Hokko Life Guide for Beginners

Last Update: June 2, 2021 8:10 AM /

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Hokko Life Guide for Beginners - cover

Ready to go on a grand life sim adventure? Our Hokko Life Guide for Beginners will tell you everything you need to know to get started with this new game from Wonderscope and Team17.

What is Hokko Life?

Hokko Life is a life sim that's kind of like a mix between Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Stardew Valley. You fall asleep on a train and awaken in a mysterious town filled with animal residents; from there, you'll help improve the town, build a home of your own, and have all sorts of adventures!

Is Hokko Life in Realtime?

One important thing to consider is how time works in Hokko LifeHokko Life is not in realtime like Animal Crossing: New Horizons; rather, the game's time system works more like Stardew Valley and Harvest Moon. Time will not pass when the game is paused, you're in conversation, or you're indoors. You can also pass time by sleeping, either by 2 hours, 6 hours, or sleeping until the start of the next day.

Is Hokko Life Multiplayer?

Unfortunately, there will be no Hokko Life multiplayer at launch according to an F.A.Q. on the game's Steam Community page, but there's always the chance it could arrive later. Players will be able to share furniture and clothing at some point, however, likely through the Steam Workshop.

Hokko Life Guide for Beginners - Getting Started

The Hokko Life Guide for Beginners – Getting Started

Let's kick off the Hokko Life Guide for Beginners by getting a new game started! You'll create your character's appearance on the title screen. Once that's done, you'll experience a short cutscene and find yourself falling asleep on a train, eventually waking up at an empty train platform. 

Once you're actually in the game, run to the right, up the stairs, and into the building on the left. You'll meet an elephant named Oma behind the counter and a Giraffe named Moss sitting on the other side; Oma owns the Inn you're standing in and Moss owns the shop on the other side of the street. You'll be prompted to pick your name, and from there you can sleep for the first night.

Hokko Life Guide for Beginners - first day

Your First Day in Hokko Life

Once you wake, Oma the Innkeeper will tell you that a tree has fallen outside. Go outside and talk to Moss the Shopkeeper and he'll give you your very first tool: the Axe. Press B on the keyboard to bring up your bag, equip the axe, walk up to the tree, and press E to chop it. Eventually, you'll break the tree down into logs. Pick up the logs and talk to Moss again; he'll tell you that you can keep the axe and that you should speak to the other residents in the newly-opened parts of town to the North.

The forest to the north will have three buildings of interest — two villager homes (each of which is occupied by a villager) and a Workshop that you can't get into. You can also head to the beach further on in the forest. For now, quickly chat with your starter two villagers and then head south to go back to the Town Square. Talk to Moss again, and he'll give you your very first quest to build a pair of benches.

You now have to head back up into the forest and to the Workshop. This time, you can open the door and meet Sally the Carpenter. Sally needs some logs to make the benches; simply head outside and chop down trees and/or some of the fallen logs on the ground. I recommend that you get around 40 wood — you'll need more later today.

Once you have the logs, give them to Sally and she'll give you two benches in return. Head back down to the Town Square and talk to Moss the Shopkeeper. He'll tell you it's time to place the benches out in the town square. Go outside, open up your backpack, and select the benches; you can then place them one at a time. Once that's done, talk to Moss again and he'll send you back over to Oma.

Hokko Life Guide for Beginners - beach
Make the beach look nice and clean — it will be worth it later.

Oma directs you to go to the beach to clean up garbage — this is the part of the game that will teach you about picking up movable objects. Head back up to the forest and then turn right to go to the beach; you must then run along the coastline, pressing Space to pick up seaweed or trash and then B to put it into your backpack. Once you have it all, return to Oma; she'll take the junk out of your bag and send you back to Sally.

Sally will ask you for some logs, but you should still have some extras left over from when you chopped down trees earlier. Talk to her again, and she'll teach you all about Hokko Life crafting. Craft 5 planks and give them to Sally and then immediately talk to Sally again; she'll give you another quest to plant some trees. However, you're going to need a shovel first. Sally gives you the blueprint for it, but you'll need some resources to make it — you'll have to head back to Moss' shop for that!

Go down to Moss' shop and talk to him; he'll give you the resources you need to craft a shovel and some seeds. Head back up to the Workshop and talk to Sally again; you'll now have to use those last few logs to make three planks for crafting your shovel. Go outside, dig one hole for each of the Conifer Seeds you have, equip the Conifer Seeds, and plant them all; then, head back to Sally. She'll then send you back over to Moss, so go on back to his shop.

Moss will give you 16 flower seeds (four each of red, blue, purple, and yellow). Dig 16 holes with the shovel and plant the seeds. Go back to Moss and he'll tell you the basics of buying and selling items and hint that a realtor character will arrive once you've improved the town. From here, the only thing to do is wait.

Hokko Life Guide for Beginners - planting trees and flowers

What to Do After Planting the Flower Seeds in Hokko Life

The next step in our Hokko Life Guide for Beginners is a little more open-ended: what do you do after you plant the flower seeds in Hokko Life? For now, the best thing you can do is explore and collect items. If you don't want to wait, you can sleep "Until Tomorrow" three times and the flowers will have grown.

Whichever choice you make, your next step is to pluck all 16 flowers. Bring the flowers to Moss and then he'll send you back up to Sally. Sally needs another 5 planks, so get 15 logs if you haven't already. Deliver the planks and the flowers to Sally, and she'll craft you four planters and send you back to Moss.

Moss wants you to place the flower planters in the town square. Do that and return to him, and then he'll send you back over to Oma. Oma wants you to repair a stool of hers, but keep the following in mind before you talk to her!

Be Careful with Oma's Stool

This is an important warning for the Oma's stool quest — make sure you have at least one empty space in your bag. Hokko Life is still in Steam Early Access and a known issue is being unable to pick up the stool if you don't have any space. Drop an item outside or sell it to Moss if your bag is full!

Once you have Oma's stool, go back up to Sally at the Workshop. She'll introduce you to the Design Table which lets you make custom furniture. Go into the Design Table, delete the broken leg, duplicate a good leg, drag it into place, and save the design. Talk to Sally — if you did it right, she'll say that you did a good job and to head back over to Oma, reminding you that she'd like to speak to you later more about designing things. Deliver the stool to Oma and then head back up to Sally.

Hokko Life Guide for Beginners - log sculpture
Designed objects can range from functional furniture to simple sculptures. There's a lot of freedom in the system!

Sally will teach you the basics of designing and give you your very first blueprint. From there, you can make a simple object and place it for fun if you'd like. Once that's done, you can talk to Sally and buy new blueprints and crafting recipes from her.

Leave Sally's and head back to the Oma's Inn. You'll find another villager there who would like to move in. Unfortunately, there aren't any available houses just yet — it's almost time to learn about expanding the town! Go up to your room in the Inn and rest until it's after 6:00 PM or so; when you head back downstairs, you'll encounter a pig named Rosa the Realtor as your first step towards getting more people to move in. At this point, I can comfortably say that you've truly begun your adventure, so our Hokko Life Guide for Beginners ends here.

Have a tip, or want to point out something we missed? Leave a Comment or e-mail us at tips@techraptor.net


A photograph of TechRaptor Senior Writer Robert N. Adams.
| Senior Writer

One of my earliest memories is playing Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo Entertainment System. I've had a controller in my hand since I was 4 and I… More about Robert N

More Info About This Game
Learn more about Hokko Life
Game Page Hokko Life
Developer
Wonderscope
Publisher
Team17
Platforms
PC
Release Date
June 2, 2021 (Calendar)
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