With the release of Ark: Survival Evolved on the PS4 last month, there is now an increase in island survivors across the major platforms of online-gaming. Ark, an unfinished open-world action-adventure survival video game, spawns players on a generated map with varying biomes and pre-historic creatures ranging from the aloof Dodo to the hulking, enormous and iconic Tyrannosaurus Rex. The game takes the concept of survival to somewhat of an extreme and many new players will often find themselves struggling without a proper in-game tutorial to get past the early stages of the game. As both an avid dino-lover and Ark player who's logged a lot of time in the game, over 28 days of game play to be precise, I'm here to tell you six things you should be aware of on your path of survival.

1. Get to know the controls/ interface.

Ark is a game with many buttons and configurations where certain buttons or a combination of buttons can lead to a whole new action for the player. The item inventory interface can also be a slight struggle for new users as well. For example, on PC certain buttons let you do different whistles but this past week I learned that (LB + D-pad Down) also does some of the simple whistle commands. At the same time, for Xbox, instead of trying to highlight certain items and dragging them into the inventory of a storage box, you can just hold A on the item and will transfer over with ease! Little things like this can help save time and plenty of stress when you feel the game may not be working.

2. Spend all resources wisely!

Every resource you gather as well as skill point you spend in the early stages of game can hinder or progress your survival in Ark. The goal for beginners is to build a house.. of thatch but rest assured that it gets better! Play long enough and you will eventually be able to build a fortress of metal. Trust me there is a difference! Hoard your resources if you can. When it comes to skill points, I would recommend movement speed, weight and crafting speed as the main ones since you want to be able to do things as efficient as possible!

3. Don't forget to tame!

The creatures ultimately serve the purpose of transportation, companionship, storage, defense and offense. They gather resources much faster without you having to worry much about your equipment breaking on you. They can also make long expeditions become stressfully entertaining as they sometimes become glitched within or onto the natural landscape of the game. Bolstering over 119 creatures currently existing across the different maps of Ark with 22 more on their way, a vast majority of the creatures of Ark are yours to tame and utilize!

4. It's okay to die!

If you've played Ark enough then you know well enough that this screen is the Ark equivalent to the walk of shame. It's okay though because most of you who've studied evolution know that survival is tough and it doesn't take being living in nature to know that. In Ark, you'll die from hunger, thirst, animal attack, drowning, burning, being shot and falling. The list goes on but this will probably cover the vast majority of player deaths! If you're new to the game my main advice is to get used to it now but make sure you practice the habit of knowing where it is you last died. Also, stay away from the Swamp! There is nothing worse than carrying something valuable just to have you're body never found.

5. Play with some friends!

Ark was created with the intent of cooperative or competitive gameplay. There is PvP (Player versus Player), PvE (Player versus Environment), Private Servers for custom settings and Survival of the Fittest for a hunger games style tournament. There is also a tribe system that allows you to party up with friends or total strangers! There is nothing more exciting than the struggle of Ark with friends. Do note that if you play on a public server you would probably be raided when you log-off!

6. Research what you don't know!

I actually found out about this app while I was doing some research for this article. Normally, I would turn to Google, Youtube or Gamepedia for information that wasn't readily apparent within the game and it helped save a lot of time. It can also save you plenty of time on information like which of the best stats are to level up as well as creature and resource spawn locations. For specific details, don't be afraid to check it out!

Well that is it! I hope you enjoyed six tips that will help you survive the island! Let me know if these helped in some way or if you have any other general tips that could help future survivors!