How to Play West Wood

West Wood: Remake drops you into Westwood, Alberta — a Canadian town that looks quiet and is anything but. The official loop is three words: Gather, Hide, Run. This guide covers everything those words actually mean in practice, from what to do in the first minute to how your squad should talk during a night chase.

The Day-Night Loop

West Wood runs on a tight cycle. Daylight is for preparation — exploring houses, completing contracts, gathering food and water, and building your coin stack. When darkness falls, the creature called Jerry patrols the streets and buildings, and your job changes from collector to survivor.

Daylight feels generous. Night is unforgiving. The skill curve is not about reflexes — it is about map knowledge, resource discipline, and communication.

West Woods Beginner Guide - Everything You Need to Know

What to Do in Your First Sixty Seconds

1. Join your squad at spawn — do not scatter until the team agrees on a home base.
2. Press G to open contracts — this gives every run shared direction. Read the options aloud and pick one primary objective.
3. Check your HUD bars — health, stamina, thirst, hunger. Note which bars are already draining.
4. Loot essentials nearby — food, water, bandages. Do not sprint across map yet.
5. Mark your home building — identify front and back exits before darkness.

Controls Quick Reference

PC:

• W/A/S/D or Arrow keys — move
• Left Shift — sprint (emergency only)
• G — open contracts
• H — open accessories / medallions
• T — unlock mouse for precision aiming
• Backspace or B — drop item
• E — interact / pick up
• Tab — inventory

Console (Xbox):

• Left stick — move
• A — sprint
• Y — contracts
• B — drop item
• X — interact

Mobile:

• Virtual joystick — move
• Sprint button — sprint
• Action buttons for contracts, inventory, and interaction

Full bindings for all platforms are on the PC Controls and Console and Mobile Controls pages.

The Core Loop in Detail

Gather (Daylight)

Move through numbered houses across the Alberta town. Each structure contains food, water, medical supplies, traps, flashlights, and sometimes keys or quest items. The General Store and the daytime dealer offer additional resources if you have soul coins.

Contracts are the most efficient use of daylight — they point you toward specific buildings and reward soul coins on completion. Read Contracts and Soul Coins for the full economic layer.

Hide (Dusk)

When the sky darkens, stop exploring. Get to your chosen safehouse — a building with at least two exits, no open windows facing the street, and enough interior space for the squad to spread out.

Inside the safehouse:

• Turn off lights where possible
• Stay away from windows — the creature can grab players through glass
• Move quietly — sound carries and attracts the creature
• Drop unnecessary items to keep your hotbar clean
• Assign one player to watch the camera system if the building has one

See How to Hide and Escape for the full light-and-sound discipline guide.

Run (Emergency)

Sprint is your last option, not your default travel speed. If you burn stamina looting distant buildings, you will have nothing left when the creature commits to a chase.

When hiding fails and the creature breaks in or corners you:

1. Call the exit route — “North door” or “Kitchen”
2. Sprint only then — Left Shift / A button
3. Head to the pre-agreed fallback safehouse
4. Do not stop to pick up dropped items — survival first

See Survive the Night for the full emergency protocol.

Hunger and Thirst — The Silent Killers

More beginners die to empty hunger or thirst bars than to the creature. These bars drain passively and faster during exercise, summer heat, or winter cold. Check them every time you open your inventory. Never let either bar hit zero before you are safely inside a safehouse at night.

See Hunger and Thirst for the complete management guide.

Co-op Basics

West Wood supports up to ten players per server. Co-op makes every aspect easier — shared map knowledge, distributed loot roles, and backup when someone gets caught.

Basic co-op rules:

• One caller — do not have three people shouting different directions at once
• Assign roles — navigator, supplies carrier, camera watcher, contract tracker
• Share key items — drop food or water for teammates who are low
• Never lock teammates out — if a door is locked, bash it rather than leaving someone outside

See Co-op Tips for the full squad optimization guide.

The First Three Nights

Night one: Learn controls, find one safehouse cluster, survive until dawn. Night two: Complete a contract, stock food, learn house numbers near your safehouse. Night three: Attempt the General Store route or start saving for your first medallion.

Do not rush this curve. Veterans who discuss dealer routes and badge thresholds are speaking from nights of routing knowledge you have not built yet.

When the Game Shows Unavailable

If Roblox lists West Wood as offline, the original experience may be paused while the team finishes the full remake. Check Remake Status and Remake News before troubleshooting your hardware or internet.

Evidence Note

Day-night cycle, contract system, and HUD bars confirmed from official Roblox experience description and community wiki documentation. Remake Place ID: 109129552698918. Verified August 2026.