Controls & Movement
Controls in Wanderfolk are fully keyboard-driven, using WASD for movement and single-key shortcuts for combat, crafting, inventory, and NPC interaction. There is no mouse-based gameplay — all actions map to specific keys listed below.
Movement
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| W / Up Arrow | Move up |
| A / Left Arrow | Move left |
| S / Down Arrow | Move down |
| D / Right Arrow | Move right |
Hold a direction to walk continuously. Movement speed is affected by weather (storms slow you to 75% speed) and terrain.
Core Actions
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| E / Space | Interact / Talk to NPCs |
| Q | Harvest / Work action |
| F | Attack |
| I | Open Inventory |
| C | Open Crafting |
| R | View Reputation |
| 1–5 | Action bar slots |
| Escape | Pause menu |
Interacting with the World
Walk up to an NPC, building, or object and press E to interact. A prompt appears when you’re close enough. NPCs will face you and a chat window opens on the right side of the screen.
Press Q near harvestable resources — plants, ores, or crops — to gather them. Your character plays the appropriate animation (chopping, mining, or harvesting) and the resource enters your inventory.
Press F to attack. Your equipped weapon determines damage and animation. Melee attacks hit in the direction you’re facing.
HUD Elements
The heads-up display shows your vital information at all times:
- Health bar — red, top-left. Depleted by monster attacks and environmental hazards.
- Energy bar — yellow. Depleted by harvesting, crafting, and combat actions. Restored by food and rest.
- Hunger bar — orange. Increases over time. High hunger accelerates energy drain.
- Gold display — your current gold and silver.
- Time display — current day number, time of day (e.g., “Day 3 — 2:30 PM”).
- Action bar — bottom center, shows available actions and their keybindings.
Map & Tracking
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| M | Open World Map |
| J | Open Achievements |
| L | Open Quest Log |
World Map
Press M to open a full-screen world map showing biome terrain, building footprints, fog of war, and your home village marker. Drag to pan, keyboard to zoom.
Achievements
Press J to view all 80 achievements with progress bars across four tracks — Combat, Exploration, Social, and Progression.
Pause Menu
Press Escape to pause the game. The pause menu provides:
- Resume — return to gameplay
- Save — save to one of 4 save slots
- Load — load from any save slot
- Quit to Title — return to the title screen
Related Articles
- Your First Day — what to do with these controls in the opening hours
- Survival Basics — the stats you’re managing with these actions
- Weapons & Equipment — combat controls in depth
- World Map — navigating the map screen opened with M