Code of The Savage · Beginner guide

Demo · Updated 17 October 2026 · Official game analysis

Stay near the starting town until level 2 and a weapon upgrade. Hunt to the west, sell spare meat and hides, keep cooked food and buy bandages. Pause combat before a bad encounter becomes a lost save. Speak to everyone before pushing further along the road.

Put bandages and a dependable weapon on the quick bar before leaving shelter. Double-clicking food uses it; move supplies into your inventory when you want to save them. Permission to take supplies in one house does not extend to the whole town: ownership and witnesses can bring NPCs and guards into a theft confrontation.

CONTROLS

Movement
- Hold Right Mouse Button to move

Interaction
- Left-click to interact with people, objects, and containers
- Double-click items to use them

Combat
- Left-click an enemy to attack
- Spacebar pauses combat

Dialogue
- Press Enter to continue dialogue

Menus
- ESC opens the menu / closes windows
- Press ESC to skip the intro

Quick Slots
- The quick bar contains 10 slots, activated using keys 1 through 0
- Drag usable items, weapons, or spells into a quick slot to assign them
- Press the corresponding number key to use or equip the assigned entry
- Right-click a quick slot to clear it
- The quick bar can be collapsed when not needed

SAVE AND LOAD

- Manual saves use save slots 1 through 9
- Quicksaves rotate through dedicated quicksave slots
- Press F5 to create a quicksave
- Press F9 to load the most recent quicksave
- Saving may be temporarily disabled during the intro, cutscenes, or other
scripted sequences
- Keeping more than one manual save is strongly recommended

GENERAL TIPS

- Talk to NPCs often. Many clues, quests, and useful leads come from dialogue.
- Save often, and consider keeping more than one save file.
- Pay attention to your gear. Weapons and armour make a big difference.
- Do not rush into groups of enemies unprepared.
- Use Spacebar to pause combat when things get hectic.
- Bring food and supplies when travelling.
- Notes, quest text, and item descriptions often contain useful information.

MAGIC

The magic system is currently only provisionally implemented for this closed
demo.

For testing purposes, the player has access to a semi-full spellbook.

In the full release, you will begin the game with no spells and learn magic
gradually from certain NPCs throughout the world.