Achievement Guide
The Survivalists has exactly 42 Steam achievements covering exploration, crafting, combat, monkey training, quests, and multiplayer. Most achievements unlock naturally during a full playthrough, but a handful require specific actions, multiplayer sessions, or world-seed manipulation. A completionist run takes roughly 15 to 30 hours depending on how thoroughly you explore each island.
Global completion data reveals a sharp drop-off in late-game achievements. "The Real Escapist" (escaping in the galleon) sits at only 3.9% completion, and several crafting and collection achievements fall below 5%.
Progression Achievements
These unlock as you hit major milestones in your survival and escape journey.
| Achievement | How to Unlock | Unlock Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Gone Wild | Leave the starting alcove on Island 1. Triggers within the first minute. | ~85% |
| Paradise Found | Sleep in a bed for the first time. | ~55% |
| Sail Away | Use a raft for the first time. Craft one at a Crafting Bench and place it on water. | ~25% |
| I'm an Explorer Now! | Discover a second island. Sail your raft from Island 1 to any neighboring island. | ~20% |
| At last! | Find the Storm Map in the Bat Labyrinth on Island 2. | ~10% |
| Heading Home! | Find the Figurehead in the Boar Labyrinth on Island 3. | ~8% |
| Wheely Lucky! | Find the Ship Wheel in the Monkey Labyrinth on Island 4. | ~6% |
| On Point! | Find the Compass in the Big Cat Labyrinth on Island 5. | ~5% |
| The Real Escapist | Escape in the fully repaired galleon. Requires all four ship parts and completing the 11-stage repair process. | 3.9% |
The galleon repair is the biggest bottleneck for "The Real Escapist." The 11 repair stages demand high-end materials like Metal Hinges, Gold Nails, and Makeshift Sails. Set up monkey automation chains at the Forge before attempting the full repair.
Crafting and Recipe Achievements
These reward you for unlocking recipe pools across the game's crafting stations. You do not need to craft every item. You just need to unlock the recipe nodes in the blueprint tech tree.
| Achievement | How to Unlock | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hands On | Unlock all hand crafting recipes. | Includes Hand Axe, Rope, Tool Handle, Flimsy Multitool, Comfy Padding, and Straw Bundle. |
| Getting Crafty | Unlock all Crafting Bench recipes. | Some recipes unlock through Taskmaster quests. |
| Fire Recipes | Unlock all Campfire recipes. | Includes the Foul Meal and Charcoal recipes. |
| Furnace Recipes | Unlock all Forge/Furnace recipes. | Requires building the Forge first. |
| Pot Recipes | Unlock all Cooking Pot recipes. | Cooking Pot requires the Forge to be built first. |
| Blueprint Recipes | Unlock all blueprint construction recipes. | Some blueprints are purchased from the Mysterious Stranger. |
| Opulent Curio | Craft a Golden Statue. Requires Golden Nails and Golden Sheets forged with Charcoal at the Forge. | Hidden achievement. 4.0% unlock rate. |
| Harvester | Harvest 500 resources. Cumulative across your entire playthrough. | Unlocks naturally through normal gameplay. |
Crafting recipe achievements require unlocking the recipe nodes, not crafting every item. If you are missing a recipe, check the Taskmasters and the Mysterious Stranger. Some recipes are quest rewards or shop purchases, not crafting discoveries.
The "Forging Ahead" achievement historically suffered from a triggering bug that prevented legitimate completions from registering. This was formally fixed in the Farming Update hotfix. If you are on a very old version, update the game before attempting Forge-related achievements.
Combat Achievements
Kill milestones that track your total enemy defeats.
| Achievement | How to Unlock | Unlock Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Hunter | Defeat 20 enemies. | ~45% |
| Master Huntsman | Defeat 60 enemies. | ~25% |
| This is Sparta! | Defeat 300 enemies. Cumulative across your playthrough. | ~8% |
| We Didn't Need a Bigger Boat! | Defeat a shark. Use a spear or bow from shore. Do not fight sharks in the water. | ~15% |
| Got Any Chips? | Spear a fish. Craft a fishing spear and hit a fish near the water's edge. | ~20% |
The "This is Sparta!" achievement (300 kills) comes naturally if you clear all four labyrinths and fight through orc raids. Do not grind it separately.
Monkey Training Achievements
These track your monkey management progress.
| Achievement | How to Unlock |
|---|---|
| Monkey See, Monkey Do! | Teach a monkey to do something for the first time. Enter Mimic Mode and demonstrate any task. |
| This Can Only End Well | Train a monkey in combat. Give a monkey a weapon and teach it to attack. |
| Monkey Business | Build 5 structures using monkeys. Assign a monkey with a multitool to build placed blueprints. |
| Monkeying Around | Gather 5 items with a monkey. Train a monkey to pick up loose resources. |
| Monkey Maker | Have a monkey craft 5 items at a crafting station. Give a monkey a multitool and teach it to use a Crafting Bench. |
Exploration and Collection Achievements
Rewards for discovering the world and completing treasure tasks.
| Achievement | How to Unlock | Unlock Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Dear Diary | Collect 1 piece of lore. Found in chests, vaults, and scattered around islands. | ~30% |
| Lore-man | Collect 15 pieces of lore. | ~5% |
| I am the Lore! | Collect 30 pieces of lore. Requires thorough exploration of all five islands and labyrinths. | 1.9% |
| Re-QUEST Granted! | Complete 1 treasure map task. Find a bottle on the beach, read the map, and dig up the treasure. | ~25% |
| At Your BeQUEST! | Complete 30 treasure map tasks. Time-consuming. Explore every beach for bottles. | ~3% |
| Totem'ly Awesome | Fulfill a totem's request. Totems ask for specific items. Deliver the item to complete the task. | ~15% |
| Big Spender | Spend 100 doubloons with the Mysterious Stranger. | ~8% |
Lore pieces are easy to miss because they look like small collectible items. Check every vault, labyrinth room, and chest. The "I am the Lore!" achievement (30 pieces at 1.9% completion) requires lore from multiple islands and labyrinths.
Hidden Achievements
These do not appear in the Steam achievement list until you unlock them.
| Achievement | How to Unlock | Unlock Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Opulent Curio | Craft a Golden Statue. Requires Golden Nails and Golden Sheets forged with Charcoal. | 4.0% |
| It's Elementary! | Collect all eight elemental weapons (Fire Sword, Fire Spear, Ice Sword, Ice Pickaxe, Earth Club, Earth Pickaxe, Wind Axe, Wind Spear). | 2.1% |
"It's Elementary!" is one of the rarest achievements in the game (2.1%) because of a world-seed limitation. A single solo playthrough generally only yields four of the eight elemental weapons. To collect the remaining four, you must join multiplayer sessions and trade with other players, or complete labyrinths in a different host's world to bypass the seed limitations.
Miscellaneous Achievements
Unique unlock conditions.
| Achievement | How to Unlock |
|---|---|
| How Did That Work? | Perform an emote while standing on an emote switch. Some vault pressure plates require a specific emote. Try each emote on glowing floor plates. |
| Totally Buff | Have health, stamina, and biome resistance buffs active at the same time. Prepare a Slow Cooked Stew at the Cooking Pot (health + stamina), then immediately consume a biome resistance Elixir from the Alchemy Bench before the first buff expires. |
Multiplayer Achievements
These require online co-op with at least one other player.
| Achievement | How to Unlock |
|---|---|
| Just Visiting! | Visit another player's island in online co-op. |
| Home and Away | Build a structure on another player's island. Place a blueprint and complete it while visiting. |
| Better Together | Complete a quest on another player's island. Finish a treasure map task in someone else's world. |
| She Chose Down | Complete a labyrinth on another player's island. Enter and clear a labyrinth in co-op on the host's world. |
Multiplayer achievements cannot be earned in single-player. You need at least one co-op partner. All four can be knocked out in a single multiplayer session if you plan ahead.
Recommended Completion Strategy
Phase 1: Survive and Explore (Hours 1-8)
- Complete the basic survival loop on Island 1. Build a base, recruit monkeys, set up crafting stations.
- "Gone Wild," "Paradise Found," and early crafting achievements unlock naturally.
- Craft a raft and discover Island 2 for "Sail Away" and "I'm an Explorer Now!"
- Start collecting lore pieces and treasure map bottles on every island.
- Fish for "Got Any Chips?" and fight small enemies to build toward combat milestones.
- Set up farming (Garden Patches for Petals, Berries, Wheat) to unlock farming-related recipes.
Phase 2: Labyrinth Clears and Taskmasters (Hours 8-18)
- Follow the Taskmaster sequence (Mysterious Stranger → Beast Master → Survival Gourmand → The Collector → The Salesman) to avoid the Gourmand spawn bug.
- Purchase Labyrinth Keys from the Mysterious Stranger.
- Clear the Bat Labyrinth on Island 2 (Storm Map). Train combat monkeys for this.
- Progress to Islands 3, 4, and 5. Clear each labyrinth in order.
- Ship part achievements unlock with each labyrinth boss kill.
- Complete Taskmaster quest chains to unlock trinket recipes and legendary weapon blueprints.
Phase 3: Cleanup and Escape (Hours 18-25)
- Hunt remaining lore pieces. You need 30 for "I am the Lore!"
- Complete treasure map tasks toward "At Your BeQUEST!" (30 maps).
- Unlock remaining crafting recipes from Taskmasters and the Mysterious Stranger.
- Craft a Golden Statue for "Opulent Curio."
- Get "Totally Buff" by stacking Slow Cooked Stew with a biome resistance Elixir.
- Build the Alchemy Bench and brew potions to prepare for the Frozen biome (if you have the DLC).
- Find the galleon, complete all 11 repair stages, and escape for "The Real Escapist."
Phase 4: Multiplayer and Elementals (Flexible)
- Join a friend's world and knock out all four multiplayer achievements in a single session.
- Trade elemental weapons with other players or run their labyrinths to complete "It's Elementary!" (all eight weapons).
Achievement Tracking Tools
| Tool | What It Does |
|---|---|
| TrueSteamAchievements | Full sortable list with global unlock rates and player guides |
| Steam Client | In-game overlay shows achievement progress. Press Shift+Tab during gameplay. |
| SteamDB | Technical achievement data and historical unlock percentages |
| Steam Community Guides | Player-written walkthroughs with tips for specific achievements |