beginner
Dinkum’s early game is about building momentum: unlock the right licences, secure a workable base, and spend each day on activities that turn into tools, money, and progression. A strong start saves a lot of backtracking later, especially because the island layout and your first few choices shape how quickly you can expand.
First priorities
The main early goals are to:
- unlock the basic licences for mining, digging, logging, and fishing
- start earning Permit Points efficiently
- set up a simple loop of gathering, crafting, and selling
- keep stamina and time management under control
A good early routine is to finish your daily tasks, work on licence requirements, and return to base before midnight. After AM 0:00, your stamina cap and movement speed drop sharply, which makes traveling home much harder.
Choosing a good island start
The island map changes every time you start a new game, so you can keep restarting until you get a layout you like.
For a beginner start, the best terrain is a map where:
- large areas of land are connected
- the mainland is wide and continuous
- there are fewer small islands and winding rivers
This matters because early travel is much smoother when you do not have to cross water constantly. A connected landmass also makes it easier to reach other biomes and move resources back to base.
Base and daily routine
Keep your base near the center of the map if possible. That reduces travel time in every direction and makes it easier to respond to tasks, gather materials, and sell goods.
A practical early-day loop is:
- check your daily tasks and journal progress
- gather basic resources
- spend Permit Points on useful licences
- craft or buy better tools as they become available
- finish resident requests
- sell money-making items and store crafting materials
- head home before midnight
Licences to unlock first
Licences are the core of early progression. Some are available from the start, while others unlock after skill milestones or after buying earlier licence levels.
Core early licences
- Mining Licence Lv.1
Available from the start. It allows you to buy a simple pickaxe. - Digging Licence Lv.1
Lets you buy and use a shovel. - Logging Licence Lv.1
Available from the start. It allows you to buy axes and chop down trees. - Fishing Licence Lv.1
Costs 250
- Hunting Licence Lv.1
Available from the start. It unlocks simple early weapons like the simple spear. - Metal Detecting Licence Lv.1
Lets you use a metal detector to find treasure.
High-priority upgrades
- Logging Licence Lv.2 unlocks at Harvesting Lv.10 and lets you craft a better axe.
- Mining Licence Lv.2 unlocks at Mining Lv.10 and lets you craft a copper pickaxe.
- Mining Licence Lv.3 unlocks at Mining Lv.20 and lets you craft an iron pickaxe.
- Hunting Licence Lv.2 unlocks at Hunting Lv.5 and gives access to stronger weapons, including the copper spear.
- Deep Mining Licence Lv.1 requires Mining Licence Lv.2 and unlocks access to the deep mines.
Among these, Mining Licence Lv.2 and Logging Licence Lv.2 are especially important because they open up stronger tools and better resource gathering.
Why Logging Licence Lv.2 is a big early milestone
Once John settles on the island and John’s Goods is available, pushing toward Logging Licence Lv.2 is a strong early move. It unlocks the ability to craft the Copper Axe, which can chop trees like acacia and pine.
That matters because those trees yield hard wood logs, which become important later for making money and crafting. If you want a clean early progression path, getting to better logging tools quickly pays off.
What to do with Mining early
Once you have a pickaxe, begin mining the basic stone nodes you can break with the simple pickaxe. Mining Licence Lv.1 lets you buy the simple pickaxe immediately, so mining is one of the earliest systems you can start using.
When you reach Mining Licence Lv.2, you can craft the Copper Pickaxe. That opens up more efficient mining and helps you reach harder materials sooner.
Hunting: start safe, then upgrade
For beginners, the best early hunting weapon is the simple spear.
It is recommended because:
- it has long reach
- it attacks quickly
- it helps reduce the chance of taking damage
The simple hammer hits hard and can stun enemies, but its slower, wider swings make it harder to use safely.
After unlocking Hunting Licence Lv.2, switch to the 
Fishing and bug catching
Fishing requires Fishing Licence Lv.1. Once you have it, you can buy a fishing rod from John’s Goods for 1260 Dinks, once per day.
Bug catching does not require a licence. If you have a bug net, you can begin catching insects right away. The bug net itself can be bought from John’s Goods once per day for 1100 Dinks.
Fishing and bug catching are both useful early because they provide steady money and help you move toward other purchases without depending only on mining.
Treasure hunting with Metal Detecting
The Metal Detecting Licence is one of the most useful early licences because it opens up treasure digging.
At Lv.1, you can use the metal detector to find treasure spots yourself.
At Lv.2, treasure locations are marked with an X even without using the detector. Digging at those marked spots with a shovel gives you guaranteed treasure.
That makes Metal Detecting Licence Lv.2 a major early target, because treasure can quickly feed you useful items and tools for the rest of the early game.
Early tools and inventions worth getting
Some early unlocks make the entire start smoother.
Essential utility items
Available from the start. Repairs tools with reduced durability.
Unlocks by selling 10 Brightly Colored Discs. Restores durability to electric tools.- Motorbike
Available from the start. Great for fast land travel. - Chainsaw
Unlocks by selling 13 Brightly Colored Discs. Cuts through plants and wood quickly. - Jackhammer
Unlocks by selling 13 Brightly Colored Discs. Mines rocks and ore quickly.
The Repair Table is especially important early because it lets you keep using your tools instead of constantly replacing them.
Managing stamina
Stamina is one of the biggest limits on your early efficiency.
You can recover stamina by:
- waiting over time
- eating food to improve recovery speed
Cooking is important early because it gives you a reliable stamina buffer for long gathering trips. A cooking setup that supports stamina recovery makes every outing more productive.
Food and health basics
A cooking station is worth getting early so you can keep stamina recovery food on hand. Food also becomes more important as your days get longer and your trips farther from base.
If you become sick, recovery takes 3 days. You recover by staying healthy and maintaining good hygiene for those 3 days in a row. If you do not have time to micromanage that, use automation items that help with feeding and health maintenance.
Residents worth prioritizing
Some residents are more valuable early than others because they unlock useful shops or progression shortcuts when they move in.
Highest priority residents
- Franklin
Unlocks the lab and allows you to craft many useful tools. 
Unlocks the clothing shop and is useful to pursue after Franklin.
Unlocks the museum and gives 100
Unlocks the furniture shop.
Unlocks the bank and lets you buy Permit Points with Dinks.
Lower-priority early residents
- Raine
Unlocks the greenhouse and farm-related tools. 
Unlocks the barn and livestock-related tools.
Unlocks the salon for appearance changes.
Unlocks the cookery and sells random food.
For a beginner, getting Franklin settled early is the biggest priority, followed by residents that support faster progress or easy Permit Point income.
Useful early habits
A few habits make the early game much smoother:
- keep crafting materials instead of selling everything
- do resident requests every day
- use Permit Points on licences with immediate value
- return to base before midnight
- use the journal to track your progress
- choose tools and unlocks that improve efficiency, not just combat power
The Adventurer’s Journal records your daily activities and is useful for checking growth and progress, so it is worth paying attention to as you play.
A simple beginner progression path
A clean early path looks like this:
- unlock the basic licences you need right away
- buy or craft simple tools
- focus on gathering and selling efficient early money-makers
- push Logging Licence Lv.2 and Mining Licence Lv.2
- get Metal Detecting Licence Lv.2
- move toward Hunting Licence Lv.2 and Deep Mining Licence Lv.1
- build out your resident lineup, starting with Franklin
That approach keeps your early days focused on permanent upgrades, better tools, and faster access to the game’s major systems.