The world is a set of regions. These are built via a magicsel to give some kind of fixed path from start to end and then filling in the grid around it randomly with obstacles/POIs.
Reaching the end allows you to enter your base with whatever items you've obtained. You can then go to a new random region.
Regions are based around biomes which always follow the same rules (which resources are present, which plants are poisonous, etc). So if you learn how forests work then it'll be more helpful on your next outing.
The game is a metroidvania in a weird sense -- you don't have the resources to get everywhere in your first region but once you obtain it elsewhere you can do that in new maps of the same type.
You do at least know *which* biome you're going to next, so you can prepare accordingly.
The game is a roguelite in some sense -- brutal difficulty in a few different ways, but improveable as you play more.
The death mechanic is pretty bad -- you lose anything in your inventory that isn't explicitly Equipped and get transported back home, which means you can't return since you'll go elsewhere. Also you don't equip things by default -- you need to build various upgrades so that's actually possible.
There are multiple survival stats that you have to manage:
Hunger
Thirst
Sleepiness -- there's a day/night cycle and you do need to sleep 8 hours every day. This does impact both hunger and thirst. Being sleepless is probably better in a lot of cases.
This is complicated by the scarcity of clean water sources, the potential poisonous status of plants and difficulties with hunting.
Your stats don't go down in your base. They can go up though, which is helpful for preloading before adventures.
Whatever state you're in, if you find your way to the exit (or make a beeline for it), you won't die.
You can store items in your base. There are some serious caveats though:
The easiest thing to make is a Chest, since it only requires a Workbench. Better furniture requires a better fixture.
All fixtures take up space -- each room can hold 4.
Creating a Workbench requires stone, fiber and wood, while chests require crafted pieces of wood. Bootstrapping yourself is pretty tricky.
Wood is pretty ubiquitous (not so much in deserts!) but you need an axe to harvest it, and you'll likely lose it for one reason or another until you can make it Permanent.
Making simple tools requires sticks, rocks and rope (made from fiber). Simple enough.
