Starter Guide

Terraria is a sandbox game. It features customizable characters, randomly generated worlds, day/night cycles, deformable terrain, and a crafting system that allows the player to "live off the land": crafting items that are required for survival. The crafting system allows the player freedom to manipulate their environment by doing anything from digging mines to building towns; it is their prerogative. The game also features online multiplayer. As is rumoured, it is not capped at 8 players.

Another guide can be found at the Official Terraria Wiki.

Controls
A necessity for this game is the controls (obviously as for any other game).

To change the key binds, go to the menu-> options -> controls.

You should be able to change most of the controls.

Getting started
thumb|right|400pxThe very first think you should do is build yourself a shelter.Even just a hole in the ground will be enough, but if you want a proper house, just cut the Trees around you with your axe and build yourself a shack.As long as it repels the monsters, you and the Guide will be safe in the night.

Now that you have a nice, safe sanctuary, you'll probably want to go out exploring a little. Feel free to do so. Here's a list of good things to collect: Once the day ends and nighttime begins, either get back to your shelter and hide in safety, or get ready to slay some zombies and demon eyes. It is strongly suggested you look into making a bow and arrows, as they combine good damage and range.thumb|400px|right|House Building If you happen to get hurt, the heart count in the top right-hand corner of the screen will decrease. As you guessed, when it reaches 0 you will die. When you die, you will lose half the money you have on you! To prevent this you will need to eat some food. To do this, simply have the edible item you wish to eat in the item bar at the top, click on it, then click anywhere on the background and your characters' health will have been slightly refilled. You can also refill your health using Potions which can be made using an Alchemy Station. You can also refill your health if you have had a Nurse move into your world (for a fee). It's now up to you to discover the rest. Who knows what you will find in this mysterious world? If you happen to have any questions, look them up in the FAQ below or on the Tips & Tricks page. If you have any remaining questions, feel free to ask them in this thread. Good ones can be added to the FAQ.
 * Ore. There are various ore in this game, the four main ores are: gold, silver, iron and copper. They can all be refined using a furnace and crafted into weapons using an anvil.
 * Mushrooms. There are three kinds of mushrooms. Normal (red) mushrooms grow on or near the surface. Vile (purple) mushrooms grow on or near the surface inside of corrupted areas. Glowing (blue) mushrooms grow deep underground.Red Mushrooms will be a nice, cheap way to restore some Health in the first times.
 * Pots. These are found in caves. They may contain everything from coins to potions, bombs, or even rarer items. Break them by hitting them with any weapon or tool (e.g. Hammer).
 * Chests. The better version of pots, often hiding rare accessories and loads of coins inside.If you're lucky enough you could find a Golden Chest, which contains even rarer items and powerful weapons!
 * Fallen Star. They only appear at night, and are noticeable because they give off light. They fall from the sky. 10 of these can be crafted into a Mana Crystal, which will give you +20 maximum Mana. Mana isn't used at all until later in the game (to fuel various magical items), but it's still recommended you collect them as you go anyway. The maximum mana you can have is 200. You can check how much mana you have by moving your mouse over the purple stars in the top right-hand corner of your screen.
 * Crystal Heart. If you happen to come across one of these, you're really lucky. Hitting these with a hammer and then "consuming" them will give you one extra max heart. (+20 hp) The maximum amount of health that you can have is 400. You can check how many health points you have by moving your mouse over the hearts.

=Frequently asked questions=

Please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions Page for answers to frequently asked questions.