Darkwood Speedrun Guide: Any% Routes, Enemy Skips & Survival Tech

Survival Tech — Staying Alive at High Speed

Darkwood is not designed for speed. The game's survival mechanics — hunger, thirst, stamina, and sanity — are all designed to slow you down. But speedrunners have found ways to manage these systems efficiently.

Resource Routing

The key to a fast Darkwood run is knowing exactly what resources you need and where to find them. Don't explore randomly — follow a set route that passes through known resource spawns. The first area has guaranteed spawns for: a shovel (in the shed), bandages (in the bathroom cabinet), and a gas can (in the garage). Grab these and move on.

Night Management

Nights in Darkwood are dangerous and time-consuming. The optimal strategy is to minimize the number of nights you spend in the game. The current Any% route completes the game in 3 nights. To do this, you need to be efficient during the day and have a secure hiding spot for each night.

Night 1: Hide in the first hideout. Barricade the doors and windows, but don't waste time setting up traps. Just survive until morning.

Night 2: Hide in the second hideout. Same strategy — minimal setup, just survive.

Night 3: This is the final night. You should be at the final location by now. The game ends after this night, so you don't need to worry about survival.

Enemy AI Manipulation

Darkwood's enemies have predictable AI patterns that you can exploit. The Banshee (the screaming woman) can be avoided by not looking at her. The Chicken Lady can be outrun by sprinting in a straight line. The Savages can be avoided by staying quiet — don't run, don't use loud weapons.

The most important AI manipulation is the "door trick." If you open and close a door repeatedly, enemies will path toward the door, giving you time to slip past them. This works on most humanoid enemies.

Any% Route — Current Meta (WR: 1:12:30)

The current world record for Darkwood Any% is 1 hour, 12 minutes, and 30 seconds. The route has been optimized over years of community effort.

Day 1 (0:00 – 20:00)

Start in the first hideout. Grab the shovel from the shed, the bandages from the bathroom, and the gas can from the garage. Head to the first area's exit — the road to the southwest. On the way, grab any resources you see, but don't go out of your way. The goal is to reach the second area by the end of Day 1.

Night 1 (20:00 – 30:00)

You should be in the second hideout by now. Barricade the doors and windows. Don't bother with traps — they take too long to set up. Hide in a corner and wait for morning. If enemies break in, use the shovel to fight them off.

Day 2 (30:00 – 50:00)

Head to the third area. This is the longest section of the run. You need to navigate through the forest, avoiding enemies and collecting key items. The most important item is the key to the final area, which is in a locked chest in the third hideout. The combination is always the same: 1-9-4.

Night 2 (50:00 – 60:00)

Hide in the third hideout. This night is harder because there are more enemies. Use the door trick to manage enemy pathing. If you're low on health, use the bandages you collected earlier.

Day 3 (60:00 – 72:30)

Head to the final area. The path is linear — just follow the road. The final sequence is a series of encounters that you need to survive. Don't fight — just run. The game ends after this sequence.

Useful Skips — Complete List

• Door Skip (Easy): Some locked doors can be opened by attacking them with the shovel. This works on wooden doors but not metal doors.
• Fence Jump (Medium): You can jump over certain fences by sprinting and jumping at the right angle. This lets you bypass large sections of the forest.
• Enemy Despawn (Hard): If you leave an area and come back, enemies despawn. Use this to clear dangerous areas without fighting.
• Item Duplication (Exploit): In the current patch, you can duplicate items by dropping them and picking them up during a specific animation frame. This is a known exploit that the community uses for speedruns.