If you’ve scrolled social media and seen clips of fluffy Pals wielding assault rifles, hauling hundreds of pounds of building material, or even flying their owners across vast open worlds, you’re probably eager to jump in and learn how to play Palworld without the frustrating early deaths and wasted resources most new players deal with. I’ve logged over 130 hours across three separate playthroughs, including a permadeath run that made me learn every hard lesson the first time around, so this guide sticks to actionable, tested advice no generic tutorial will tell you. You won’t have to grind for hours unnecessarily, or lose your entire base to a random raid because you missed a simple setup step.
How to Play Palworld: Your First 2 Hours Step-by-Step
Your first two hours set the tone for your entire playthrough, so don’t wander aimlessly chasing every rare Pal you see the second you spawn. You don’t need to fight anything bigger than a level 3 Pal for the first 90 minutes, and you’ll save yourself a ton of headache if you stick to small, achievable goals first. A lot of new players make the mistake of running after the first shiny Pal they see, only to get one-shot by a level 15 alpha spawn that was hiding behind a tree.
Once you’ve got those three steps out of the way, your next priority is unlocking the fast travel points closest to your spawn location. You don’t have to activate every single one you see, but hitting the two closest to your planned base spot will cut down on travel time when you’re hauling materials back later. Catch at least 3 Cattiva first if you see them—they have high carrying capacity and can help you haul wood, stone, and ore way faster than you can carry it alone. You’ll also want to pick up at least 5 berries whenever you pass a bush, so you don’t starve while you’re exploring the nearby area.
Core Pal Catching Rules to Avoid Wasting Resources
PalSpheres are your most valuable early resource, and wasting them on low percentage catches will leave you stuck running from enemies instead of building up your team. You don’t need to catch every Pal you see, especially early on, and following a few simple rules will keep your supply of PalSpheres steady and your team growing fast. I used to waste 6+ spheres on random Pals just because I wanted to fill my Paldeck fast, and I ended up having to grind 2 hours for extra stone and wood just to restock.
Always aim for the back of a Pal for a 1.5x catch bonus, even if you have to sneak around for 10 seconds to get into position. If a Pal is below 30% health, your catch chance jumps another 2x, so it’s almost always worth hitting them a few times with a weak club before you throw a sphere. You don’t have to knock them out completely, but getting their health down to the red bar will make even rare Pals far easier to catch without wasting 5 or 6 spheres on a single attempt.
If you’re trying to catch a Pal that’s 5 or more levels higher than you, don’t even bother unless you have at least 20 spare spheres and a team that can tank its attacks. Higher level Pals have innate catch resistance, and you’re far better off coming back when you’re a similar level, instead of burning through all your hard-earned spheres for a 2% catch chance. You also get a 1x bonus for the first time you catch a specific Pal type, so prioritize catching new variants over duplicates until you’ve unlocked all their entries in your Paldeck.
Base Building Mistakes That Will Derail Your Progress
Your base is the core of your entire operation, so picking the wrong spot or setting it up poorly can lead to everything from resource shortages to constant raids that destroy all your hard work. You don’t need a huge base early on, but making smart choices when you lay the first foundations will save you hours of rebuilding later. I once built my first base on a steep mountain side to be close to ore deposits, and I spent 3 hours just leveling ground to fit a single storage chest.
Build your first base on flat grassland near a river, as close to ore and coal deposits as you can get without being near aggressive high level Pals. Flat ground means you won’t waste time and resources leveling land to place buildings, and a nearby river gives you access to unlimited water for farming and cooking. If you build too close to a forest or mountain area where high level Pals spawn, you’ll end up with random attacks that destroy your storage chests and kill your working Pals when you’re away exploring.
Assign Pals to jobs that match their inherent skills to get the most out of every Pal on your base team. A Pal with level 3 mining skill will work 3x faster than a Pal with no mining skill, even if they’re the same level, so swapping them around to match their strengths will cut down on crafting time drastically. Don’t forget to build at least 2 more beds than the number of Pals you have on your base, plus extra food boxes, so your Pals don’t get tired or starve and stop working entirely. You should also build at least two chests separate from your main crafting area, so if a raid does destroy part of your base, you don’t lose all your stored resources.
Mid-Game Progression Tips to Skip Unnecessary Grinding
Once you hit level 15, you’ll unlock a ton of new tech and features that a lot of new players miss, leading to hours of unnecessary grinding for materials and experience. You don’t have to fight every boss as soon as it unlocks, but focusing on a few key upgrades will make the rest of the game way easier. I spent 4 hours grinding for ore when I first hit level 15, only to realize I could have unlocked an expedition feature that does the work for me while I explore.
Prioritize unlocking the PalSphere upgrade first in the tech tree before you buy any other mid-game upgrades. Higher quality PalSpheres double or triple your catch chance for rare and high level Pals, so you can catch the Pals you need for high level crafting and combat without wasting dozens of basic spheres. You’ll also want to unlock the grappling hook as soon as possible, it cuts down on travel time and lets you reach ore deposits high up on mountains that you can’t get to on foot.
Another trick most new players miss is that you can send your Pals out on expeditions to collect rare resources while you’re exploring other areas. You don’t have to farm every single piece of ore or fiber yourself—send a team of high level mining and foraging Pals out for an hour, and you’ll come back to thousands of units of resources waiting for you when you return to base. Don’t waste your time grinding experience by fighting low level Pals either; complete the side quests given by NPCs around the map for 2x to 3x more experience per hour, plus rare item rewards you can’t get anywhere else. If you hit a wall with a boss fight, try catching a Pal with a type advantage instead of grinding levels for hours, it’s almost always faster.
At the end of the day, learning how to play Palworld is all about balancing fun with small, consistent progress, and you don’t have to follow every meta guide to have a good time. If you want to spend your first 10 hours catching every cute Pal you see instead of building a huge base, that’s totally fine—these tips are just here to help you avoid the most frustrating mistakes that make new players quit early. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different base layouts, Pal teams, and playstyles, and you’ll be flying across the map on a legendary Pal before you know it.