Len's Island Guide for Beginners

In this Len's Island Guide for Beginners, we'll tell you everything you need to know to get started with this dungeon crawling and building game from Flow Studio.

What is Len's Island?

Len's Island is a game that blends exploring an island and building a home with dungeon crawling. There's plenty to do if you just like to run around an island growing crops and building, but the real meat of the game -- and the real challenge -- lies under the earth.

The product of a successful Kickstarter, it's been in development since around 2017 or so from the Australian game developer Flow Studio -- and it's also this developer's first commercial release on Steam. Let's get started with the Len's Island Guide for Beginners!

Len's Island Guide for Beginners - Creating Your Character and World

Creating a new character in Len's Island (and a new world) is pretty straightforward. First, let's start with the world: the Len's Island map is static, so you don't have to worry about any kind of randomness.

As for your character, you'll be able to pick your origin (which determines your skin color), your "style" (either male or female), and a few different pieces of clothing. You won't have to worry about stats or anything like that.

Your origin and sex can't be changed once the game has already started as far as I can tell, so make sure you pick something you're happy with! However, you can change out your clothes a little later in the game (and even unlock some new color options).

Len's Island Beginner's Guide - Your First Day on the Island

Once you've created your character, you'll find yourself on a beach next to a small raft. That raft is pretty important -- it contains a toolbox and a bedroll. The bedroll will let you sleep at night, advancing the game to daytime. It can also be used to save your game.

Now it's time to get started with your first day -- start off by gathering some materials. You're going to want to get Wood, Fiber, Clay, and Stone to start. You can get Wood from trees, Fiber from plants, Stone from grey rocks, and Clay from red rocks.

How Your Inventory Works in Len's Island

While you will have to pick up these items, you might be wondering where they are. You can access them by pressing Tab to see your inventory at any time. It's split between Resources, Food & Farming, and Building.

But what about your tools? I'll refer you back to the toolbox on your raft -- you don't acquire specific tools and weapons insomuch as you unlock them and can access them from any toolbox at any time. Need a free Hotbar slot? Drag your axe or sword off of the Hotbar -- you can always get it back later at any toolbox.

While you're working, take note of the two energy bars below your Hotbar:

The top bar is your health and the bottom bar is your hunger. As you might expect, your health dropping to zero will result in you dying and respawning wherever you last slept. Food can heal you up if you've taken some damage.

Your hunger meter, conversely, will start to drain your health (but not immediately kill you) should it reach zero. You're going to need to eat something sooner rather than later. so we'll be tackling that next in this Len's Island Guide for Beginners.

How to Get Food

Getting food in Len's Island isn't all that difficult at the beginning of the game -- all you need to do is find a Blue Berry bush and whack it with your sword. You can also occasionally find food in crates, and you'll be able to buy food in town.

While gathering wild berries is a sustainable source of food, you'll likely run out pretty quickly once you start exploring underground. That's where Farming comes in -- read our Len's Island Farming Guide for an explanation of how that works.

Building Your First House in Len's Island

Now that you've gathered some resources and food, our Len's Island Guide for Beginners will move on to building your first house. This game's building system is fairly intuitive. Keep in mind that you can get a refund for anything you've built; there's no worry about building in the "wrong" place here.

I personally recommend building your first house right next to the boat where you began the game. This gives you easy access to a Bed and a Toolbox, saving you the hassle of crafting them in the early game. You'll still be fairly close to the first dungeon (The Ancient Caves), and you'll also be right next to the town of Bridgewater.

How to Unlock New Tools, Weapons, and Building Pieces with Salvaged Metal

You may be wondering if you can upgrade your tools or get more building pieces. You can indeed -- simply build a Workbench (which costs 10 Salvaged Metal) and you'll gain the ability to unlock new tools, weapons, and building pieces. Critically, this Workbench also allows you to Craft new items.

Typically, unlocking new items will cost a portion of Salvaged Metal at the minimum. While you can buy some of the weapons and tools in the game, you can also craft a fair through by upgrading your Workbench.

Where is the Len's Island Town?

The Len's Island town is northeast of the island you start on, but you won't be able to get to it right away. You'll need to repair the bridge to Bridgewater before you can actually access the town.

You'll need to collect 80 Stone (which you can get from grey rocks) and 40 Limestone (which you can get from the big white rocks in water). Then, follow the coast north from your boat; you'll encounter the bridge a short distance away. Walk up to it and left-click it; you'll then be prompted to repair the bridge. Bridgewater has several key locations that are useful for earning money, getting gear, and customizing your character.

Below you'll find a list of the merchants in Bridgewater and what they buy & sell. After that, it's time to venture into dangerous territory!

Len's Island Bridgewater Merchant List

Blacksmith

Buys and sells metal-related Resources. Also has a weapon for sale.

• Coal
  • Buy 10 for 15 Gold
  • Sell 10 for 5 Gold
• Iron Shards
  • Buy 5 for 10 Gold
  • Sell 5 for 3 Gold
• Salvaged Metal
  • Buy 10 for 20 Gold
  • Sell 10 for 5 Gold

Druid

Sells weapons.

Farmer's Market

Buys & sells crops and Bread.

• Bananas
  • Buy 5 for 15 Gold
  • Sell 5 for 4 Gold
• Bread
  • Buy 1 for 8 Gold
  • Sell 1 for 4 Gold
• Blue Berries
  • Buy 5 for 10 Gold
  • Sell 5 for 3 Gold
• Grapes
  • Buy 5 for 15 Gold
  • Sell 5 for 5 Gold
• Passionfruit
  • Buy 5 for 15 Gold
  • Sell 5 for 5 Gold
• Pumpkin
  • Buy 5 for 20 Gold
  • Sell 5 for 5 Gold
• Watermelon
  • Buy 5 for 15 Gold
  • Sell 5 for 5 Gold
• Wheat
  • Buy 5 for 5 Gold
  • Sell 5 for 3 Gold

Fisherman

Buys & sells Glass. Also sells weapons.

• Glass
  • Buy 5 for 7 Gold
  • Sell 5 for 2 Gold

Florist

Buys & sells flowers.

• Lavender
  • Buy 5 for 10 Gold
  • Sell 5 for 5 Gold
• Marigold
  • Buy 5 for 10 Gold
  • Sell 5 for 5 Gold
• Rose
  • Buy 5 for 10 Gold
  • Sell 5 for 5 Gold

Lumberjack

Buys and sells Wood.

• Wood
  • Buy 10 for 2 Gold
  • Sell 10 for 1 Gold

Merchant's Ship

Buys and sells Sapphires. Also sells weapons.

• Sapphire
  • Buy 1 for 7 Gold
  • Sell 1 for 4 Gold

Pirate Barrgh

Sells weapons. Can also play Blackjack with the owner Lucky Jack.

Tailor

Buys Dark Essence and Lightstone. Sells Backpacks. Also allows you to change your clothing & hair and unlock new colors for both at a cost.

• Dark Essence
  • Sell 5 for 2 Gold
• Lightstone
  • Sell 1 for 15 Gold
• Adventurer's Backpack (250 Inventory Slots, 5 Hotbar Slots)
  • Buy 1 for 750 Gold
• Pioneer's Backpack (500 Inventory Slots)
  • Buy 1 for 300 Gold
• Collector's Backpack (1,000 Inventory Slots, 6 Hotbar Slots)
  • Buy 1 for 1,000 Gold

Venturing Into The Ancient Caves

You've gathered some resources and some food. Maybe you've built a small house and started farming. What's next? Your next move -- and the next part of this Len's Island Guide for Beginners -- is venturing into the Ancient Caves.

Before you set out, make sure you have the following items on your Hotbar:

• A weapon
• A Pickaxe
• As many Blue Berries as you can find
• (optional) A Torch

Head northwest of the boat and you'll encounter a road. The town of Bridgewater is northeast; instead, we're going in the opposite direction. Follow the road and it will eventually curve towards The Ancient Caves entrance -- it's pretty hard to miss it.

The immediate area inside the cave entrance is safe, but you'll soon start encountering enemy creatures. You'll also find Stone, Coal, and Iron in the cave in their respective rocks:

Aside from these rocks, you can also find pieces of Salvaged Metal inside of barrels, just like you can in other places in the world. The Ancient Caves are a pretty good source of this material, in particular.

However, it's not as easy as walking through the caves and collecting rocks. The enemies near the entrance are pretty easy to kill, but you'll soon face man-sized monsters and creatures even bigger than that. Don't venture any farther than you're comfortable going in -- remember, you can always raise some money with Farming and buy or Craft better equipment to help you survive the tougher fights.

Going Deeper (and Beyond)

We're now at the end of the Len's Island Guide for Beginners; if you've followed my tips, you should be all set for acquiring the resources you need and unlocking new items at the Workbench. What's next?

Well, there ain't much to do but go deeper -- there's a fair amount of exploration to do in The Ancient Caves. Beyond that, there are other areas of the island to check out, too. Continue to raise money, ensure that you have a steady supply of food, and do everything you can to get ready for the forthcoming battles -- you're going to need every advantage you can get.