Distant Shores: Base Game + Map 1

Distant Shores 3.1 is a Windows x64 survival and exploration game. This download includes the base game and Map 1, Southern Shore. Explore the island, gather supplies, craft tools and shelter, hunt, fish, and cook with keyboard or mouse controls, spoken menus, and directional audio.

What's new in 3.1

Follow new cabin notes and survivor clues, encounter more wildlife with readable activity modes, and run at full energy speed down to 35 percent before fatigue gradually slows you. Craft treehouses and reusable rope ladders, inspect mature trees with Enter at the trunk, and explore a ten-by-ten-foot wooden interior. Treehouses can fall if their support tree is cut down, with severe occupant injuries, animated destruction, and layered wood creaks, rushing air, and timber crashes.

Seasonal events

Thanksgiving turkeys appear annually from November 1 through Thanksgiving weekend. Christmas runs from December 1 through the Sunday after Christmas. Listen for fast Santa flyovers and search buildings or the island for gifts. Gifts cannot be tracked; a directional bell pulses every two seconds within ten tiles. Collect with Enter, hold the gift with the other hand empty, and press U to unwrap it.

Music and graphics

Enjoy four randomized island tracks including The Unseen Island and three cabin songs: Damp Timber, Damp Timber 2, and The Cabin in the Mist (Remastered). Shift+M mutes music; M enables it again. Detailed animated wildlife, seasonal characters, gifts, treehouse construction, and falling debris blend into the existing 2D game world.

Main menu updates and player guide

Download the 85.1 MB Distant Shores Release 3.1.zip, extract it fully, and read START_HERE.txt. In the main menu, select Check for Updates to download the latest validated version and remaining signed content from the server (about 40 MB), including added music and Map 2. Once downloaded and verified, the update automatically installs exactly where it belongs in your game folder after the game closes. You do not need to extract, copy, move or place any update files yourself. Exit normally when ready, wait for installation to finish, then restart. Saves/settings are preserved, and spoken progress is given about every five seconds. Open PLAYER_GUIDE.html for the navigable guide, CHANGELOG.html for changes, and KEY_COMMANDS.txt for the plain-text command reference. One file of each document is included. Run DistantShores.exe from the extracted folder. Back up saves before updating; saves and settings remain in the Windows LocalAppData DistantShores folder.

Map 1 remains permanently free. Map 2 and its soundtrack are currently free beta content delivered through Check for Updates. Additional-map access will require a map purchase or paid server subscription only when charging is announced and enabled later. No billing or automatic cutoff date is enabled now.

Public 3.1 provides local gameplay, online account setup, updates and private issue reporting. Full shared 3.2 survival gameplay remains in private testing.

Join Server and private reports

Settings > Join Server has player name, email address, password and Save; Tab moves between fields. Saved login fills in automatically and is encrypted for your Windows user. Email recovery/password reset is not available yet, so remember your credentials. A new unique name can be used to start over. Automatic 30-day account deletion is not enabled.

After signing in, press / and type /report issue to send a problem privately to administrators. Reports are never broadcast to players. The updated player guide gives the full steps.

The base game and Map 1 are free to download. Enter 0 at checkout, or choose an amount to support development.

Content warning: Blood, animal carcasses, and animal processing, including skinning and gutting.