What should I do first in Nomad Drive?
Pick up a flashlight and a compass, then build and start your first RV. The objective list shows each step in order.
How to Play Nomad Drive
To play Nomad Drive, follow the objective list in the corner of the screen. It starts with "Gather Your Tools": pick up a flashlight and a compass. That unlocks "Build your first RV!", where you fit wheels, an engine, a battery, a radiator, a handbrake and a steering wheel to the camper van and add fuel, and then "Power Up and Start the Engine". After that, new objectives appear as you pick things up: a pan starts the cooking objective, a coffee pack the coffee one, a plant pot the planting one.
Nomad Drive for beginners: follow the objectives
New to the game itself? The Nomad Drive guide hub explains what it is.
- Watch two bars first: hunger and thirst. Thirst drops faster.
- Water is the drink that matters: a litre fills your thirst bar.
- Cook your meat: raw steak barely helps.
- One item at a time: in the demo you carry one thing in your hands.
- No enemies: the danger is hunger, thirst, poison and your RV breaking down.
Nomad Drive basics at a glance
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| First objective | Gather Your Tools: pick up a flashlight and a compass. Evidence: The objective definitions in the demo's game files (build 25361176). |
| Survival bars | Hunger, thirst, energy and health up to 100; poison up to 50. Evidence: The demo's survival settings (build 25361176). |
| Best drink | Water: one litre refills your thirst bar. Evidence: The demo's drink settings (build 25361176). |
| Cooking | A pan on a stove; cooked food fills you up far more than raw. Evidence: The demo's objectives, tips and food settings (build 25361176). |
| Carrying | One item in your hands at a time in the demo. Evidence: A developer post on the Steam discussion board, June 2026. |
| When your health runs out | You turn into a chicken; in co-op a friend can revive you. Evidence: The demo's game text and code (build 25361176). |
| Enemies | None. Evidence: The demo's game files (build 25361176) and the developers. |
Every row describes the demo, Steam build 25361176, read from its files and code on October 12, 2026. The Early Access build arrives on October 20, 2026 and will be checked on launch day.
What to do first in Nomad Drive
Start with the three objectives the game gives you in order. Each one only appears once the one before it is done:
- Gather Your Tools – "Pick up a flashlight" and "Pick up a compass". It is waiting for you from the first second.
- Build your first RV! – attach wheels, engine, battery, radiator, handbrake and steering wheel, then "Refuel gas". Our first RV guide walks through each part.
- Power Up and Start the Engine – fill the radiator, turn the ignition and get the engine running. If it will not start, our battery guide covers the warnings.
Every other objective waits until you do something. This is what makes each one appear:
| Objective | Appears when you first… | What it asks for |
|---|---|---|
| Survival Basics | see the hunger or thirst bar | Eat once and drink once |
| Cooking Basics! | pick up a pan | Pan, stove, food, cook |
| Brew a Fresh Coffee | pick up a coffee pack | Coffee pack, coffee machine, brew |
| Green Thumb | pick up a plant pot | Pot, seed, water, harvest |
| Home on Wheels | pick up a fridge | Place furniture in your RV |
| Keep It Running | pick up a repair kit | Repair two parts, top up the radiator |
| Like New | pick up a restoration tool | Use it and the paint spray |
| Buried Riches | pick up a metal detector | Shovel and dig up a treasure |
| Find a treasure | pick up a key | Find and unlock a chest |
| Cure the Poison | see the poison bar | Cure it with medicine |
| Patch Yourself Up | see the health bar | Heal with a first aid kit |
Two notes. "Patch Yourself Up" cannot be completed in the demo; our Patch Yourself Up page explains why. And the treasure objectives have their own treasure guide.
How to get water in Nomad Drive and stay fed
Drink water whenever your thirst bar drops: a litre of water fills it from empty. In the demo, water comes in the bottles, jugs and buckets you find on the road, and they are not always full; you can pour from one container into another. The game's own tip says it plainly: "Drink water regularly so you don't get dehydrated."
How the four bars behave in the demo:
- Hunger and thirst start at 100 and drain over time. Thirst drains faster than hunger, so water runs out first.
- Below 20 a bar is critical, and the game warns you with "You are very hungry!" or "You are very thirsty!".
- Sleeping slows both down: thirst drains at about two thirds of its usual speed and hunger at under half.
- Energy does not drain on its own in the demo.
What else you can drink, per litre:
- Coffee: fills thirst like water and also restores energy and a little health.
- Milk: some hunger and a little thirst.
- Gasoline or oil: costs you 20 health. Do not drink from the fuel can.
Water for the RV's radiator is a different job; our radiator guide explains what you can pour in. Our item list shows where water jugs and bottles turn up.
How to cook food in Nomad Drive
To cook, put food in a pan, put the pan on a stove and start cooking. The "Cooking Basics!" objective lists the steps:
- Find a pan.
- Find a stove.
- Find a cookable food.
- Attach food to pan.
- Attach pan to stove.
- Start cooking.
Cooking matters most for meat. A raw steak or drumstick gives you just 1 point of hunger, and the game's tip says "Cooking food on a stove restores more hunger than eating it raw." Ready-to-eat food is the easy option: a can of tuna or baked beans gives 25 hunger, tomato soup 20, and a watermelon 15 hunger plus 25 thirst. Mushrooms will poison you. Our food and cooking table has every food, how long meat takes to cook and which foods go bad.
How to make coffee in Nomad Drive
Make coffee with a coffee pack and a coffee machine. The "Brew a Fresh Coffee" objective asks you to:
- Find coffee pack.
- Find coffee machine.
- Refill the coffee machine.
- Brew the coffee.
Coffee pots and coffee mugs are separate items you will also find. A litre of coffee fills your thirst bar just like water and also restores energy and 10 health. Because energy does not drain in the demo, the useful part today is the drink and the small health boost.
How to grow food in Nomad Drive
To grow food, plant a seed in a pot, water it and wait until it is ready to harvest. The "Green Thumb" objective walks you through it: find a pot, find a seed package, plant a seed in a pot, water your plant, and grow it until it is ready to harvest.
The demo has four crops: apple, potato, tomato and watermelon. Each grows through five stages, and each stage needs watering before it moves on, so keep a water container near your pots.
How to find the road again in Nomad Drive
The safest way not to get lost is to stay close to the road: Nomad Drive has one main road, and the places worth looting sit along it. If you do drive off into the desert, turn back the way you came before you lose your bearings.
- Use the compass. The game's tip says to use it "to keep track of which way is north". Note which way the road runs before you leave it.
- Use the sun. Players on the Steam thread "How do you get back on the road?" find their way back by remembering where the sun was when they left.
- Do not rely on the autosave. One player drove off for fun, the game saved, and an hour of driving north only found more desert.
The developer said in September 2026 that Early Access keeps one main road and adds side roads that lead to places to explore.
How to use the radio in Nomad Drive
In the demo the radio does not play anything. You can find a radio and fit it into the dashboard's radio slot, but the demo's code gives it no way to play sound, which is why players asking "Does the radio work?" get the answer no.
The developer said in June 2026 that a radio you can listen to is coming. The game's soundtrack and the cassette tapes you will be able to collect are on our roadmap page.
Why you turned into a chicken in Nomad Drive
You turned into a chicken because your health ran out: in Nomad Drive, going down turns you into a chicken. Drinking gasoline or oil costs 20 health a litre, and players report losing health after hitting a cactus with the RV.
- In co-op, a friend can pick the chicken up and bring you back, by holding the revive action or with a Revive Kit. Our co-op guide covers playing together.
- When everyone is down, the game says "Everyone has turned into a chicken. You can continue from the last save point."
- In single player, that means going back to your last save.
Older reports on the Steam thread "Why did I turn into a chicken?" are from June 2026, when the developer said the chicken feature was not finished; the current demo build has the revive and the reload.
What changes in Early Access
The Early Access build arrives on October 20, 2026. The developers have announced these changes to the basics:
- Hands and backpacks: a two-slot hotbar and backpacks with three and four slots.
- Roads: one main road with new side roads.
- Weather: 13 weather types that differ by biome; the demo is desert only, with clear and cloudy skies.
- Radio: a radio you can listen to.
- More to the RV: more vehicles, ladders and roof racks, and Blueprint upgrades.
Our roadmap page tracks every announced change; this guide is updated on launch day once the Early Access build has been read.
Version notes and limits
Five things are still open: whether any water source refills without running out, how fast the hunger and thirst bars drain in real time, what the coffee machine's refill step uses, how long a crop takes to grow, and whether a wooden crate can carry several items at once.
Launch day, October 20, 2026, triggers a fresh read of the Early Access build's files; any change to the objectives, the bars, the hotbar or the radio is added with the date it was checked.
Nomad Drive beginner FAQ
How do I get water in Nomad Drive?
Pick up the bottles, jugs and buckets of water you find and drink from them. A litre of water fills your thirst bar.
How do I cook food in Nomad Drive?
Put food in a pan, put the pan on a stove and start cooking. Cook meat before you eat it.
How do I make coffee in Nomad Drive?
Find a coffee pack and a coffee machine, refill the machine and brew. Coffee quenches thirst and restores a little health.
Why can I only hold one item in Nomad Drive?
The demo lets you carry one item at a time. The developer says Early Access adds a second hand and backpacks.
How do I find the road again in Nomad Drive?
Turn back the way you came and use the compass and the sun to keep your direction. There is one main road.
Does the radio work in Nomad Drive?
Not in the demo. You can fit one, but it plays nothing; the developer says a working radio is coming.
Why did I turn into a chicken in Nomad Drive?
Your health ran out. In co-op a friend can revive you; if everyone is down, you continue from your last save.
How do I grow food in Nomad Drive?
Plant a seed in a pot, water it at every stage and harvest it when it is ready.
Are there enemies in Nomad Drive?
No. The challenge is hunger, thirst, poison and keeping your RV running; our guide hub has more on what the game is.
Do I need to sleep in Nomad Drive?
Not in the demo. There are beds, and sleeping slows hunger and thirst, but energy does not run down.
Sources and version history for this guide: Nomad Drive sources and versions.
Spot an error or a post-patch change? See how we label evidence and handle corrections in the Editorial Policy.