Even though the final chapter of Raft was released 2 years ago, with over 250,000 positive reviews, the game continues to attract thousands of players who love the survival genre.

Recommended Read: Raft – Building Guide

If you’re new to the game and don’t know what to do in Raft, here’s everything you need to know as a beginner!

Table of Contents

• What Is the Goal of Raft?
• How to Play the Game
• First Things You Should Do
• Tips & Tricks for New Players

What Is the Goal of Raft?

In Raft, you play as a scout with the only mission to discover habitable land for human beings.

By going through 8 different story islands and helping people, you gradually learn about the story behind Raft and liberate Utopia from Olof’s dominance.

Utopia is the final destination, and it is also the promised land for refugee people around the world. By defeating Olof in Utopia, you basically complete the goal of the game.

However, as discussed in our previous article on what to do after Utopia, the goal of Raft can vary depending on how you want to play the game and what you want to achieve.

For some players, the goal of the game is simply to complete the story.

But others may want to survive on the stranded raft for a whole year, build a giant tower in the middle of the ocean, collect all the rare items in the game, or something else. It’s up to you.

How to Play the Game

Once you create a new world and put your feet on the raft, the only thing you see is a Plastic Hook in your hand and no instructions whatsoever.

Soon enough, you’ll start seeing a lot of items floating towards your raft.

To play the game, you must use the starter Hook by holding and releasing the left mouse button to throw the Hook into the ocean to collect the floating items.

With enough resources collected, you can build various structures to help you survive. The overall goal is to keep your hunger, thirst, and health bar full.

Later on, you’ll come across different types of islands. They serve as places for exploration and gathering of even more resources that you can’t get from the ocean.

Once you have the blueprint for the Receiver and Antenna, you can start the story in Raft by following the provided coordinates to find the first story island – Radio Tower.

The gameplay then continues, and it’s a loop between these actions:

• You collect resources and try to survive
• You visit non-story islands to get more resources
• You upgrade your raft and structures
• You go to a story island and find coordinates leading to the next story island

The game ends when you complete Utopia or achieve your goals.

First Things You Should Do

The first thing you should do in Raft is to collect as many floating items on the ocean as possible.

You need a lot of Planks and Plastics for expanding your raft, as well as for building other things like:

• Water Purifier for clean water
• Grill for cooking food and fish
• Storage to store items

Your starter Hook will lose its durability with each use and break after 40 uses. So, save at least 1 Plank and 2 Plastic to craft a backup Hook.

Prioritize hooking Barrels and Metal Safes, as they give a lot more items, including Scraps, which are used in many recipes.

Note: Ropes can be crafted from Palm Leaves in the Resources tab (screw icon), while Scraps can only be found in Metal Safes or on the ocean floor near islands.

Solve Hunger and Thirst Problems

To keep your hunger in check in the early game, make a Simple Grill using 6 Planks, 1 Scrap, and 3 Ropes.

Then, put it on your raft (preferably near the center) and add some Planks as fuel to the bottom part. You can then put any raw food on the grill to cook it for later consumption.

Of course, eating raw food is also an option. However, raw food restores way fewer hunger points than cooked food.

Raw Beets and Raw Potatoes are good options in the early game. But remember to save some and build Crop Plots to grow them so you have a renewable source of food.

In case you’ve already eaten all of your veggies or haven’t found any, craft a Wooden Fishing Rod using 6 Planks and 8 Ropes to catch small fish.

Cooked fish restores a lot more hunger than veggies, but the cost of making a Fishing Rod is quite high at this point in the game.

In contrast to finding and cooking food, getting clean water is way easier, as you can scoop water straight from the ocean and purify it endlessly.

For more details, check out our guide on how to get water in Raft.

The Shark

Besides hunger and thirst, the shark is the biggest threat since it will attack a random foundation on your raft, breaking all structures built on it.

In normal difficulty, the shark attacks every 5 minutes, and you have to deal at least 15 damage to it to chase it away. Otherwise, the shark will continue biting the foundation until it’s destroyed.

In the early game, your only weapon is the Wooden Spear, crafted with 8 Planks and 3 Ropes.

It deals 5 damage per hit, meaning you must hit the shark 3 times in order to chase it away and protect the foundation.

Once you successfully chase it away, remember to repair the attacked foundation to prepare for upcoming attacks.

Research Table and New Recipes

The next thing you want to do is to build a Research Table and research new recipes.

Fortunately, we have a guide on how to research in Raft. So, check that out!

There are plenty of useful recipes, but try to unlock these first:

• Smelter
• Advanced Purifier/Grill
• Empty Bottle
• Simple Collection Net
• Metal Tools and Weapons (Scrap Hook and Metal Spear)

The Smelter is required to progress further into the game, while other tools and structures immensely increase your quality of life.

Explore Islands

Islands spawn randomly around your raft. To explore them, you must anchor your raft using either a Throwable Anchor (early game), a Stationary Anchor (mid-game), or an Advanced Stationary Anchor (late game).

Islands contain unique resources you cannot find on the ocean, such as:

• Dirt
• Clay
• Sand
• Seaweed
• Metal Ore
• Copper Ore
• Explosive Goo

On the first few islands, dive down to the ocean floor and gather at least 14 Sand and 14 Clay.

Then, use them to craft 7 Wet Bricks and put them on your raft to dry them.

You need one Dry Brick for researching in the Research Table, while the other six Bricks are used for making a Smelter.

Unlocking the Smelter allows you to smelt a lot of items, which can be used for further research and crafting.

One of the most important items you can smelt in the Smelter is Metal Ingot.

It’s used in many metal tool and weapon recipes, which, in the end, allows you to permanently stop shark attacks.

Use the Receiver to Start The Story

You receive the blueprints for the Receiver and Antenna after around 20 minutes of playtime.

To use the Receiver, you must place it on the second floor, along with 3 Antennas.

For more details, check out our guide on how to use the Receiver in Raft.

From this point, you can actively travel to any island you’d like (green dots on the Receiver screen) or start the story in Raft (blue dots).

Green dots are large non-story islands. They usually have 2 to 3 wild animals that you can catch and tame to farm for their resources like Eggs, Wool, or Milk.

Large islands also have the Trading Post – a place where you can purchase various cosmetics, useful blueprints, and resources.

You need Trash Cubes and Trade Coins to purchase things at the Trading Post.

Trash Cubes can be made with the Recycler found in the Radio Tower, while Trade Coins are obtained by selling rare fish caught using Fishing Bait to the Trading Post.

Story islands (blue dots) have resources and loot on them, but not a lot compared to normal islands.

Their main purpose is to reveal Raft’s story and give you new recipes and coordinates to help you on your journey to the next island.

The only exception is Balboa Island, where you can catch a lot of Bees to make Beehives and Honey.

Mid to Late Game Content

The game continues with a gameplay loop, as mentioned earlier.

You collect resources from the ocean and non-story islands to build things you need. Then, you travel to each story island to get more powerful tools and complete the various quests.

After completing each story island, your raft will be upgraded significantly with new game-changing structures.

For example, Vasagatan offers the Steering Wheel and Engine blueprints which you can use to effortlessly rotate your raft and boost its speed.

The Caravan Town gives you a Metal Detector blueprint. It’s one of the most important tools for finding Titanium.

This story island also has the blueprints for the Zipline Tool and Battery Charger, which are crucial for exploring other islands and recharging Batteries.

Each story island has at least 2 new blueprints to improve your quality of life. But we won’t spoil you anymore so you can experience the joy yourself.

Tips & Tricks for New Players

Here are some random tips and tricks you should know when playing Raft.

1. The Craving System

Food and water are more effective when your hunger and thirst bar are low. This is because of the craving system in the game. So, it’s best to eat or drink when your status bar is lower than 1/3.

Dishes provide a lot more hunger points than individual cooked foods and raw foods. That’s why it’s crucial to learn how to cook in Raft. Here is a list of the best foods in Raft.

2. Hotkeys

You can hold the Shift key and click the left mouse button to quickly move items between different containers (chest, your inventory, or hotbar).

Scrolling the mouse wheel while holding the right mouse button allows you to select a specific amount of an item.

The middle mouse button lets you quickly select the structure you’re looking at when building with the Hammer or the color when painting.

3. The Truth About Sails

While multiple Engines can significantly increase your raft speed, adding more Sails doesn’t add any speed to your raft at all.

For more details on how Sail works, check out this article.

4. Always Anchor Your Raft When Exploring Islands

Losing your raft is a common problem that happens all the time.

Since everything in the game spawns around your raft, it’s essential to anchor it whenever you want to explore an island or dive into the ocean to collect resources.

5. Avoid Building at the Raft’s Edges

Always build important structures in the center of the raft to avoid shark attacks. When a foundation is destroyed, all structures built on it are also gone.

The most painful and common thing that new players lose is the Engine.

This machine needs multiple foundations, so you must ensure all foundations underneath it are fortified or inside.

6. Don’t Pick Flowers in The Early Days

Flowers are quite useless in the early game unless you want to paint your raft early on.

Each flower takes up up to two slots in your inventory, so try to ignore them if possible.

7. How to See Farther

To see farther, adjust your camera angle to approximately 45 degrees from your original viewpoint.

Increasing your FOV in the settings also helps expand the above distance.

That’s how to play and progress in Raft!

Have any suggestions for this guide? Let us know in the comment section below.

However, since the materials required for each structure can be costly, especially in the early to mid-game, it’s best to plan carefully before you start building.

Recommended Read: What to Do After Utopia in Raft

This guide will show you how to properly build your raft in Raft, including tips and tricks to save resources and time, as well as some ideas and examples of building a raft.

Table of Contents

• How to Build Your Raft
• Best Way to Build Your Raft

How to Build Your Raft

To start building and repairing in Raft, you need to craft a Building Hammer using 4 Planks and 2 Ropes.

Its recipe can be found in the Tool tab, indicated by a hammer and shovel icon.

Note: You can’t build a brand new raft but can only expand the 2×2 starter raft. If you somehow lost your starter raft, you have to either respawn or create a new world.

Build the First Floor

Once you have the Building Hammer, put it in your hotbar and hold the right mouse button to open the building panel.

In this panel, you can choose to build different structures, along with their variations, by holding your mouse over the corresponding icons.

The first thing you want to build is a Foundation.

As its name implies, a Foundation is required to build almost all structures. It’s the only structure you can build on the ocean to make your raft float.

Since the Foundation is built at sea level, it is the only target for the shark.

When a Foundation is destroyed, whether by the shark or by the player with an Axe, all structures built on it will also be destroyed.

So, you need to learn how to stop shark attacks by fortifying your raft.

You must fortify all outer Foundations in order to completely stop shark attacks.

That leads to another problem: the cost of fortifying can be too high, as one fortified Foundation requires 1 Metal Ingot and 2 Nails.

Overall, you’ll want to have the smallest first floor possible because it reduces the cost of fortification and minimizes the effort of monitoring shark attacks when you cannot fortify your raft just yet.

However, having a too-small first floor makes it difficult to expand the second floor and build utility structures.

For example, you need a lot of space to build an Engine. The more Foundations your raft has, the more Engines you need to build.

Fortunately, Engines only count foundations, not Floors or Collection Nets, so you may only need one or two Engines if you’re going to build a small first floor.

Other helpful structures like the Electric Purifier or the Paint Mill also require an open space at sea level to work.

A 7×7 first floor is enough for constructing 2 Engines and other structures. You can also go for a 10×10 or 10×11 and still receive the maximum speed bonus from the two Engines.

Finally, remember to leave some spaces for Collection Nets. You can never have enough ocean trash in this game!

Build the Second Floor

For some players, the second floor only exists because it’s required for the Receiver and Antenna to work.

They tend to build everything on the first floor, from the kitchen, bathroom, animal pens, smelting, and recycling to the crop farming and purifying rooms!

However, if you follow our concept of making a small first floor or just want to separate the rooms, then here is what you should build on the second floor:

• Cooking and beverage: to cook delicious food and juice beverages.
• Animal pens: to catch and tame animals for their resources.
• Farm: to farm crops and honey.
• Industrial room: to smelt ores and recycle Trash Cubes.
• Raft control room: contains 1 Receiver, 3 Antenna, 1 Steering Wheel, and 1 Engine Control to control your raft.

We have a guide on how to build a second floor, so make sure to check that out first.

Important note: You should use Horizontal Pillars instead of Vertical Pillars when building the second floor, as they don’t take up any space on the first floor. This is extremely useful if you have a small raft.

Once you have a large area made of Wooden Floors on the second floor, it’s time to build Walls to create separate rooms.

You can make the wall as high as you’d like, but we recommend keeping it around 1.5 wall high for the best outcome.

Build half a wall at the bottom first. Then, stack a full wall on top of it.

Building walls this way makes the wall look better when painting later on.

Note: You can build most structures, including walls and floors, in diagonal angles to create a natural shape for your raft.

To finish the second floor, cover each room with a roof of your liking or another floor if you’re planning to build a third floor.

Building more floors is optional.

If your main living area is on the second floor, then it’s recommended to have the raft control room on a higher floor so that you can have a better view.

There is a special structure that needs to be built at least 3 walls high for it to reach maximum efficiency – the Wind Turbine.

If you want to make one of those, you can either make the second floor or the first floor 2 walls high and put the Wind Turbine on top of the second floor, near the raft control room.

Paint the Raft and Use Decorative Items

Your raft is still just a blank wooden structure, regardless of what you choose to build in the previous two steps.

Learning how to paint in Raft can bring life to your raft!

By choosing a variant of colors and patterns, you can make each room unique and give it a look that matches its purpose.

For example, the Engine room on the first floor could have a darker color with fuel pipes and dim lights, whereas the living room could be more colorful with patterns on the walls.

Remember the 1.5 wall height we mentioned earlier?

To make the wall look good, you can paint the first half of the wall the same color as the floor. Then, you can use whatever color you like for the top wall, but a brighter color than the bottom part usually works best.

Besides painting, decorative items also play a crucial part in bringing your raft to a whole new level.

Try using chairs, tables, lights, shelves, or even a piano to create the coziest place on the vast ocean.

When it comes to functional rooms like the smelting room or storage room, it’s best just to build what you need instead of fully decorating it.

All in all, the choice is yours! A lovely flower pot in a storage room won’t hurt anyone.

Note: You can break any structure using an Axe and get 50% of the used materials back. A common mistake that most players do is build the cheap version of the structure first and then upgrade it to the better version. Doing so costs more materials because the game doesn’t upgrade the structure but instead breaks the current one, gives you resources back, and then builds the new structure as a replacement for the old one.

Best Way to Build Your Raft

There is no best way to build your raft, as the optimal build for you entirely depends on your goals and playstyle.

In the early game, we recommend expanding your raft to both sides to catch as much ocean trash as possible.

An increase of 12 to 15 Foundations on each side will guarantee you don’t miss any ocean trash (assuming you have enough Collection Nets).

Remember to cover the long line of Collection Nets with two lines of Foundations to prevent shark attacks. (image below)

Only expand the center part when you really need to build more structures. Otherwise, keep it as small as possible to save resources for the upper floors.

Some structures like chests and crop plots can be hung on walls to save you even more space.

Once you have the Engine blueprint, you may need to expand the first floor again. But that shouldn’t be a big issue.

Your storage room should be in the center of your raft so you can quickly grab whatever you need.

The farming area should be placed near the Engines and cooking room, as you’ll need to constantly feed Engines raw potatoes and honey.

Use the second floor for the Receiver setup. Other machines and structures like Smelters and Recyclers can also temporarily be placed on the first floor.

By default, the upper floor can only be one Foundation bigger than the lower floor. So, you’ll often find it difficult only to expand the second floor while keeping the first floor the same.

This is quite normal, as that’s just how the game works. You can build everything on the first floor except for the Receiver and Antennas.

However, by using a trick in our other guide, you can make the second floor levitate and thereby expand it endlessly without expanding the first floor.

Applying the above method allows you to build a raft with an upside-down pyramid shape, saving a lot of resources while giving you plenty of space for building.

Pretty cool, right? Your raft may look weird, though.

That’s how to build your raft in Raft.

Have any suggestions for this guide? Let us know in the comment section below.

By going through the different story islands and doing quests, you’re one step closer to reaching Utopia and unveiling the story behind Raft.

Recommended Read: How to Unlock New Characters in Raft

Unlike other story islands, Utopia doesn’t contain new coordinates, and therefore, many players might not know what to do after it.

After completing Utopia in Raft, you have essentially completed the game, and there aren’t new things to do aside from expanding and decorating your raft, trying to achieve all the achievements, finding rare islands, unlocking all new characters, collecting all rare animals and treasures, killing the big bear, replaying the game with higher difficulties, or trying out some mods.

Table of Contents

• Is There Anything to Do After Utopia?
• What to Do After Utopia in Raft

Is There Anything to Do After Utopia?

Utopia is technically the final destination in Raft. After solving its puzzles and defeating the final boss, you basically complete the game.

Utopia has the most useful blueprints, such as Big Backpack and Titanium Tools. So, it’s a bit of a waste to stop playing at this point without testing those new tools, right?

Raft is an open-world game, and there are still a lot of things to do after completing its story.

If you just want to explore Raft’s story, then there is nothing to do after Utopia.

But if you want to enjoy the game more, here are a few things you should do after Utopia!

What to Do After Utopia in Raft

Here are 12 things to do after Utopia in Raft!

1. Expand and Decorate Your Raft

Like any other survival game, Raft provides a dynamic building system where you can expand your raft and let your creativity run free.

Try building a nice raft, a cruise ship, a mansion, or even a penthouse. Everything is possible! You can even expand your raft endlessly on the vast ocean.

Also don’t forget that you can decorate your raft using tons of decorative items, plants, furniture, and even a giant piano.

You can paint your raft with over 40 different colors and patterns, giving you plenty of options to differentiate your creation from others.

2. Complete 100% Achievements

Raft has over a hundred achievements for you to obtain.

You may have completed the storyline, but have you captured at least 50 animals and put them on your raft?

How many items have you collected with your hook? Have you survived for 365 days? Or have you collected all the notes on each story island?

The list goes on to make sure you have enough tasks to play Raft for a long time.

Some achievements may be too repetitive for some players, but all of them are obtainable with enough time and patience. So, if you don’t know what to do after Utopia, go hunt achievements!

3. Find Rare Islands and Hidden Treasures

Spoiler ahead!

There are two rare islands in Raft: shipwreck and plane crash island.

They have unique structures and contain cosmetic hats. One of them even has a Radio that you can insert cassettes into to play custom songs.

The rare islands only have a 2% chance of spawning, so if you somehow find one, it’s your lucky day!

All story islands are handmade, and the developer has added a lot of easter eggs and hidden treasures to them.

One of the most notable hidden treasures is the hidden basement located in Tangaroa.

4. Unlock all Playable Characters

Besides upgrading your raft, you can play a new character for a fresh survival experience.

Fortunately, we have a guide on how to unlock new characters in Raft.

5. Reach Max Reputation Level and Buy All Items in the Trading Post

Reaching the maximum reputation level (level 3) at the Trading Post is fairly easy, as you only need to make Trash Cubes and use them to buy special fishing bait to catch rare fish.

To reach reputation level 3, you need to sell 30 tier 1 rare fish and 30 tier 2 rare fish, which costs around 16 Trash Cubes in total.

Buying all items in the Trading Post, on the other hand, requires a lot more effort than you think.

You need around 114 Trash Cubes and 157 Trade Coins to buy all items in the Trading Post.

The numbers above are only for special items and recipes, as it’s pointless to count common resources and fishing bait.

6. Find Tokens and Buy All Items in Vending Machines

Vending Machine Tokens are special items that are stored in your Journal instead of a regular backpack.

They usually spawn in random places on Tangaroa, Temperance, and Utopia.

Vending Machine Tokens are used to purchase various items from the Vending Machines, which can also be found on the same island where you found the Tokens.

In total, you’ll need around 58 Vending Machine Tokens to be able to buy each item at least once in every single Vending Machine in Raft.

7. Collect Rare Animals

In Raft, you can tame animals like the Clucker, Goat, or Llama to farm their resources.

Each animal has three variants with the following chances of spawning: 88% for common and 8% and 4% for rare variants.

Rare animals don’t give you extra resources, nor do they have any special perks. Their appearance is just different.

So, it’s a great task to add to your to-do list to show off your efforts.

8. Find All Developer Paintings

There are a total of 8 Developer Paintings in Raft.

Unlike normal decorative paintings, they display the developers’ easter eggs, and some of them are really cute decorations.

While hunting for treasures using a Metal Detector, you can find 4 different types of treasures in Raft.

Among them, Briefcase and Safe are the two types that can give Developer Paintings, with a 4.2% and 4.7% chance, respectively.

You’ll need a lot of luck to find all 8 different Developer Paintings, as the chance of getting one variant is only 0.525% and 0.5878%.

9. Find All Tiki Pieces

Tiki Piece is one of the four treasure types in Raft that only has a 7.5% chance of spawning when treasure hunting.

There are 4 different pieces, so you may need to find a lot of treasures to get all 4 pieces. (1.875% chance of finding each piece)

Once you find all the pieces, you can stack them up in the correct order to get a special mask and a hidden achievement.

10. Kill The Big Bear

The big bear lives on Balboa Island, and because of its toughness, many players prefer to lure it away to complete the quest instead of killing it.

Fortunately, we also have a guide on how to kill the big bear. So, make sure to check it out for a huge trophy and another achievement!

11. Replay With Higher Difficulties

Although there are no achievements for beating Raft on higher difficulties, if you’re a fan of hardcore gaming, you may want to beat the game on Hard Mode.

On Hard Mode, you’ll lose thirst and hunger at a faster rate and take more damage from all sources.

The shark will also attack your raft more frequently, and all other enemies will deal extra damage to you.

12. Try Mods

Raft has a lot of mods that add new content to keep you engaged throughout the game.

Most Raft mods add quality-of-life features instead of adding new content like new story islands, so don’t expect too much!

However, by installing the right mods, you can achieve the above-listed goals faster and in a much more pleasing way.

Some of the recommended mods are:

• Bulk Crafting
• Craft From All Storage
• Pipe Through Blocks
• UI+

That’s everything you can do after Utopia in Raft.

Have any suggestions for this guide? Let us know in the comment section below.

However, due to the ability to change POV (“,” key) and when playing multiplayer, changing to a new character can be great for differentiating between yourself and your friends.

Recommended Read: How Many Story Islands Are There in Raft?

In the character selection screen, by default, you can only choose between the two scout characters: Maya and Rouhi.

But there are four locked slots, indicating four more characters for you to select. So, how do you unlock these new characters in Raft?

You can unlock new characters in Raft by finding them on various story islands and talking to them. The new characters are usually found in the final room of the story island, which also includes valuable loot and coordinates leading to the next story island.

Table of Contents

• How to Unlock New Characters in Raft

How to Unlock New Characters in Raft

Besides Maya and Rouhi, there are four more characters.

Below, all unlockable characters and where you can find them are listed:

• Tala: in the highest room of the Radio Tower. She is in the same room as the Recycler blueprint.
• Johnny: in the Relay Station 6 on Balboa Island. You’ll need to lure the big bear away to get the Machete recipe before getting here.
• Elaine: sit on a chair inside the top part of the central tower in Tangaroa. The top part will explode and launch into the ocean after you input the four-digit code in the central tower.
• Shogo: in the frozen room right behind the reactor in Temperance.

To unlock new characters, you must go to the above listed story islands and find them. The new character will be automatically unlocked after talking to them.

You don’t get these new characters if you don’t talk to them, which is what happens for many players.

But don’t worry! You can just revisit the island and go to the final room to talk to them again.

It’s worth noting that new characters don’t have any improved attributes or give you any buff – they are just for cosmetic purposes.

That’s how to unlock new characters in Raft.

Have any suggestions for this guide? Let us know in the comment section below.

As you progress through each story island, you’ll learn more about the game’s lore, unlock new recipes, and discover the coordinates of the next island.

Recommended Read: How to Use Metal Detector in Raft

While venturing through the numerous islands, you may have wondered how many story islands there are in Raft.

There are 8 story islands in Raft: Radio Tower, Vasagatan, Balboa, Caravan Town, Tangaroa, Varuna Point, Temperance, and Utopia.

Table of Contents

• How Many Story Islands Are There in Raft?

How Many Story Islands Are There in Raft?

Currently, Raft has three chapters, each representing a big update consisting of countless minor updates with 2 to 3 story islands.

The First Chapter (update 10) was released on Dec 3, 2019, which added the first three story islands:

• Radio Tower
• Vasagatan
• Balboa Island

Radio Tower was added quite early to the game on May 25, 2018 and it was the final goal of Raft at that point. Now, there is much more to do after exploring Radio Tower.

Later on, The Second Chapter (update 12) was released on Oct 8, 2020, which included two more story islands:

• Caravan Town
• Tangaroa

Although there are only two story islands in this update, they are all detailed and have unique mechanics that keep players entertained, especially the hidden rooms for the secret achievement.

Finally, The Third Chapter (or version 1.0) was released on Jun 20, 2022. It added three final story islands to the game with a complete storyline:

• Varuna Point
• Temperance
• Utopia

To start the story in Raft, you must play the game for at least 30 minutes (1.5 in-game days) to get the blueprint for the Receiver and Antenna.

After that, you can use the Receiver to locate both normal and story islands.

Your first mission in Raft is to visit the Radio Tower and find out what happened to the world. After exploring the Radio Tower, you’ll get a set of coordinates leading you to the next story island.

By progressing through each story island, you’ll learn more about the story, unlock more useful blueprints, and discover new coordinates that lead to the next island.

However, on the final story island (Utopia), you won’t find any new coordinates, and that’s when the open-world aspect of Raft begins.

After completing Utopia, you can decide yourself where to go and what to do next, including revisiting previous story islands to hunt special creatures for trophies and completing 100% of the achievements in Raft.

That’s the answer to how many story islands there are in Raft.

Have any suggestions for this guide? Let us know in the comment section below.

While there are several ways to obtain this mineral, the most resource-friendly and reliable way to get Titanium is digging for treasures. Therefore, it’s crucial to learn how to use a Metal Detector in Raft.

Recommended Read: How to Get the You Should Not Be Here Achievement in Raft

To use a Metal Detector in Raft, put it in your hotbar and hold the left mouse button while on any island to start scanning the surrounding area. The closer you are to the treasure, the faster the Metal Detector makes a beeping sound, and the more lights fill up on the Metal Detector’s screen. The Metal Detector will repeatedly play a congratulatory sound when you’re standing above the treasure. Get out a Shovel and dig three times at that spot to dig up the treasure.

Table of Contents

• How to Get a Metal Detector
• How to Use Metal Detector in Raft

How to Get a Metal Detector

To craft a Metal Detector in Raft, you need to find its blueprint first.

The Metal Detector blueprint can be found on Caravan Town, which is the fourth story island. The blueprint is located in the submerged metal container, along with the Infirmary Key.

To get here, you need to find a bicycle and a long oxygen pipe. Then, dive under the ocean and follow the pipe to reach the metal container.

Next, return to your raft and research the following materials to unlock the Metal Detector recipe:

• 1x Plastic
• 1x Scrap
• 1x Battery

The Metal Detector recipe can then be found in the Tool crafting tab, which is the third tab with a shovel and hammer icon on it.

Each Metal Detector costs 12 Plastic, 6 Scraps, and 1 Battery.

Before you can start finding treasures in Raft, you need to learn to use the Metal Detector. Here’s how!

How to Use Metal Detector in Raft

The Metal Detector is used to scan for treasures on islands.

However, not all islands have treasures on them, and each island type also has a different number of treasures you can find:

• Small tropical islands: 1 treasure.
• Large tropical islands: 2-3 treasures.
• Desert islands: these are small islands that spawn around Caravan Town. They have 1 treasure.
• Evergreen islands: these are islands that spawn around Balboa Island. They have 2-3 treasures each.
• Story islands: most story islands have treasures on them, but Balboa Island has the most treasures, with 3-6.

First, you need to visit the correct island. To use a Metal Detector, hold the left mouse button to scan the surrounding area.

If you don’t hear any sound or see any lights, then the surrounding area has no treasure.

Go to the other part of the island and hold the left mouse button again.

Sooner or later, the Metal Detector will start playing a beeping sound, and the lights on its screen will start to light up and turn off as you roam around.

Keep holding the left mouse button and go around to find the exact location of the treasure.

The closer you are to the treasure, the faster the Metal Detector plays a beeping sound. The lights on the Metal Detector’s screen also start to fill up to the right, changing to yellow and then to green.

The Metal Detector’s durability is reduced when you hold the left mouse button. So, to use it efficiently, you shouldn’t hold the left mouse button all the time.

Instead, use it for a brief second to determine the direction you need to go. Then, follow that direction for a few steps and hold the left mouse again.

Once you find the correct location, the Metal Detector starts making a different sound, and all the lights will be on.

Use a Shovel to dig 3 times at that exact spot to dig up the treasure.

Finally, press “E” to collect the treasure. It’s as simple as that!

Note that you can’t just use a Shovel and dig randomly on islands to find treasures, as they only spawn after you start using a Metal Detector in its vicinity.

In Raft, there are four types of treasures, each distinguished by its unique appearance. You can differentiate the treasure types with just the first dig.

• Junk Pile: contains 10-14 items. It has a 42.5% chance of appearing.
• Briefcase: contains 1 Titanium Ore and 4-6 items. It has a 30% chance of appearing.
• Safe: contains 3 Titanium Ores and 4-6 items. It has a 20% chance of appearing.
• Tiki Piece: contains a random Tiki Piece. It has a 7.5% chance of appearing.

The table below shows all the items you can get in the first three treasure types, as well as the chance of getting each item.

That’s how to get and use a Metal Detector in Raft.

Have any suggestions for this guide? Let us know in the comment section below.

One of the most mysterious achievements in Raft is “You Should Not Be Here!” as you have no clues on how to achieve it.

Recommended Read: How to Use Engines in Raft

In this guide, we’ll show all the steps to getting this achievement.

To get the You Should Not Be Here achievement in Raft, visit Tangaroa, go to the plantation room, and enter the elevator. Next, press the circle button on the top left corner of the elevator door to reach the secret floor. You get the achievement as soon as you step inside the secret floor. Alternatively, if you’ve already completed Tangaroa, you can access this elevator through a building with a red notice sign.

Table of Contents

• How to Get You Should Not Be Here Achievement in Raft

How to Get You Should Not Be Here Achievement in Raft

First of all, this achievement is obtainable all the time, so if you’ve already completed the game, you can still come back to Tangaroa to get it.

If this is the first time you visit Tangaroa, just follow the story as usual.

Once you’ve obtained all the Duct Tape and repaired the Plantation area, a new entrance will open, leading you to the underground elevator.

In this elevator, you’ll see three buttons on the panel to the right:

• -4: Plantation Area (you’re currently here)
• 0: Main Entrance (go here to open the locked door from the inside for easy access later)
• 8: Party Room (continue the story here)

However, pay attention, as there is a small circle button on the left corner of the elevator door.

Come close to it, press “E”, and the elevator will take you to the -20th floor.

Once you’re there, simply step inside the secret room to get the achievement.

This secret room contains a lot of loot boxes with high-value items like Titanium Ores and a new Cassette.

If this is the second time you visit Tangaroa, there is a quicker way to access the underground elevator.

You must find the building with a red sign on it in the tunnel to the right of the central tower. Open the door, call the elevator, and press the circle button on the left corner again to reach the secret floor.

This door can only be opened from the inside, so make sure to go to floor 0 and open it first.

Otherwise, you must go all the way back to the basement to reach the Plantation and find the elevator there.

That’s how to get the You Should Not Be Here achievement in Raft.

Have any suggestions for this guide? Let us know in the comment section below.

However, unlike other structures, the Engine has a lot of interactable parts. It also has a special placement requirement and a technique that you must know in order to make your raft go faster.

Recommended Read: What to Do After Radio Tower in Raft

In this guide, we’ll show you everything you need to know about engines in Raft, including how to make an Engine, how to place it, how to use it properly, and how you can calculate your raft speed when using engines.

Table of Contents

• How to Make an Engine
• How to Place Engine
• How to Use Engine in Raft
• How to Calculate Raft Speed

How to Make an Engine

To make an Engine in Raft, you need to acquire the Engine blueprint in the cockpit located on the second story island – Vasagatan.

To get there, you must learn how to build a second floor to set up the Receiver and complete the Radio Tower to unlock Vasagatan’s coordinates.

After acquiring the blueprint, return to your raft and use the Research Table to research the following materials to unlock the Engine recipe:

• 1x Metal Ingot
• 1x Rope
• 1x Circuit Board
• 1x Plank

The Engine recipe can then be found in the Navigation tab, which is the seventh tab with a sail icon on it.

Each Engine costs 5 Metal Ingots, 5 Ropes, 1 Circuit Board, and 20 Planks.

A single Engine can only push 100 foundations, so make sure to craft some extra ones if you have a large raft.

You can check how many foundations your raft has by simply counting yourself or using a Foundation Counter, which can be purchased from the Trading Post for 3 Trash Cubes and 4 Trade Coins.

How to Place Engine

You need a 2×3 area for each Engine.

One row (1×3) within this area must be solid foundations, while the other half must be open water with no foundations.

When players first unlock the Engine and figure out how to place it, they often place it on the outermost area of the raft, which works fine.

However, engines are quite expensive, and since the shark will attack the outer foundations and destroy every structure built on the attacked foundation, it’s not recommended to build engines there unless you already fortified the outer foundations.

Instead, we recommend destroying some of the inner foundations and building engines inside.

This way, the shark will take some time to reach the foundations with engines on them. Plus, you can always rebuild the destroyed foundations to protect your engines.

Small tip: You can rotate engines by pressing “R” when building them so they face in your desired direction.

How to Use Engine in Raft

An Engine has 3 interactable parts:

1. The fuel tank
2. The direction lever
3. The power barrel

To turn the Engine on, you must put fuel in the fuel tank by pressing the “E” key.

Fuel can be either Planks or Biofuel. Each Plank lasts 36 seconds, while a single Biofuel canister lasts up to 720 seconds.

The Engine’s fuel tank can only hold a maximum of 600 seconds worth of fuel. So, by this stage, using Planks instead of Biofuel is recommended to save resources.

To change direction, press “E” while looking at the direction lever.

Finally, to turn on the engine, look at the red barrel and press “E”. You will start hearing a mechanical noise, indicating that the Engine is working.

Later on, you’ll unlock more blueprints found on Balboa Island to fully automate the Engine fueling process.

By setting up a Fuel Tank and a Fuel Pipe system, you can start using Biofuel without worrying about resource waste, as the system will provide only what the Engine needs.

In Caravan Town, you’ll unlock another useful item to control all the engines at once – the Engine Control.

This device also has 3 interactable parts.

The small button is used to turn all the engines on or off, while the big lever is used to change the direction of all engines on your raft.

There are some cases where you cannot turn the Engine, or nothing happens, when you turn it on. They are:

• Your raft is anchored
• The engine doesn’t have fuel
• Two engines are running in the opposite direction

How to Calculate Raft Speed

In Raft, the default speed of your raft is 1.

With engines, your raft speed varies, depending on the number of engines you use and how many foundations your raft consists of.

However, your raft speed cannot go below 1.5 or exceed 2.5.

One Engine can push 100 foundations and increase the raft speed by 2. It can then carry another 10 foundations with a reduced speed increase at half of the original speed boost, which is 1.

To calculate the raft speed, count the number of foundations and number of engines on your raft first.

For example, let’s say your raft has 221 foundations, and you use 3 engines.

Since 3 engines can push 300-330 foundations and your raft only has 221 foundations, your raft speed is:
2 (speed of one Engine) x 3 (number of engines) = 6

However, because the speed can’t exceed 2.5, your raft speed is limited down to 2.5.

If you only have 2 engines, they can only push 200-220 foundations. With 221 foundations, their speed boost is reduced in half, resulting in:
2 (speed of one Engine) x 2 (number of engines) / 2 (the speed penalty) = 2

If you only have 1 Engine, your raft speed is:
2 (speed of one Engine) x 1 (number of Engine) / 2 (the speed penalty) = 1

Again, since the speed can’t go below 1.5, your raft speed is 1.5.

If you put 6 engines on your raft, you will achieve the maximum raft speed no matter how many foundations it consists of.

Now you know how to make, place, and use engines in Raft.

Have any suggestions for this guide? Let us know in the comment section below.

Since then, Raft has received numerous updates adding more features, items, and many other things. With these updates, more story islands have been added to create a complete story.

Recommended Read: Where Is the Light Bulb in Raft?

However, many players might not pay attention to what they’ve collected and, therefore, not know what to do after the Radio Tower.

After completing the Radio Tower in Raft, you receive new coordinates leading to the next story island, which is the cruise ship Vasagatan. You need to input that coordinate in the Receiver to get the location of Vasagatan.

Table of Contents

• What to Do After Radio Tower in Raft

What to Do After Radio Tower in Raft

In the current version of Raft, the Radio Tower is the first of eight story islands you must complete to beat the game.

Progression is pretty simple in Raft! Upon completing a story island, you receive new coordinates leading to the next story island.

The new coordinates are usually located in the final room of the story island.

In the Radio Tower, the coordinates can be found on the whiteboard in the top room, along with the Recycler blueprint.

You can also check whether or not you’ve picked it up already by pressing the “T” key to open your Journal.

Pay attention to the colored bookmarks on the left. If you see a bookmark displaying Vasagatan and its coordinates right below the name, then you’re good to go!

What you need to do next is input the new coordinates in the Receiver and head to the next story island.

Exploring and gathering more resources on other small islands before heading to Vasagatan is a great idea, as you need to prepare before exploring Vasagatan.

That’s what to do after Radio Tower in Raft.

Have any suggestions for this guide? Let us know in the comment section below.

On your way to Relay Station 2, you will find the Ranger Station, which is a small house that contains loot boxes and two optional puzzles – one of which requires the Light Bulb to be solved.

Recommended Read: Can You Kill the Big Bear in Raft?

Even after activating all the Relay Stations and completing the island, there’s still a chance you may not find the Light Bulb needed to solve the puzzle. So, where exactly can you find the Light Bulb in Raft?

The Light Bulb in Raft can be found inside one of the dolls located on the hill southwest of Balboa Island, near the big bear.

Table of Contents

• Where Is the Light Bulb in Raft?

Where Is the Light Bulb in Raft?

To find the Light Bulb, follow the dirt path on Balboa Island and find the big bear.

The bear is located in the southwest of the island, surrounded by three bear warning signs. This area is far from all three Relay Stations, so if you’re near one of these, go another direction.

The big bear is lying in front of a cave, and next to it, near the entrance, is a blue basket.

From here, head to the hill the cave’s entrance is facing – that’s where the Light Bulb is!

You may not be able to see the hill at all because of trees and bushes.

From the big bear location, go deeper into the island and turn left (if you’re on the side of the island where the big bear is) or turn right (if you’re on the side of the island where the blue basket is) to go uphill.

On the way to the hill, you’ll start seeing some collectible notes on the ground, indicating that you’re on the right track.

Once you reach the top of the hill, you will see three scrap dolls. One of those dolls hangs from a tree while the others are on the ground.

Pay attention to the one on the ground in the center (image below).

Go close to it and press “E” to get the Light Bulb.

Now, you can return to the Ranger Station and put the Light Bulb into the scrap doll to finish the puzzle.

Remember that the two puzzles in the Ranger Station are optional, which means you can still beat the game without completing them.

So, it’s totally fine if you don’t want to spend time finding the Light Bulb. It’s more for those who want to get all the achievements in Raft.

That’s where the Light Bulb is in Raft.

Have any suggestions for this guide? Let us know in the comment section below.