Survival games often put players under intense pressure during the opening phases, and 99 Nights in the Forest is no exception. The game’s central challenge is to endure 99 nights of creeping darkness, resource scarcity, and escalating threats. However, it is the first 20 nights that often determine whether players survive long enough to build momentum or end up restarting before the real journey even begins.

This article offers a comprehensive tips and guides deep dive into surviving those crucial early nights. We will break down the essentials in chronological order—covering resource gathering, shelter building, hunting, crafting, fire management, stealth strategies, and nighttime defense. By the end, you will have a survival roadmap that ensures a strong start, paving the way for the remaining 79 nights.

Understanding the First Night: Establishing a Safe Zone

The very first night is critical because it sets the foundation for your survival strategy. Unlike later nights, the forest is relatively calm, but the darkness still carries risks if you’re unprepared.

Your first objective is to identify a safe zone near natural resources. Look for areas with water, abundant trees, and at least one natural chokepoint for defense. This reduces travel time and limits exposure to hostile creatures. Avoid settling in open fields, as they provide no cover.

Use the short daylight hours before dusk to gather sticks, rocks, and at least one flammable item (such as dry moss). These will allow you to craft a rudimentary campfire by nightfall. Remember: fire is not just light, it’s deterrence against lesser threats.

Night Two to Four: Prioritizing Shelter Construction

By the second night, enemies become bolder, and an open camp is no longer safe. Shelter construction is your next step.

Start with a lean-to or simple log hut. These can be assembled quickly using wood and rope-like vines. Your shelter doesn’t need to be complex, but it should block line-of-sight from roaming predators. Place your fire slightly outside to lure enemies toward it rather than directly to your sleeping spot.

Between nights three and four, expand your shelter into a sturdier base by reinforcing walls and establishing a clear entrance path. At this stage, you’re not aiming for perfection, just enough durability to survive nightly incursions.

Nights Five to Seven: Mastering Food and Water Management

Starvation or dehydration often ends runs prematurely. By night five, food scarcity becomes noticeable unless you plan ahead.

Focus on gathering berries and edible plants during the day, but begin transitioning to small game hunting. Traps crafted from sticks and rope allow you to catch rabbits while conserving energy. Water sources should be boiled over the fire to prevent illness. Always maintain a reserve of two days’ worth of food and water in case you’re forced to hide indoors during an intense storm or threat.

Hoarding food too early is risky—fresh items can spoil—so balance stockpiling with regular hunting. This marks the first point where efficiency in gathering can mean the difference between thriving and barely scraping by.

Nights Eight to Ten: Crafting Weapons and Basic Tools

Surviving the first week means you’ve likely encountered predators. Nights eight to ten are about shifting from purely defensive survival to proactive protection.

Craft simple weapons: a spear from a sharpened stick and stone, or a slingshot from bark and sinew. These allow you to keep threats at bay and hunt more efficiently. Tools like stone axes also accelerate resource collection, freeing time for exploration and fortification.

By night ten, you should aim to have at least one reliable weapon per player (if in co-op mode) and a surplus of materials for replacements. Waiting too long to arm yourself makes later encounters overwhelming.

Nights Eleven to Thirteen: Fire as a Defensive Strategy

The forest grows darker and more hostile as the nights progress. By this stage, fire isn’t just warmth—it’s a weapon and psychological shield.

Set up multiple small fire pits around your shelter to act as deterrent perimeters. Enemies are drawn to light but hesitate to cross flames, giving you time to react. Fire arrows or torches are also useful for creating mobile zones of safety while exploring.

Managing fuel becomes a challenge—collect extra logs during the day to ensure your fires never go out. A single lapse in maintaining fire can leave you completely exposed, especially if you’re caught off-guard by a pack of creatures.

Nights Fourteen to Fifteen: Expanding the Base

The middle stretch of the first 20 nights is where your base evolves from temporary shelter to a semi-permanent fortress. Expansion ensures sustainability.

Add defensive barriers around your shelter, such as sharpened stakes or pits. Even basic obstacles can slow down enemies long enough for you to mount a defense. Build storage areas for food and materials so you’re not constantly juggling inventory.

During this stage, consider setting up a secondary outpost deeper in the forest. Having a backup refuge provides flexibility during raids or when resources near your main base are depleted.

Nights Sixteen to Seventeen: Stealth and Exploration

The forest doesn’t just test brute survival—it rewards caution. Around night sixteen, stealth becomes a key survival tool.

Moving quietly allows you to avoid unnecessary confrontations. Crouch-walking and extinguishing torches when enemies are nearby can preserve resources and reduce risks. Exploration is also safer during these nights since you now have basic gear and defenses at home.

Mapping out the forest, marking landmarks, and locating new resource nodes prepare you for the long-term goal of surviving all 99 nights. Early exploration ensures you’re not scrambling later when threats intensify.

Nights Eighteen to Nineteen: Preparing for Raids

At this point, enemies begin organizing coordinated assaults instead of random encounters. Your survival hinges on preparation.

Create choke points and lure enemies into traps rather than confronting them head-on. A layered defense of fire pits, spike traps, and barricades can reduce numbers before they reach your shelter. Weapons should be upgraded, and backup tools kept ready in storage.

This phase tests how well you’ve used the first 17 nights. If you’ve managed resources efficiently, you’ll be able to withstand the pressure and even counterattack when needed.

Night Twenty: Transition to Long-Term Survival

Reaching night twenty is both a milestone and a warning—the forest is about to grow far more hostile. This is the night where you consolidate everything you’ve built.

Perform an inventory check: food reserves, water stores, weapons, tools, and defensive structures. Repair weak points in your base and decide whether to expand further or move entirely. By this stage, your survival plan shifts from reactive to proactive.

Night twenty is also when you begin thinking about the broader 99-night arc. If you’ve mastered the fundamentals, you’re no longer just a survivor—you’re on the path to becoming the forest’s conqueror.

Conclusion

The first 20 nights in 99 Nights in the Forest are a crucible that decides who endures and who falls to the shadows. Through careful preparation, resource management, stealth, and tactical defense, you can establish a foundation strong enough to withstand the escalating horrors of the remaining 79 nights. Remember: survival is not about brute force, but foresight, adaptability, and discipline.

Survive these opening nights, and the forest becomes less of a nightmare and more of a proving ground for your will to endure.