reasonably path through this world, the Yellow Guide be damned. Enemy behaviour is procedural, a difficulty that is not crafted by any developer, but by the ecosystem it inhabits. This is a game that is maddeningly alive, which means it's chaotic and unfair.
You can not beat this chaos, but you can learn to temper it with knowledge and skill. But those two things should only come as hard-fought victories, and not through some wiki page. Dig deep enough - and trust me, it requires a lot of digging - you'll find a mystery worth the hours, and an incredibly immersive world.
These tips should be enough to help you without any cheating.

First, and most importantly, where do I go?

Your feast is to the East, which lies a little past the pasture...

So, you have a lot of places you could go. Feel free to explore them! Finding your own path, discovering new sights -- that's what this game is all about.
However, some regions are much more difficult than others. If you find yourself struggling far too much with an area, there really is no shame in turning back. Trying to push through is most likely only going to lead you into even more difficult areas. While this kind of trial by fire is memorable, it's unlikely to be for everyone's taste.

Therefore, let's keep it simple. Head to the east. Do not go too far up, nor too far down. How you judge "too far," I leave up to your own budding, slugly intuition. So head East for now.

That's where the little yellow guy seems to be pointing, after all!

Controls

These controls are going to be, well, slug-ish for the first 10 hours. The procedurally animated Slugcat is equal turns nimble and awkward. Mastery over this is going to come with time, but for starters...

Movement

• You don't need to hold down the down button to crouch. Just tap up and down to switch stances. This is important because...
  
• Long jumping is a crucial skill. Long jumping is done by crouching and holding in the jump button, allowing you to jump over longer gaps.
  
• Not an exact science, but you can grapple onto ledges by holding up, the direction of the ledge, and pressing the jump key. Quite common in conjunction with long jumps.
  
• While crawling through tunnels, try jumping. Depending on the direction you're traveling in, you'll get different results.
  
• Up to grab, down to drop. Applies to several things.
  
• There's a few more moves that might come to some esoteric help - a slide and a backflip. See if you can figure these out!

Item Management

• Hold down while pressing the grab button to gently set an item down.
  
• Double tap the grab button to swap items between Slugcat's paws. The right paw, left from a player perspective, will always throw the item first.
  
• Hold down the grab button while you're holding an item and something unexpected will happen.

Navigation

• It can be difficult to tell the difference between an instant-death fall and a new location. Generally if a new area extends past the screen, it'll be shown by a pole going off screen towards it. Otherwise, if you look closely, an instant-death fall can be recognized by a subtle, pulsating shadow on the edge of the screen.

The Cycles

Hibernation Chambers
So you should know the basics -- Eat 4 food to hibernate, any extra will be saved for the next cycle. Each hibernation gives karma, each death takes it, and you need a certain amount to pass into the next area. But not all hibernation chambers are your friend.

Hibernation chambers can end up being in unfairly difficult areas. You may want to examine your surroundings and makes sure it's a good spot to hibernate in (is there food reasonably obtainable nearby? Is it easy to get out of the area with perhaps multiple paths? Do lots of enemies seem to block my path?). There are a few spot where you'll end up trapped in a room full of enemies with only 1 way out -- it's better to die and lose karma than it is to hibernate and become stuck here. If you already are stuck, then forget about your karma and just start experimenting with your obsticles and items and coming up with ways to progress. Enemies can be fought and outsmarted, if you learn enough about them.

Karma gates
The hibernation chamber is somewhat explained to you, but the gates aren't at all -- this system can be brutal, so I'll explain the best I can without spoiling.

Most areas have multiple gates, requiring a set amount of karma to pass through. A gate with a higher karma requirement will likely take you to a more difficult area -- but a really low one might be taking you backwards, so check before you hibernate on the other side. Before you pass through a karma gate, make sure you've eaten at least enough food to hibernate on the other side, to avoid being sent back and ending up with too little karma to proceed. If you do end up losing the needed karma and get stuck on the other side, don't be afriad to backtrack to find food. Plants will also regrow after a few deaths, and you can hoard extra of them in your hibernation chamber.

Items & Food

Items

• Spears are always useful. Try and have one on you as often as you can. They're for more than just killing...
  
• Rocks and debris on the ground are useful for stunning and distracting enemies.
  
• See a shiny thing with a white speck on it? That's a Pearl. They're valuable - but to who? Maybe you can get something in return.
  
• Coloured pearls are precious, but few know their true value.
  
• Items stored in shelters, if they aren't perishable, will remain indefinitely.

Food

• Bats and fruits are going to be your stock at the start, but don't expect to see them everywhere.
  
• Bats won't survive in the shelter with you, fruit does.
  
• Some food might take a few extra steps to prepare, things you didn't even realize WERE food. Try eating stuff - surprisingly, for a game that's gleefully murderous otherwise, nothing I've encountered has been poisonous
  
• Not all food gives you a pip, but are useful to you in other ways.
  

Creatures

General

• If it looks hostile, it probably is.
  
• If it looks intelligent, it probably is.
  
• Killing an enemy can be risky, and with little - to even negative! - gain depending on who you're facing. Stealth, cunning, and running away is going to be the main way you deal with enemies.
  
• Stay quiet if you haven't been spotted. Falling from distances, running upright, throwing stuff - that's all going to attract attention.
  
• Beware the dark.
  
• Every creature is different, and some can help you in unexpected ways! Experiment with them if you feel like you got nothing to lose.

Flora & Fauna

• Lizards have randomized attributes, but can be consistently assessed by their colour.
  
• If two lizards are of the same colour, they're probably going to fight each other for dominance, allowing you to slink away.
  
• Hostile flora will try and grab you, but on the other hand, they try and grab anything.
  
• Ok enough with the vague tips because ♥♥♥♥ this guy: The Pole Plant. These things disguise themselves to look like normal poles, but as soon as you grab them they pull you under the ground, killing you. Some hot tips: Pole plants generally have a much more smooth appearance than a regular pole. If you suspect something, throw a rock - or better yet, use slugcat's keen sense of memory, and consult the map.

Difficulties

As of the 1.5 update, there are three difficulties in the game: The Monk, The Survivor and The Hunter. The Survivor is the standard game. The other two are easy and hard mode respectively, though do more than one might expect from a typical difficulty slider in changing the game's mechanics. As the Hunter is unlocked once you beat the game, I will discuss the Monk.

The Monk:

• Needs less food to hibernate.
  
• More forgiving rain cycles.
  
• Creatures have a (slightly) friendlier disposition towards you
  
• Some creatures are removed entirely.
  
• Karma gates have a one-time requirement, after which you can pass through them freely at any level.
  
• Lore changes.
  
  All in all, this should make for an easier experience.
  It's not my place to judge, but this guide was written in mind for the Survivor, and I do believe that mode is how the game is meant to be played. If you're really struggling with the game and just want to look at the pretty sights, the Monk is an option, but I do implore you to keep trying. Because, to conclude...

Closing Thought

Stay determined, little slugcat!
Don't let the unfairness and difficulty get to you. This game is intended to be that way, and it's a challenge to overcome. It's very rewarding once you do finally accomplish what you were trying to do. Don't be afriad to die over and over again, that's part of the learning process. If you need to take a break, take it. I found that every time I got too frustrated and had to close the game, I'd always be drawn back with a new idea to try or with newfound motivation to progress. There are wondrous things to find, here, more than you could ever know.

[DumpsterBoy93770]

Another Tip: if you throw an item into the pole plant there's a chance it might sink into the ground, Use this to your advantage!

[Sushi :3]

I have like 30 hours and have yet to complete the game so this will probably help thanks!

[Pride Lizard Pride Lizard]

Oh, I should mention, though, that Monk is physically weaker than Survivor. It's harder to kill things (and depending on your settings, swimming is more dangerous) as Monk, though usually not an issue with how quiet Monk can be.

[Pride Lizard Pride Lizard]

This is a really good guide for those who have not played the game!

[ToM!]

thanks - this is exactly what i was looking for

[CT Slugcat ツ]

funny fact: when the game first came out, the game actually wasn't meant to be difficult, it was meant to be an ecosystem.

[Silly Guy]

Thanks, this rlly helped me out

[M00NSEEK3R]

I love the way this guide references what happens in later game with the pearls

[pixelbit5]

I was pretty frustrated with this game, but after trying just a little more, making it past the first gate, I think it just soft of 'clicked' with me. I think that may be in small part because of this guide. So thank you. :)

[VulHexxi]

this here is exactly what I needed, thank you!