Permafrost begins in a frozen ravine, where a voice comes over the radio, you have a dog to choose, and survival depends on a handful of supplies. Complete A New Beginning and Feel the Heat first; afterward, you arrive at Horizon and receive your initial proper objectives. This is the route in order for Survival difficulty, with its limited resources and more punishing cold.
Quick answer: Gather 3 Wood and 3 Stone, craft the stone tools, then build and light a Campfire to clear A New Beginning. Walk through the cave, hunt a Red Deer on the way out, enter Horizon, and talk to Robyn.
Permafrost is in early access, so recipe costs, quest steps and values can change with updates. Treat the numbers below as current rather than permanent.
Character creation and difficulty
Before entering the world, customize your survivor on the “Create Character in This World” screen. Select Survivor, Smuggler or Hunter for Background; each choice displays three Starting Gear icons. A Survivor has a Makeshift Bandage, Improvised Tea and Granola Bar ready on the hotbar. Choose your Specialization, Gender, Voice Type, Skin Type and Color, too.
Each Specialization hands out three skill points. The split is as follows.
| Specialization | Skill points |
|---|---|
| Engineer | +1 Running, +1 Axes, +1 Toughness |
| Tracker | +1 Skinning, +1 Bows, +1 Knives |
| Scavenger | +1 Lockpicking, +1 Sneaking, +1 Running |
Companion Settings is where you build the dog. You choose its Name (default Rex), Race from Shepherd, Border Collie, Golden Retriever and Husky, and a Coat. You meet the dog later, not at the start.
When character setup is complete, configure the world on a separate page titled “Name and Difficulty of the World”. Story favors narrative, exploration and base-building; Survival brings tighter supplies, more severe conditions and harsher consequences. Custom gives you control over the settings. Press the space bar to skip the opening cutscene.
Quest 1: A New Beginning
You come to beneath a broken bridge at the base of an icy ravine, while Anders gives instructions over the radio. This roughly six-minute quest concludes once you get a fire going and warm yourself.
Put out the fire with X before heading off, then remove any Wood that has not burned from the fuel slot to save it for later.
Quest 2: Feel the Heat
This quest is roughly five minutes of walking that takes you through a cave and out to Horizon. There is a deer hunt along the way that you will need for the settlement, so do not skip it.
What to do inside Horizon
Horizon is a walled settlement with four buildings marked by painted symbols and a leader’s cabin. Work through them in this order so you arrive at Robyn already carrying what she and the trader want.
Claim a bed in the bunkhouse
The bunkhouse carries a yellow shelter symbol. Upstairs is a yellow sleeping bag; press E to claim it and you get “Respawn Point Set”. Claimed beds are personal and cannot be used by other players. A Recipe note on the floor behind the stairs unlocks Wall Torch.
Cook a Dish in the kitchen
The kitchen carries a yellow cooking-pot sign, and its stone hearth works as a Campfire. Put Meat in the PRIMARY slot and Wood in FUEL, turn it on with X, then press R to Cook. A few seconds later you have a Dish, which restores far more hunger than raw Meat. The room also holds Cloth, a Moonshine, a Quality Crate with a Refined Stone Shiv, a Medical Supply Box with Herbs and a Makeshift Heater, a Clothes Bin with Cloth, and a Recipe note that unlocks Survivor’s Boots.
Search the trader’s shop and workshop
A yellow dollar sign identifies the trader’s shop, where the General Trader stands behind bars. In the side alcove, a green barrel holds a Recipe note that unlocks Survivor’s Hood; Cloth, Moonshine and a Toolbox containing a few Bucks are there as well. The workshop is marked by a wrench sign and contains a Repair Bench and a Suitcase with Cloth and a Granola Bar.
Talk to Robyn in the leader’s cabin
Robyn is in the log cabin with a fireplace, and a Recipe note on the kitchen counter by the sink unlocks Survivor’s Trousers. Talking to her completes Feel the Heat. She then hands you the side quest New Connections (“Speak with the trader”) and the errand Horizon’s Kitchen (“Cook meat”, “Talk with Robyn”). If you already cooked a Dish, that first step is ticked, so tell her “Dinner is ready.” She follows up with the side quest Separated and the main quest Dog Days, which sends you into Bone Cave to find your dog.
Hand the trader a deer hide and unlock fast travel
Ask the General Trader for a job when you return. This completes New Connections, and he gives you Tonight… We Hunt!, a quest to bring him a deer hide. If you have a Deer Pelt already, speak with him again and turn it in immediately; he advises you to get as much cold protection as possible. Choose “Let’s trade.” to open the Bargain screen, where each Cloth sells for 3 Bucks. In the open square, find the wooden post with a sled and the text “Fast Travel: Horizon – Press E Unlock”; unlock it now. Fast travel cannot be used during combat or severe snowstorms.
Before you leave Horizon
Set yourself up for the trip to Bone Cave before you walk back out of the gate.
- Prepare Meat by cooking all of it except one piece, which you should leave raw for the dog.
- Make one extra Makeshift Bandage; the recipe requires 2 Cloth.
- Eat a Dish or a Granola Bar before heading out.
- Check the clock at the top of the screen. When “Sun is setting – Temperature will drop soon!” appears, expect the trip to turn much colder.
Beyond the gate, the “BONE-CHILLING COLD” alert appears if the air temperature falls below your clothing rating, set at -26°C with the starting clothes. Keep close to warmth or shelter until you obtain better protection.
Controls and things new players miss
These are the default keyboard controls for the opening, and they can be rebound in Settings.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| E | Interact (press or hold); cook at a fire |
| TAB | Inventory and crafting |
| Q (hold) | Radial Menu; Q and E cycle building tabs |
| U | Blueprints |
| LMB / RMB | Light attack or shoot / heavy attack or aim |
| R | Rotate object, “Take all” in containers |
A few early snags trip up new survivors. The Radial Menu is a hold on Q, not a tap, and it holds the flashlight, construction, deconstruction, repair, emotes and photo mode. The Campfire will not light without fuel in the FUEL slot. Skinning and locked doors both need a knife, which is the Shiv, in hand; other tools give “Unsuitable tool used!”. Level-up banners come from simply doing an activity, while the Blueprints screen on U is where you spend points. Recipe notes are sheets of paper named “Recipe”, so grab every one you see. The game autosaves, and the Game tab also has Save Game and an “Unstuck Me” option.
What comes next
With Horizon behind you, Dog Days points you to Bone Cave, where you heal and feed the injured dog with a Bandage and raw Meat to make it your companion. After that comes New Home, which introduces your first shelter, bed, chest, workbench, flint tools, furnace and radio. From there the frozen map opens up, and the cold stops being the only thing you are fighting.
