Sunkenland is a post-apocalyptic survival game set in a waterworld where civilization has been submerged beneath the ocean. You build floating bases on the water's surface, dive into sunken cities for resources, defend against raider attacks, and trade with other survivors. The game distinguishes itself from other survival titles with its dual-layer gameplay — surface base building with deep underwater scavenging. Early Access since 2023, the game has received consistent updates adding new biomes, building pieces, and the trading system that gives purpose to excess resources.
Starting Sunkenland can feel overwhelming. This guide tells you exactly what to focus on during your first hours so you don't waste time on things that don't matter yet.
What Kind of Game Is This?
Sunkenland is a survival game built around underwater exploration and base building on water. The core loop involves mastering these systems to progress through increasingly challenging content.
What to expect: Time investment in learning mechanics, experimentation, and gradual mastery. The game rewards patience and knowledge.
Choosing Your First Build
| Build | Beginner Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Builder | Good (but demanding) | Gather materials for building, design efficient and defensible base layouts, upgrade structures progressively. |
| Diver | Good (but demanding) | Plan dive routes through sunken buildings, manage oxygen carefully, prioritize high-value salvage. |
| Raider | Excellent for beginners | Assault raider outposts for loot, use combat gear to overwhelm defenders, return with salvage. |
| Trader | Situational | Build trading posts, track merchant schedules, stockpile resources when cheap and sell when expensive. |
| Farmer | Situational | Build farm plots and water purifiers for food independence, trade surplus for crafting materials. |
Our recommendation: Start with Diver. Specializes in underwater exploration with maximum dive time and efficiency. Divers bring back the rare components that drive progression. Without skilled diving, your base stagnates at basic technology levels.
Avoid Farmer as your first pick. Self-sufficiency through crop growing and fishing.
First Session Step-by-Step
Step 1: Learn underwater exploration
Diving into submerged buildings and streets is the primary method of gathering advanced resources. Underwater, you manage an oxygen meter that depletes faster with physical activity. Diving gear upgrades extend dive time from 2 minutes (basic) to over 8 minutes (advanced). Underwater enemies include sharks and hostile divers.
This is the foundation. Spend your first 15-30 minutes getting comfortable with how underwater exploration works before worrying about anything else.
Step 2: Head to Starting Raft
Your initial platform — a small raft with basic tools. The starting area has shallow water with easy diving locations and no raider threats. Focus on gathering basic materials and building your first permanent foundation.
Clear the main content here before moving on. Everything teaches fundamentals you'll need later.
Step 3: Get Your First Upgrade
Look for Crossbow — it's the most accessible early upgrade. Silent ranged weapon effective for stealth approaches to raider outposts. Bolts are cheaper to craft than rifle ammunition. The crossbow's silence means you can pick off sentries without alerting the entire outpost.
Step 4: Understand base building on water
All structures are built on water using foundations that snap to a grid. Foundations can be placed on shallow reef areas or connected to existing structures. Buildings include living quarters, crafting stations, storage, and defensive turrets. Structural integrity matters — overextended platforms can collapse.
This is the system most new players overlook. Invest time here early — it pays off throughout the entire game.
Step 5: Push to Sunken City
The primary diving destination with submerged buildings, shops, and infrastructure. Each building type contains thematically appropriate loot — hardware stores have tools, pharmacies have medical supplies. Navigation through flooded streets requires memorizing landmarks.
Essential Mechanics Explained
underwater exploration
Diving into submerged buildings and streets is the primary method of gathering advanced resources. Underwater, you manage an oxygen meter that depletes faster with physical activity. Diving gear upgrades extend dive time from 2 minutes (basic) to over 8 minutes (advanced). Underwater enemies include sharks and hostile divers.
base building on water
All structures are built on water using foundations that snap to a grid. Foundations can be placed on shallow reef areas or connected to existing structures. Buildings include living quarters, crafting stations, storage, and defensive turrets. Structural integrity matters — overextended platforms can collapse.
raider defense
NPC raider groups periodically attack your base with boats and divers. Defense options include mounted turrets, spike walls, and armed NPCs. Raid frequency and difficulty scale with your base size and wealth. Pre-building chokepoints and turret coverage is essential for survival.
diving mechanics
Beyond basic oxygen management, diving involves water currents that push you off course, depth pressure that increases stamina drain, and underwater darkness requiring light sources. Deeper dives yield better resources but risk running out of oxygen far from the surface.
trading
Trading posts attract NPC merchants who exchange resources on set schedules. You can sell surplus food, materials, and scavenged items for rare components unavailable through diving. Building multiple trading posts enables resource chains where you buy low from one trader and sell high to another.
Common Beginner Mistakes
1. Building a massive base before establishing defenses
Raiders scale with base size — a large undefended base attracts raids you can't repel.
2. Diving without checking oxygen before entering buildings
Entering a submerged building adds distance between you and the surface, and low oxygen inside means drowning.
3. Ignoring food production and relying entirely on scavenging
Scavenged food is unreliable and runs out during extended base-building periods.
4. Storing all resources in one location
A single successful raid can wipe your entire stockpile. Distribute storage across multiple containers.
5. Fighting sharks in open water instead of retreating to shallow areas
Sharks are faster in deep water but can't follow you into shallow zones.
First 5 Hours Checklist
- Understand underwater exploration and base building on water
- Choose Diver as starting build
- Clear Starting Raft main content
- Acquire Crossbow or equivalent upgrade
- Reach Sunken City
- Build your first permanent foundation on shallow reef areas where the water floor is visible. Deep water foundations require more expensive materials.
- Craft a basic speargun before your first serious dive. Sharks will find you, and without a weapon, diving into the sunken city is suicidal.
Tips for New Players
- Build your first permanent foundation on shallow reef areas where the water floor is visible. Deep water foundations require more expensive materials.
- Craft a basic speargun before your first serious dive. Sharks will find you, and without a weapon, diving into the sunken city is suicidal.
- Water purifiers are your first critical building. Dehydration kills faster than hunger, and rain collectors are unreliable. One purifier per 2 players is the minimum.
- Turrets on your base should cover all approach angles. Raiders attack from random directions, and an undefended side means they breach directly into your storage.
- Diving at dawn gives maximum natural light underwater, extending how deep you can see without artificial light sources. Night dives are extremely dangerous.
- Mark dive routes with underwater markers (crafted from glow sticks). Getting lost underwater with low oxygen is the most common cause of death.
- Trading posts placed near shipping lanes attract merchants more frequently. Build them at the edge of your base facing open water.
- Raider outposts respawn after several in-game days. A nearby outpost becomes a renewable loot source if you can clear it efficiently.
- Store your best gear in a locked chest. Raiders who breach your base loot open storage containers but cannot open locked ones.
- Co-op diving is dramatically safer than solo. One player watches oxygen levels and covers threats while the other loots. Alternate roles between dives.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Sunkenland multiplayer?
Yes, co-op multiplayer for up to 8 players. All players share a single base and resources. More players means faster progression but also higher raid difficulty scaling.
Is Sunkenland like Raft?
Similar ocean survival concept but different execution. Sunkenland has fixed-location base building on water, underwater city exploration, and NPC raider combat. Raft focuses on drifting on the ocean current with crafting. Sunkenland is more combat and exploration focused.
How often do raiders attack in Sunkenland?
Raid frequency scales with your base value (total resources and structures). Early game, raids happen every 5-7 in-game days. Late game with a large base, expect raids every 2-3 days. Turrets and walls handle most raids automatically once properly set up.
What to Read Next
- Sunkenland Builds — Optimize your build once you've learned the basics
- Sunkenland Walkthrough — Full progression path
- Sunkenland Tips — Advanced strategies for when you're ready
