Released on May 22nd, Impact Winter is a winter survival game developers by indie studio Mojo Bones and published by Bandai Namco. You play as Jacob, the leader of a small band of survivors who are trying to stay alive in the hope that help comes. There has been a giant meteor impact which has plunged the world into an eternal winter.

I'm not normally one for survival games but there is something about Impact Winter that's hard to put down. It's a simple enough premise, but the gameplay is harder than you think. So once you finish the tutorial, it's easy to feel a little overwhelmed. But this beginner's guide is going to give you some key tips that will help you get started on the right foot.

An impact winter is a hypothesized period of prolonged cold weather due to the impact of a large asteroid or comet on the Earth's surface. If an asteroid were to strike land or a shallow body of water, it would eject an enormous amount of dust, ash, and other material into the atmosphere, blocking the radiation from the sun.

Beginning Tips and Strategies for Impact Winter

Never Leave Home Without Being Prepared

Before you head out, you really should make sure you have a good kit ready!

Firstly, make sure you have a Campsite Tent. When you get to somewhere important, you can pitch a permanent tent that has a number of functions. There is a fire to warm you up, a tent to take shelter or sleep in, and a deposit box.

I found the deposit box to be essential! When you are out scavenging and you find that you have too much stuff in your bags, you can put things like food and drinks into the deposit box for safe keeping. If you then go to sleep in your tent, the clever little Ako robot will 'teleport' all that back to the stores in the Church!

Next, take a couple of Signpost Markers (crafted by Blane), because you can put these little babies in the snow wherever you are, and they will always point back to the Church. This is a godsend when Ako has used up all his battery power and the mini radar is disabled!

Other things to make sure you have with you are:

• Lockpicks in case you find any doors or cabinets which need breaking into
• Food and water to keep hunger and thirst at bay
• Something you can burn on a fire in case you need to sleep at a campsite

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Pick Up Missions From the Survivors in the Church

Inside the Church there are four different people and each on has their own job to do -- Wendy cooks and is the medic, Blane is the 'tinkerer' and makes all the tools you need to be out in the snow, Christophe is the nerd and programs your Ako unit, and Maggie is the carpenter and mechanic.

After the tutorial is over, a book icon appears above everyone's head, indicating that they have a quest/mission for you. There is no quest log to keep track of everything, so to stop you from getting confused I recommend doing one mission at a time. Because these missions mostly require going out to scavenge, you can head out with one goal in mind.

As food and medical supplies are scarce, it is a good idea to stock up as much as you can before focusing on anything else. So start your quest-grinding by talking to Wendy. She will ask you to get her cookery book from her house. There is lots of food in her kitchen -- head out with empty bags and take it all!

Ako Can Do Lots of Stuff...Use Him!

Christophe is such a genius, isn't he? I made the Ako-Light to help you out while you are outside in the cold. Ako automatically joins you whenever you leave the Church. The tutorial tells you how to use him, so I won't go into that too much. But do make sure you're taking advantage of Ako, because he can do some very useful things if you dig a little bit!

Best Locations and Crafting Recipes in Impact Winter

Useful Locations to Hit in the Early Game

I've already mentioned that Wendy's storyline is a good place to start your game, and the area she sends you to is vital to giving you a head start in terms of resources. Her house is in a residential area called Maple Street, which lies is west of the Church. There are 2 other houses available on Maple Street that are also full of items to stock up with.

Another great location to head to is St. Lazarus Memorial Hospital. It's not far from the Maple Street location, and is another place in Wendy's storyline. This two-story hospital is full of food and medical equipment. There's also a mission to go and retrieve medical journals for Wendy so that she can learn how to make medicine.

Grove Street is northwest of the Church and is another little residential area containing 3 houses. Make sure you use Ako-Light's sonar near the house 05, where you will find a key. This key will unlock the ammo cabinet in house 05.

In this area, there is also a Nomadtrading center. Nomads take seeds as currency -- so if you find them, loot them (they don't take up any space is your backpack).

To the northeast, you will find a hotel called the Sunny Inn. The top floor can be accessed above ground, but the lobby can only be accessed through a nearby ice cave. In the lobby, there is a bar -- so alcohol and snacks are a-plenty!

Useful Crafting Recipes

While all of the crafting recipes are useful in one sense or another. There are some that you should get materials for as soon as you can:

Storage Lvl 1

This is an upgrade for Ako-Light that allows you to increase the storage slots in your bag to 11x6 slots. You should be able to find all the materials for this recipe the one place at the Grove Street site:

• Screws (small)
• Colander
• Wire (short)

Campsite Tent (Small)

To be able to cope with longer periods away from the Church, you will find that you need to have quite a number of campsites. As I mentioned earlier on in this guide, Blane is the guy who will craft these Campsite Tents for you. But first, he will need:

• Pipe (large)
• Cotton Sheet
• Duct Tape

Wooden Door

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From the get-go, you are not only up against the extreme conditions, but also the other survivors from the outside. There will be instances when a scavenger will sneak into the Church to steal from your stores and could injure members of your party. To help prevent this, Maggie can craft a Wooden Door to boost the Church's defenses:

• Plank (large)
• Wooden Shingle
• Nails
• Spring (small)
• Bolts (small)
• Glass Pane

Plan Before You Venture

You need to get into the habit of planning what you are doing and where you are going before you actually set out. Sometimes, doing tons of things in one go won't work. Going out on a food run and then collecting other bits and pieces won't benefit you in the long run. Stay on the course that you first decide, but try and remember where the other bits are because you can always go back for them later.

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As I've said before, there is no quest/mission log -- so don't start too many missions at one time, because you will forget what the requirements are. There is so much gear and materials out there that you might pick up the wrong thing.

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That wraps up our beginner's guide for Impact Winter! What strategies have you been using to survive this chilly wasteland? Let us know in the comments below!