Islands, Biomes, and Labyrinths

The Survivalists takes place across a procedurally generated archipelago of five islands. Each island has a difficulty rating shown in skulls (1 through 5), its own biome composition, enemy roster, and resources. The main progression arc pushes you from Island 1 through each subsequent island, clearing labyrinths along the way to collect the four ship parts needed to repair the galleon and escape.

The Five Islands

Islands are numbered by difficulty. Higher-numbered islands have tougher enemies, rarer resources, and more complex labyrinths.

Island	Skulls	Biomes Present	Key Content
Island 1	⚔	Beach, Meadows	Starting island. Tutorial zone, basic enemies. First vaults.
Island 2	⚔⚔	Beach, Meadows, Badlands	Bat Labyrinth. Tougher wildlife, first orc encounters.
Island 3	⚔⚔⚔	Beach, Badlands, Swamp	Boar Labyrinth. Swamp enemies, spectres, and skeletons.
Island 4	⚔⚔⚔⚔	Beach, Swamp, Volcanic	Monkey Labyrinth. Volcanic spitters, elephant birds.
Island 5	⚔⚔⚔⚔⚔	Badlands, Volcanic, Swamp	Big Cat Labyrinth. Maximum difficulty enemies and resources.

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Island layouts are procedurally generated, so the exact position of biomes, vaults, and labyrinth entrances varies between worlds. The island number and difficulty are consistent, but you will need to explore each one to find specific locations.

Biomes

Each biome has distinct visual characteristics, enemy types, and resources. Knowing what lives in each biome prevents you from wandering into a fight you cannot win.

Beach

The coastal fringe of every island. This is the safest zone and where you will likely build your first base.

• Enemies: Minimal. Occasional crabs. Sharks in the water near the shore.
• Resources: Pebbles, sticks, coconuts, palm trees (timber), long grass.
• Notes: Sharks attack if you swim too far from shore. Use a raft to cross deep water. Sharks cannot attack you on a raft.

Meadows

Green, grassy areas with light tree coverage. Found on Islands 1 and 2.

• Enemies: Rabbits (passive), boars (aggressive when provoked), small predators.
• Resources: Berry bushes, flowers (petals for Foul Meals), timber, stone.
• Notes: Good for early farming and monkey recruitment. Most wild monkeys spawn in meadow areas.

Badlands

Dry, rocky terrain with sparse vegetation. Found on Islands 2, 3, and 5.

• Enemies: Cougars, orcs, devil boars. Orcs are the primary threat and will attack on sight.
• Resources: Stone chunks, ore deposits, rare minerals.
• Notes: The first biome where you encounter consistent orc patrols. Bring combat monkeys. Do not explore badlands without weapons.

Swamp

Dense, dark areas with murky water and twisted trees. Found on Islands 3, 4, and 5.

• Enemies: Spectres, skeletons, swamp bogs.
• Resources: Mud (needed for the Forge), rare crafting materials, mushrooms.
• Notes: Spectres can revive fallen skeletons. Always kill the spectre first, then clean up the skeletons. Swamp bogs attack with toxic clouds. Use ranged weapons or send combat monkeys to deal with them from a safe distance.

warning

Swamp enemies are a significant difficulty spike from anything on Islands 1 and 2. Spectres in particular can turn a simple encounter into a war of attrition if you do not focus them down first. Bring healing food and armed monkeys before entering swamp biomes.

Volcanic

Harsh, red-toned terrain with lava pools and aggressive wildlife. Found on Islands 4 and 5.

• Enemies: Volcanic spitters (ranged fire attacks), elephant birds (acid spit and heavy melee), frabbits.
• Resources: High-tier ores, volcanic stone, rare crafting materials.
• Notes: Elephant birds are among the most dangerous non-boss enemies in the game. They use ranged acid attacks and hit hard in melee. Engage from range or with a full squad of combat monkeys. Volcanic spitters lob fire projectiles. Keep moving and do not stand still.

Frozen (Frostbite Fortress DLC)

A treacherous ice biome introduced in the Frostbite Fortress expansion (March 12, 2026). Unlike other biomes, the Frozen biome is not reached by sailing. You must build a portal using a new blueprint from your building tab.

• Enemies: Frostbite-variant enemies with cold-based attacks. Higher difficulty than standard Volcanic enemies.
• Resources: Basalt Rock, Brimstone, Glowstones, unique DLC materials.
• Notes: This biome contains an additional labyrinth and is designed for late-game players with metal or legendary gear. Potions brewed at the Alchemy Bench (also introduced in this DLC) provide cold resistance buffs that are nearly mandatory for survival here.

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The Frostbite Fortress expansion is a paid DLC ($3.99/€3.99). The Frozen biome and its labyrinth are only accessible after purchasing the DLC and building the portal structure. See Farming and Alchemy for Alchemy Bench details.

Traveling Between Islands

To reach other islands, you need a raft. Craft one at a Crafting Bench using timber and rope, then place it on the water's edge. Interact with the raft to set sail.

The ocean between islands contains sharks. Sharks cannot attack you while you are on a raft, but they will attack if you fall off or swim. Stay on the raft until you reach land.

When you reach a new island, scout the beach first. Find a safe spot to place a temporary camp (campfire, bed, storage chest) before pushing into the interior. You can always sail back to your main base on Island 1 to resupply.

tip

Bring a monkey mule (a monkey carrying a chest) on island expeditions. This gives you mobile storage for loot and materials without needing to build permanent structures on every island.

Vaults

Vaults are small challenge rooms scattered across all islands. They contain combat encounters, puzzle mechanics, and loot chests.

How Vaults Work

• Walk up to a vault entrance (a glowing hole in the ground or a doorway in a cliff) and enter.
• Inside, you face combat waves, pressure plate puzzles, or gear mechanisms.
• Pressure plates require someone (you or a monkey) to stand on them. Some plates are branded with specific emote symbols. You must stand on the plate and perform the matching emote (such as "cheer" or "wave") to trigger the mechanism. Simply standing on an emote plate does nothing.
• Gears on walls need to be hit repeatedly to open doors. Train a monkey to hit the gear while you handle combat or another puzzle element.
• Multi-step puzzles often require one person on a plate while a monkey stands on a second plate. Command monkeys to hold positions using the Mimic system.
• Clear the vault to access the loot chest at the end.

warning

Emote-locked doors are one of the most common soft-lock points for new players. If a door will not open and you see a symbol on the floor plate, try performing each emote until the door responds. The game does not always make it obvious which emote is required.

Vault Rewards

Reward Type	Examples
Weapons	Metal swords, spears, higher-tier tools
Resources	Refined materials, rare crafting ingredients
Monkey rescues	Caged monkeys that join your team when freed
Blueprints	Recipes for advanced items and structures
Doubloons	Currency for the Mysterious Stranger's shop

tip

Bring at least two combat monkeys into every vault. Some vaults spawn multiple enemy waves, and fighting alone while solving puzzles gets overwhelming. Position one monkey near a gear mechanism and fight alongside the other.

The Four Labyrinths

Labyrinths are the game's main dungeons. Each one is located on a specific island and contains a boss fight at the end. Defeating the boss rewards you with one of the four ship parts needed to repair the galleon.

Accessing Labyrinths

You need a Labyrinth Key to enter each labyrinth. Purchase keys from the Mysterious Stranger, the NPC who arrives on a hot air balloon. He appears periodically on your islands and sells keys, blueprints, and rare items for doubloons.

Labyrinth Overview

Labyrinth	Island	Boss	Ship Part Reward
Bat Labyrinth	Island 2	Giant Bat	Storm Map
Boar Labyrinth	Island 3	Giant Boar	Figurehead
Monkey Labyrinth	Island 4	Tank Bird	Ship Wheel
Big Cat Labyrinth	Island 5	Big Cat	Compass

General Labyrinth Tips

1. Prepare before entering. Stock up on cooked food (at least 10 meals), bring your best weapons, and arm your combat monkeys with upgraded gear.
2. Bring monkey helpers. Labyrinths contain pressure plate puzzles that require bodies to hold them down. Your monkeys can stand on plates while you handle combat or explore.
3. Watch for gear mechanisms. Some doors only open when you (or a monkey) repeatedly hit a gear on the wall. Train a monkey to whack the gear while you focus on enemies.
4. Loot everything. After the boss fight, search the entire final room. The ship part is usually highlighted with a bright white glow, but chests in the room contain legendary blueprints and rare resources too.
5. Use the exit portal. After clearing the final room, look for a glowing portal or spotlight. Walk into it to exit the labyrinth. Do not backtrack through the entire dungeon.

Bat Labyrinth (Island 2)

The first labyrinth and the most forgiving. The layout is linear, with bat swarms as the primary enemy. The Giant Bat boss flies around the arena and dive-bombs you.

Boss Strategy:

• The Giant Bat swoops down to attack, then circles back up. Dodge-roll the dive attack, then hit it during the brief landing window.
• Stay mobile. Standing still lets the bat target you with consecutive dives.
• Combat monkeys can damage the bat when it lands, but they struggle to hit it in the air. Position them in the center of the arena where the bat tends to land.

Boar Labyrinth (Island 3)

More complex layout with orc enemies mixed in alongside boar packs. The Giant Boar boss charges across the arena.

Boss Strategy:

• The Giant Boar charges in a straight line toward your last position. Sidestep or dodge-roll perpendicular to the charge. It crashes into the wall and is stunned for a few seconds. Attack during the stun window.
• After each charge, the boar spawns smaller boars. Let your combat monkeys handle the adds while you focus on the boss.
• Bring a spear or ranged weapon to poke the boss between charges without getting too close.

Monkey Labyrinth (Island 4)

The most puzzle-heavy labyrinth. Multiple rooms require coordinated pressure plate activation. The Tank Bird boss is a heavily armored bird enemy with both ranged and melee attacks.

Boss Strategy:

• The Tank Bird alternates between melee swipes and ranged projectile attacks. Dodge the projectiles, then close distance and attack during its melee recovery animation.
• Its armor reduces damage from weak weapons. Bring metal-tier or higher weapons for this fight.
• Keep combat monkeys spread out. The Tank Bird's ranged attack can hit multiple targets if they are clustered.

Big Cat Labyrinth (Island 5)

The hardest labyrinth. Volcanic enemies populate the halls, and the Big Cat boss is fast and hits like a truck.

Boss Strategy:

• The Big Cat lunges and pounces. It is faster than you, so dodge-rolling is the only reliable defense. Roll toward the cat, not away from it, to end up behind it after the pounce.
• It has a multi-swipe combo that kills in two or three hits if you are wearing mid-tier armor. Do not try to trade blows.
• Elemental weapons (if you have any) deal significantly more damage to the Big Cat. The Fire Sword and Wind Spear are both strong choices.
• Bring extra food. This fight is long, and you will take hits. Having 15+ cooked meals lets you heal through mistakes.

danger

The Big Cat Labyrinth is a hard wall for many players. Do not attempt it without metal-tier weapons, a full squad of armed combat monkeys, and a large food supply. Going in underprepared means losing your gear and your monkey team.

The Galleon Escape

After collecting all four ship parts (Storm Map, Figurehead, Ship Wheel, Compass), you need to find and repair the galleon.

Finding the Galleon

The galleon is a wrecked ship in the ocean between islands. You must sail around on your raft to locate it. It looks like a large shipwreck partially above water. The location is randomly generated in each world, so there is no fixed spot.

Repairing the Galleon

Once you find the galleon:

1. Approach it on your raft and interact with it.
2. Install the four ship parts (Storm Map, Figurehead, Ship Wheel, Compass).
3. Work through the 11 stages of repair. Each stage requires a batch of construction materials including Timber, Rope, Makeshift Sails, Metal Hinges, Metal Sheets, and Gold Nails. The material requirements escalate with each stage.
4. Board the fully repaired galleon and set sail to trigger the ending.

The 11-stage process demands significant resource pooling. Metal Hinges require the Forge, Gold Nails require Golden Sheets (forged with Charcoal), and Makeshift Sails require large quantities of rope and fabric. Plan your resource production around these requirements before committing to the repair.

tip

Set up monkey automation chains to mass-produce the repair materials while you focus on labyrinth clears. A crafter monkey at the Forge producing Metal Sheets and another producing rope saves hours of manual crafting.

warning

Boarding the repaired galleon and sailing away triggers the game's ending and credits. If you want to continue exploring, complete treasure maps, or chase remaining achievements, finish all of that before repairing the galleon. You can still play after the credits in most versions, but make sure your goals are met first.

The Mysterious Stranger and Taskmasters

The Mysterious Stranger is an NPC merchant who arrives on a hot air balloon. He appears on your islands at random intervals and sells valuable items.

Item Category	Examples
Labyrinth Keys	Required to enter each labyrinth
Legendary Blueprints	Recipes for elemental weapons and advanced items
Rare Materials	Refined gems, advanced crafting ingredients
Elixirs and Potions	Biome resistance buffs (useful for the "Totally Buff" achievement)
Decorative Items	Furniture, cosmetic structures

He accepts doubloons as currency. Doubloons are found in treasure chests, vault rewards, and by completing treasure map tasks. Save your doubloons for Labyrinth Keys first, then spend extras on blueprints and materials.

The Four Taskmasters

Beyond the Mysterious Stranger, four Taskmaster NPCs provide multi-step quest chains that unlock trinket recipes and legendary weapon blueprints. You must encounter them in a specific sequence:

1. Mysterious Stranger (Island 1) - meet him first to unlock the Taskmaster chain.
2. Beast Master (Island 2) - tasks include hunting specific animals and taming rabbits for his Animal Pen. Rewards the Bomb blueprint and early trinket recipes.
3. Survival Gourmand (Island 3, Swamp) - cooking and gathering tasks. Unlocks advanced food recipes.
4. The Collector (Island 4) - collection tasks for rare items.
5. The Salesman (Island 5) - final chain. Completing his tasks unlocks the last legendary blueprints.

warning

The Survival Gourmand has a known spawn bug. If you explore islands out of sequence, the Gourmand may not appear on Island 3. To avoid this, follow the Taskmaster sequence in order after meeting the Mysterious Stranger. If the Gourmand is missing, generating a new world and following the sequence from scratch is often the only fix.

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Completing Taskmaster chains is now the only way to obtain legendary elemental weapon blueprints (since Balance Patch 1.1.3 removed them from labyrinth loot tables). Do not skip Taskmasters if you want the full elemental weapon set.