If you’re just starting Graveyard Keeper, the game can feel confusing fast. It doesn’t explain much, and you end up figuring things out the hard way. This guide is meant to walk you through the basics in a way that actually makes sense while you’re playing.
Saving the game is tied to sleeping. That’s also how you recover health and energy.
If you stay awake too long, you’ll see a blue orb with “Zzz” at the top of the screen. That’s your warning. Once it appears, your energy will keep draining no matter what you do, so just go sleep immediately instead of wasting food trying to keep going.
Food is your main way of restoring energy. Different foods give different benefits, so once you get into cooking, pay attention to what each one does.
Also, keep an eye on body quality (skulls) early on. It matters more than you think, especially for your graveyard rating later.
Crafting
Crafting in this game is not simple. Almost everything is locked behind technology points.
You get these by:
- Chopping trees
- Mining stone and iron
- Crafting items
- Studying items later (after unlocking the church)
A really solid early method is crafting stone grave decorations. It gives good red and blue points.
What You Should Build First
Focus on these in order:
- Sawhorse
- Stone cutter
- Furnace (very important)
- Wooden anvil
The furnace should be a priority because:
- You need iron bars
- Iron bars → nails and simple parts
- Nails and simple parts → almost everything else
Filch, nails, and simple parts are basically your foundation. You’ll use them constantly.
Building and Space
You’ll unlock new areas by clearing paths or building bridges. That requires better wood materials, so you’ll need to invest tech points into that early.
If you want faster travel between your house and the village, unlock the cellar path early. It saves a lot of time, but requires a lot of advanced wood materials.
Also:
- Don’t build extra trunks outside early
- Use your basement for storage
- Save yard space for important workstations
NPCs, Days, and Locations
NPCs don’t show up every day. This is very important.
Each day has a symbol in the top-left wheel. Each symbol = one NPC.
- Sloth Day – Astrologer (lighthouse, east)
- Pride Day – Bishop (outside church)
- Lust Day – Ms. Charm (stage in tavern area)
- Gluttony Day – Merchant (village below tavern)
- Envy Day – Snake (church cellar, requires 5 faith)
- Wrath Day – Inquisitor (witch hill)
If they’re walking to or from their spot, you can’t talk to them.
You can always check:
- NPC days
- Active quests
from your character menu under Known NPCs.
Potions
To unlock alchemy, you need to meet Clotho (the witch) in the swamp.
Before going:
Bring materials to build a bridge:
- 3 Wood Planks
- 6 Filch
- 10 Nails
She’s annoying to reach, so building that bridge saves you a lot of time later.
Cooking, Fishing, Gardening, Farming
Cooking
You cook at home.
Pick up all edible mushrooms (no spots). They’re one of the easiest early food sources.
Ingredients Basics
- Water:
You don’t need a hand mixer. Just fill a bucket at the well and use it in inventory. - Wheat:
One of the most important crops. Used in a lot of recipes. - Mushrooms:
Use the non-spotted ones for food.
Fishing
Talk to the fisherman at the lighthouse.
- He gives you a quest (collect moths)
- You need tech to catch them
- After giving 6 moths → you get a fishing rod
Gardening
Ignore it early. It won’t work properly until you have seeds.
Farming
You need permission from the Merchant.
Important crops:
- Carrots – Required for donkey deliveries
- Wheat – Core food material
- Cabbage / Beets – Cooking
- Hemp – Crafting
Later crops:
- Onions – Quest-related
- Pumpkins – Needed for a gold-quality quest
You need 4 seeds per crop.
Graveyard and Church
Skull System (Important)
Each body has:
- White skulls = good
- Red skulls = bad
More white skulls = better graveyard rating.
If a body has too many red skulls:
- Don’t bury it
- Burn it instead
Managing Bodies
- Repair the body chute (inside and outside)
- Build body slabs to slow decay
- Use autopsy carefully
Removing:
- Blood and fat → removes red skulls and adds white skulls
Cremation
Unlocked through tech.
- Gives burial certificate
- Gives useful materials (like ash)
If a body is bad → burn it.
Graveyard Rating
- Check rating in graveyard
- Fix graves with negative values first
If a body is too bad:
- Exhume it
- Burn it
Exhumation cost:
- 1 silver 75 copper
Embalming and Autopsy
Autopsy Basics
Early game:
- Don’t overcomplicate it
Focus on collecting:
- Flesh
- Blood
- Fat
- Skin
Also:
- Save flesh until you get a stamp (if you want to sell it)
- Collect a skull early → needed for Astrologer and Snake
Removing blood and fat improves body quality.
Embalming
Late-game system.
Requires:
- Tech investment
- Materials
Used to improve graveyard quality significantly.
Ingredients, Creatures, Materials
Creatures
- Moths – Night, from flowers
- Butterflies – Day, from flowers
- Bees – From hives (can hurt you early)
Drops
- Bat Wings – From bats at night (good for paper)
- Green Jelly – From slimes near your house
Materials
- Logs – Trees
- Sticks – Bushes
- Stone – Rocks/veins
- Iron – Iron nodes
- Coal – Requires tech
- Sand – Found near river by your house
Early game is all about:
- Building your core stations
- Managing energy properly
- Learning which bodies are worth keeping
Don’t try to rush everything. Focus on systems one at a time, and the game starts to make a lot more sense.