How to Start Permafrost: A New Beginning, Feel the Heat and Horizon

Permafrost opens on a frozen Earth where cold, not combat, is the thing most likely to kill you in the first hour. The opening ties two short quests together, “A New Beginning” and “Feel the Heat,” before handing you the keys to the survivor settlement of Horizon. Get the order right and you will leave Horizon warm, fed, armed with a bow, and carrying everything you need for your first dog rescue.

Quick answer: Build your character, finish “A New Beginning” by crafting the three stone tools and lighting a campfire, cross the cave to the valley, then complete “Feel the Heat” by talking to Robyn inside Horizon’s leader cabin, not by walking through the gate.

Character creation and difficulty

Before anything loads, you build your survivor on the “Create character in this world” screen. You pick a Background, a Specialization, Gender, Voice Type, Skin Type, Color, and your dog’s Companion Settings. Each Background shows three Starting Gear icons. The Survivor Background starts with a Makeshift Bandage, an Improvised Tea and a Granola Bar on the hotbar. The three Backgrounds are Survivor, Smuggler and Hunter.

Your Specialization grants three skill points straight away. Pick based on how you plan to open the game.

Specialization	Skill bonuses
Engineer	+1 Running, +1 Axes, +1 Toughness
Tracker	+1 Skinning, +1 Bows, +1 Knives
Scavenger	+1 Lockpicking, +1 Sneaking, +1 Running

Your dog is set here too. You choose its Name (default Rex), its Race (Shepherd, Border Collie, Golden Retriever, Husky or Rottweiler) and its Coat. You do not travel with the dog yet; you recruit it later in Bone Cave.

Difficulty is chosen on its own screen, “Name and difficulty of the world.” Story is “for players who want to focus on exploration, base-building, and narrative.” Survival is “for experienced survivors who want a demanding challenge” with scarcer resources, harsher conditions and tougher consequences. Custom lets you personalize the rules. Everything below reflects a Survival run.

You can skip the intro cutscene with SPACE.

Quest 1: A New Beginning (about six minutes)

You come to at the base of an icy ravine, beneath a collapsed bridge, while Anders guides you over the radio. The quest has ten steps; together, they prepare the gear needed to travel to Horizon.

Waking in the ravine — You start "A New Beginning" at the foot of the ravine, under the broken bridge. Image: SpaceRocket Games / via @MissPinkPlays

To complete “Find Wood 0/3,” climb the ravine until you reach a clearing containing a small stilted cabin and archery targets. Face a Bush and hold F to gather it; each one yields Wood and frequently an Edible Root. Collect 3 Wood to finish this step.

Press F at the two archery targets to retrieve their Wooden Arrows. You can find around eleven, and you will need them shortly to hunt the deer outside Horizon.

For “Find Stone 0/3,” pick up the Rock Shards lying around the cabin with E.

Press TAB to bring up your inventory. The stone-tool recipes are listed in the crafting panel on the right. Make a Stone Shiv using 1 Stone and 2 Wood, then a Stone Axe with 2 Stone and 4 Wood, followed by a Stone Pickaxe that also takes 2 Stone and 4 Wood. Each crafted tool goes onto the hotbar.

Crafting the stone tools — The crafting list inside the inventory already has your three stone tools ready to build. Image: SpaceRocket Games / via @MissPinkPlays

The cabin door is locked and reads “Locked – Knife used to Unlock.” With the Stone Shiv made, hold F on the door to unlock it, then press F to open. A basket inside holds Cloth. The tutorial notes that locks can be broken with a shiv, while stronger locks need a higher-tier tool or a specific key.

Strike a “Stack of planks” with the axe using LMB, chop trees, and work on the fallen Trunk to collect much more Wood. Mine a Rock Boulder with the pickaxe to get Stone.

Press U to view Blueprints. Find Rope in the crafting tree and hold the allocate key on its node to use your first point there. Rope requires 2 Cloth, and you craft it from your inventory.

Make Rope first, followed by a Crude Bow (2 Wood + 1 Rope). You can craft extra ammunition as Wooden Arrow (x3) for 1 Wood.

To handle “Build Campfire,” hold Q to bring up the Radial Menu, select Construction and equip the Building Tool. Open its menu, use Q/E to cycle to the Survival tab, then choose Campfire (2 Stone). Aim at the ground; when the ghost turns green, click to place it.

For “Warm Yourself Up,” press F on the campfire, put Wood in the FUEL slot, then press X to turn it on. You will see “A New Beginning – Quest Completed.” Holding E on the fire also offers “Warm hands.”

Building the campfire — Lighting the campfire with Wood in the fuel slot completes "A New Beginning.". Image: SpaceRocket Games / via @MissPinkPlays

As you prepare to leave, press X to extinguish the fire and remove the unburnt Wood from its fuel slot to keep it.

Quest 2: Feel the Heat (about five minutes of walking)

The next quest moves you out of the ravine and into Horizon. It is four steps, and the last one matters most: the quest finishes when you speak to Robyn, not when you reach the gate.

For “Enter the cave,” follow the marker roughly 20 metres from the clearing, past a yellow arrow sign and a burning torch at the cave mouth. The flashlight tutorial appears here, and the flashlight also sits on the Radial Menu.

For “Exit the cave,” take the short passage through. It holds Coal Boulders and an Iron Boulder you cannot work yet, plus a “Recording” you can play with E.

For “Go To Horizon,” you will find a herd of Red Deer grazing by a fence between you and the settlement. Aim with RMB and shoot with LMB; arrows can be picked back up. With the Stone Shiv in hand, hold F on the Carcass to skin it for a Deer Pelt, then press F to open it for Meat, Bones and Animal Fat. Shoot at least two, because you need the Meat and a Deer Pelt within minutes.

Walk through Horizon’s gate, under the banner reading “Horizon – Feels like: -5°C.” The step changes to “Find the leader.” You have not finished the quest yet, you have only been pointed at Robyn.

Arriving at Horizon — Passing through the gate flags the Horizon location, but "Feel the Heat" only completes when you talk to Robyn. Image: SpaceRocket Games / via @MissPinkPlays

What to do inside Horizon

Horizon is your first safe hub, and a sensible loop through it sets up the next few quests. Handle it in roughly this order.

Bunkhouse

Look for the yellow shelter symbol on the wall. Upstairs is a yellow Sleeping bag. Press F to claim it and you get “Respawn Point Set.” The tutorial explains that claimed beds set your Home Respawn and are personal to you. A Recipe note on the floor behind the stairs unlocks Wall Torch.

Claiming the sleeping bag — Claiming the Sleeping bag in Horizon's bunkhouse sets your first respawn point. Image: SpaceRocket Games / via @MissPinkPlays

Kitchen

The room with the yellow cooking-pot sign has a stone hearth that works like a Campfire. Put a Meat in the PRIMARY slot, Wood in FUEL, turn it on with X, then press R to cook. A few seconds later you get a Dish, which reads Hunger 90 on its tooltip against 30 for 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 on a wooden crate that unlocks Survivor’s Boots.

Trader’s shop

The yellow dollar sign marks the General Trader, who stands behind bars. In the side alcove there is a Recipe note on a green barrel for Survivor’s Hood, plus Cloth, Moonshine, and a Toolbox with a few Bucks.

Leader’s cabin

The log cabin with a fireplace is where Robyn waits, and a Recipe note on the kitchen counter by the sink unlocks Survivor’s Trousers. Talking to Robyn completes “Feel the Heat.” She then gives 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.” After that she hands over the side quest “Separated” and the main quest “Dog Days” (“Enter Bone Cave”), which is where you recruit your dog.

Back to the General Trader

Ask him for work. “New Connections” completes and he asks for a deer hide, which starts “Tonight… We Hunt!” If you already carry a Deer Pelt, talk again and hand it over on the spot. His reward is a piece of advice: gather all the cold protection you can. Choosing “Let’s trade.” opens the Bargain screen, where Cloth sells for 3 Bucks each.

Fast travel and workshop

In the open square, a wooden post beside a sled displays “Fast Travel: Horizon – Press F Unlock.” Unlock this point during your first visit. The tutorial explains that Fast Travel Points connect discovered places, but cannot be used during combat or severe snowstorms. A wrench sign indicates the Workshop, which contains a Repair Bench and a Suitcase with Cloth and a Granola Bar.

Pack this before you leave Horizon

Cook all but one Meat, and keep one raw Meat for the dog rescue in Bone Cave.
Make an extra Makeshift Bandage using 2 Cloth.
Have a Dish or Granola Bar, then keep an eye on the clock above. The alert “Sun is setting – Temperature will drop soon!” signals that the journey will soon be much colder.
Past the gate, the warning “Bone-Chilling Cold” appears when the air temperature falls below your clothing rating, which is -26°C with the starting clothes.

From here, “Dog Days” sends you into Bone Cave for your companion, then “New Home” has you build your first shelter with a bed, chest, workbench, flint tools, furnace and radio.

Things new players get stuck on

The Radial Menu is a HOLD of Q, not a tap. Flashlight, construction, deconstruction, repair, emotes and photo mode all live there.
Fuel must be in the campfire’s FUEL slot before it can be lit.
Keep the shiv equipped for both skinning and opening simple locks; using a different tool displays “Unsuitable tool used!”
Level-up banners such as “Level Up! Axes” come from doing the activity. Points are spent in the Blueprints screen (U).
Recipe notes are paper sheets titled “Recipe.” Pick up every one you come across.
The game autosaves. The GAME tab also has Save Game and an “Unstuck Me” option.

More beginner tips for the frozen start

Managing cold

Your clothes carry a number. Open the inventory and check STATISTICS, where the shield reads -26°C in the starting outfit. Air colder than that drains Body Warmth and triggers “Bone-Chilling Cold.” Daytime hovers around -20°C, so days are safe and nights are not. Plan around the clock. “Sun is setting” means head home, and holding F on a claimed bed to Sleep jumps the time to 08:00.

A campfire needs just 2 Stone, so bring that amount and some Wood to make heat anywhere outdoors. A skull-marked “Cold Zone” banner marks the coldest areas: Nomad Camp reads -23°C by day and -30°C at night, and others sit at -32°C to -33°C. You can make a brief daytime raid on Nomad Camp; leave the other cold zones until you have better clothing.

Tools, loot and food

Expect tools to wear out—a Stone Axe can break while you’re still chopping a tree. Once you have a Workbench, make flint tools as soon as possible: each costs 2 Flint + 4 Wood, except the shiv, which takes 1 Flint + 2 Wood. Coal and Copper require the Flint Pickaxe; stone pickaxes can only gather Flint and Stone. Items produced by a furnace or bench land on the ground beside the station, so check near the furnace if ingots appear to be missing.

Those Recipe sheets are free unlocks, and Horizon alone has four, so do not spend blueprint points on Wall Torch or Wooden Chest. Your dog doubles as a second backpack once recruited; load it before long trips. Backpacks are upgrades with a Capacity stat, and quest chests later hand out a Survivor’s Backpack (20) and a Utility Backpack (25).

Cook the Meat you plan to eat; raw meat can cause Parasites (-30% stamina regeneration), which require alcohol to cure. A Dish restores 90 Hunger, and eating well activates Full Belly for +50 maximum stamina. A Makeshift Bandage (2 Cloth) restores 70, a regular Bandage restores 90, and a Car Medkit restores 300.

Money and markers

In the Bargain screen, press SPACE to balance the offer, then R to confirm. Clothing and backpacks bring in much more than pelts, so sell them to pay for surgical spirits and supplies. Robyn continues to offer small quests through “Anything else I can help with?” Arrows cost just 1 Wood for three and are recoverable, so replenish them before a fight.

Permafrost is in early access, so recipe costs, quest steps and values can shift with updates; treat the numbers here as current rather than fixed.