As of writing this, Core Keeper is finally going to be fully released and completely out of early access in under a day. In fact, it probably already is on version 1.0 by the time you are reading this. Regardless, you may be on the fence due to how the game is marketed for cooperative play. So, is the game actually fine to play on your own, or will you need some friends with you?
Is It Hard to Play Solo?
The short answer is going to be “no, but it depends on your experience.” You see, from the outside, the game looks a lot like a blend of games like Terraria and maybe even a smidge of Stardew Valley and Factorio. If you’ve played games like that before, you’re going to be absolutely fine in Core Keeper.
As somebody who has played Terraria for years ever since it first released, I hopped right into Core Keeper during the free weekend prior to their 1.0 launch. I can tell you right now, despite not really having any meaningful tutorial segment, it’s really easy to figure things out on your own.
I prefer to try things completely blind for the first time around, and not once have I felt lost during the early game. While I know that not everybody is going to be like that, especially those new to the genre, I can confidently say that solo players will be fine.
Just expect your progress to be a little slower due to how you will be the only person doing literally everything, from crafting stuff, building up your base, and gathering resources.
By the way, you don’t have to hop into the game my way if you prefer a more guided approach to ease yourself into it. If you want to get a better start, consider checking out our guide on everything new players should know about Core Keeper 1.0.
Solo Play Tips
If you’re going to go at it solo like I will on launch, I also have a few beginner tips that should carry over to the full release version of the game too. Just a couple of things to keep in mind that will also give you a glimpse of how forgiving the game can be without a group.
Pick Your Starting Background Wisely
Take your time to choose your background when creating your first character. If you prefer a clean slate with absolutely no freebies, choose the nomad and just hop on in with literally nothing. Otherwise, my personal recommendation is the Explorer.
By picking explorer first, you will get a free lantern right at the start. By equipping this, you’ll get some passive, albeit pretty dim, lighting wherever you go. At this stage of the game, it’s also generally good to just leave torches around or hold shift to temporarily hold one too.
An argument could be made for Miner as well, since a copper pickaxe will let you do some quick grunt work and should last long enough until you can make a new one or repair it. This is especially true since you don’t need it for roots (wood) and plain dirt or sand.
Having said all that, this is only important on your very first playthrough. At the end of the day, all of the stuff you get from backgrounds are pretty easy to obtain. Wouldn’t hurt to get a head start though, especially as a solo player.
Consider Ranged Weapons Early On
Kiting enemies is one thing you’re going to be doing a lot, especially when playing as a lone wolf. With the most basic wooden bow¸ you can easily beat Glurch the Abominous Mass (the slime boss) with little effort.
Unless they change how his AI works in version 1.0, you can just run back and forth while firing at it. At a certain distance, it will return to its spawn area and you can keep whittling it down until it dies.
As far as I know, ranged is great for pretty much any boss in the game. So, if you’re soloing, ranged is king, essentially. Without it, you can also rely on some cheeky trap-based strategies, but you really don’t have to cheese them that way.
Build Near the Core
When you first create a world and spawn in with your character, you will find yourself beside The Core. This is also where you will find your first waypoint and is your initial respawn point.
You’re going to be returning to this spot a lot for quite some time. As such, you should build your base nearby. You can always move or expand elsewhere later on, but for the sake of convenience, set up near this spot and save yourself from a lot of running later.
Later on, you can actually break waypoints so that you can place them elsewhere. This applies to any that you find in the randomly generated world, except for the one at The Core.
That’s another reason why this place is a pretty good central point, at least until you get past the Great Wall! That’s something you will have to worry about much later though, so don’t sweat about it too much.
You can’t grab waypoints with a copper pickaxe, by the way. They are typically conveniently placed near boss spawns, though, so traveling without painstakingly building a railway network on your own won’t be an issue!
Automation Is Your Friend
Even very early in the game, you can actually make some automated resource gathering builds. There is an example of that in the new player guide that I linked further up this article, but it’s not the definitive way to do it either.
This will make your solo player experience a little less tedious. It’s also a completely intended mechanic, but the game leaves it up to you to create your own contraptions. Start experimenting with all the electronics that you can make as early as your first few copper bars!
To Sum It Up
Basically, Core Keeper is completely fine to play on your own. A lot of people do it, and it’s honestly pretty cozy once you get the hang of its mechanics and have some automated machinery up and running.
With the tips above, you can make your solo adventure a little more bearable. It’s not a hardcore survival game with harsh mechanics, so my advice is to just hop on in and see for yourself!
