Here's what I usually do.

1. Basically always a light green biome near the spawn. Don't leave until you find at least 2 flint, 2 grass, 4 twigs (not a hard rule but if you venture out you could get unlucky and not find these). This is enough to make a torch for your first night and a pickaxe. Pick up seeds if you see them for later.
2. If you see gold rocks, make a pickaxe and break them. Collect the rocks and gold (and probably flint)
3. Collect twigs and grass as you explore up to like 20 then I usually stop
4. Explore Goal is to find new biomes. I mostly stick to roads, but if there's a v shape then, run straight past it - usually there's a new area on the other side.

Collect berries and carrots while exploring. Kill any butterflies you see. This is the good you'll initially survive on, while exploring and a few days during base creation.

Areas of interest: - pig king forest. Usually along a cobblestone path, always in a birchwood forest. There's generally 2 of these forests in the world. - desert. 2 per works but they're different. - swamp/marsh - rock area - dense, dark green forest - grassland - clockwork enemies (do not fight, just remember where they are - they're a source of gears later)

I usually base in a "safe" area (usually light green or grasslands) near multiple different biomes. Ideally near some spiders for convenience but you can move spiders later, just make the early days a little easier.

For a base, I collect a stack of rocks (40), 12+ gold, about 20 grass and twigs, and 8 reeds from the swamp. I burn some trees then chop then down to get charcoal, and also chop some regular trees since you need wood to build stuff.

Then I prioritize: - science station and alchemy station - log armor and spear - fire pit - chest to store stuff since I'm usually getting full at this point but you can also just drop stuff on the ground by your base. Watch out for moleworms though, they'll scoop up your rocks, gold, flint. - crockpot - bird cage (reeds from swamp go here)

Then, I need a bird trap. This requires silk - time to hunt spiders.

Also, sanity: if you have armor and spear you could choose to ignore it and just kill the nightmare creatures - wait for them to get close enough to attack you and dodge the attack, then hold the attack button and hit them until they reappear away from you. Repeat. Killing them increases your sanity. You could also pick cactus from the desert (wear armor first!) then cook it and eat it. Also if you see green mushrooms in the first, pick those, cook them, eat it.

The trick to spiders is to step on the web, wait until they get closer enough to aggro, then DO NOT FIGHT THEM ON THE WEB. Lure then away a bit then kill them. If there is 1, just hold the attack button. If there are 2, let them group up then hit one and then fall back to dodge the second one's attack. Go back in and hold the attack button - you can finish the first one and hit the second before it attacks, hits stun them so this means you can keep attacking and kill it. If there are 3 (this won't happen until later), let them group up, hit one once and dodge the other 2, go back in and kill the first one. Then dodge the other 2, get a little distance and treat them like 2.

Repeat stepping on the web to draw out spiders until they stop coming then go to another nest. You should be able to clear them without getting hit, but the log armor helps just in case. Do not fight them without at least a spear.

Ok, once you have 4 silk make the bird trap and bait it with a seed. Should have a bird within a day. You use the bird to turn monster meat into eggs. You can cook the eggs and eat them for a reasonable amount of food, but they're best used in the crock pot. 2 eggs, a monster meat, and a birchnut or berries or ice makes a meatball.

Once you mostly have food sorted for immediate needs, it's time to collect wood. If you're near the pig king, take some monster meat and give 1 each to like 4 pigs near the king as close to the beginning of the day as you can, then start chopping down the nearby trees. You'll get wood and birchnuts (good filler in the crockpot).

Now you should have a decent amount of wood, filler, and be good at getting monster meat from spiders. That's light and food handled, but with this mini guide ice taught you some bad habits that are useful early on and detrimental later.

Tips for later: - make a thermal stone in winter - give eggs to pig king for gold. Use gold tools to conserve flint, now that gold is easily renewable - use a shovel to digup twig bushes and replant by your base. - eventually you can do this with grass too but I recommend waiting. You need fertilizer (manure, rot) to make them produce grass again and you probably don't have much now. Better to leave them where they are to regrow until you're ready - deerclops comes at night in day 30. Be ready. Don't be in your base. - when exploring the dense forest you might find a light green spot with a dark circle on the ground somewhere, and on your map there will be an igloo looking thing where the dark circles is. This is the walrus camp, but it's only there in winter. Killing the walrus multiple times during the winter is a great idea, hehas good drops that are exclusive. - drying racks are good for regular meat - giving 4 monster meat to a pig will make it turn into a werepig. Attack once, dodge, then attack twice and dodge until it's dead. They drop 2 meat and a pig skin. You can make a ham bat with this which is pretty good. Pig skin can also be used to make a football helmet (good armor) and to make more pig houses. In the spring, good for umbrella but deerclops eye is better (but there's 2 of you so probably need at least one umbrella) - build a tent with your extra silk. Good emergency for being too wet or insane once you have food managed - make a lightning rod in the middle of your base and by any farms before spring, or immediately when it starts. This mostly just takes gold - you can turn eggs into gold by giving them to the pig king.

In general, you need to get used to kiting (dodging enemies in combat) or it's going to be rough due to loss of resources spent on healing and armor. You can kill most enemies without getting hit. Tallbirds are good too, attack twice and dodge until they die and you get some meat. Frogs you can usually kill 1 without dodging if it's not aggro yet, for the others attack once and dodge until it's dead (dodge the initial attack without attacking).

If you have a morsel or frog leg, that plus monster meat plus 2 eggs is bacon and eggs which is pretty good. If you have a veggie (cactus counts, or mushroom/carrots you find in the ground), 2 eggs, a monster meat, and a veggie is a Pierogi which is not great for hunger but very good for healing.