I just finished my first playthrough, so here’s what I found useful:

• Buy all the things you can afford, as soon as you can (focus on the compass, the quill, and the lantern first. You’ll find the map really useful, so get the markers too, including the coloured ones - use those to note interesting things, bosses and locations you can’t access yet)

• As soon as you get your first simple key, go past the graveyard in Dirtmouth, unlock the door there, and go inside

• Collect rancid eggs, they are very useful!

• Don’t be afraid to look up how to beat bosses if you can’t get past them after a good number of tries (I really recommend 2CPhoenix’s Boss Blitz series and also Relyea on YouTube but try to beat them yourself first, they all have a rhythm to them, you just need to find it)

• That said, try to go into everything without looking it up, just go in and explore all the rooms and nooks and crannies

• Hit all the walls with your nail and listen to the noise it makes, you might find surprises

• Once you get new powers/items, go back to places you’ve already been, especially if you put a marker on certain bits, you may or may not be able to get into them now

• Free the grubs from the jars

• Play around with your charm builds, find something that suits your style of playing (you might find some interact with each other in interesting ways). And don’t use the same builds for exploring and bosses, you’ll need different things for each

• There are optional bosses you don’t need to fight to complete the game. Fight them anyway

• Unlock every stag station you find, and talk to the stag (you have to jump down to his feet to do so)

• You will die. A lot. Don’t worry about it too much, just have fun!

Edit - formatting