Don't Starve vs Don't Star Together for Singleplayer experience?

[CelestialVulpes]

Yo, So I got the urge to play DS again after probably 6-8 years, but I was wondering what the best way to play now is?

I know DST has way more features now than base DS, but I don't have any friends to play with, nor do I particularly want to badger my friends to play with me, or join with randoms. I also know DST is designed with multiplayer in mind, so will I even be able to get the full experience out of DST's features if I plan to play alone? And how much culture shock will there be with all the new features of DST to a player who hasnt played the series for the better part of a decade?

On the flipside, if I get DS, I plan to just get DS & Reign of Giants (shipwrecked and hamlet never interested me too much), but has DS gotten any patches (bug fixes or not) since DST, or are the two pretty much different by this point in both features and mechanics? I know DST has the content from DS & Reign of Giants, but I don't know how it is implemented, if it is 1:1, or if they tweaked and changed aspects of it to fit DST better (didnt they make the giants raid bosses?)

 

I would like to re-experience DS again, but if DST has a lot more cool new features that wont be too confusing, give me culture shock, and not having to be Together with someone to utilize, then I'm certainly down to give it a shot.

 

So I ask you, humble community: which would you say is best for me, someone who is looking for a pure singleplayer experience, looking to relive playing DS when I first played it years ago on my Wii U (yeah laugh it up. who actually owned a Wii U, am I right?)

[Queron81]

DS had some updates over the years, mostly bugfixes, but also 2 quality of life updates (one of them really huge 2 years ago). Some things were ported from DST to DS like beffalo taming (and all the required items), fences, gates, bundling wraps and mini signs. They have also added an item to regenerate the ruins and caves, so many more things became renewable.

But you can also play DST solo, only some bosses can be really hard alone (or very time consuming with the fight and/or the preparation), but they are all optional so you can take your time. You can also set your world to endless, so the world don't regenerate if you can't revive yourself fast enough (and you can always revive at the florid postern). The basics are the very same as in DS, so you won't get a culture shock (okay, maybe only with the new crafting menu xD). Most of the new content is more optional or late game.

I would always recommend DST over DS, if you don't wanna play the other DLCs (but there is also a very good Shipwrecked mod for DST).

(I still own a Wii U ^^).

[GrapeVruit]

Honestly, I'd highly recommend getting Don't Starve with the Reign of Giants expansion if you're going solo. While it doesn't have as much content as DST, a lot of its mechanics are balanced around solo play, such as lower mob health or a pseudo campaign with adventure mode. You also won't have to worry about input delay, lag, or long load times when playing on different worlds.

[Mike23Ua]

For the single player experience, play Dont Starve, because DST is not the game you’re going to want to play Alone.

Something you may not be aware of: the single player game & it’s DLCs are all Cross Compatible with Each Other, meaning that if you buy the shipwrecked dlc you can craft and use shipwrecked exclusive craftables (like the machete) outside of the shipwrecked DLC.

This is something that many people DONT bring up, but you can totally play as Walani (a character designed for SW DLC) and you can play on her in Solo DS Base Game where you can’t ever use her Surfboard.

DST however has way more content+character abilities+ cool item skins.. 

[CelestialVulpes]

2 hours ago, Queron81 said:

you can also play DST solo, only some bosses can be really hard alone (or very time consuming with the fight and/or the preparation)

yeah im not looking to have to prep super hard to solo content meant for multiple people, i want to experience said content that was made for a singleplayer.

2 hours ago, Queron81 said:

You can also set your world to endless

oh wow, can DS worlds be endless too, or is this exclusive to DST? that sounds pretty fun

4 hours ago, GrapeVruit said:

While it doesn't have as much content as DST, a lot of its mechanics are balanced around solo play, such as lower mob health or a pseudo campaign with adventure mode

yeahhh this is exactly what im wanting. I figured DST most likely had a ton more features, but you cant really miss what you dont know about, plus i feel like it would be sorta overwhelming trying to learn like. 5 years of new features AND relearn the game haha, plus the adventure mode sounds a lot more fun as something to strive for compared to DST's aimless survival, at least until i get my time worth out of DS RoG

4 hours ago, GrapeVruit said:

You also won't have to worry about input delay, lag

does DST have input delay & lag even when playing solo?? that also sounds sorta annoying for solo play

4 hours ago, Mike23Ua said:

the single player game & it’s DLCs are all Cross Compatible with Each Other, meaning that if you buy the shipwrecked dlc you can craft and use shipwrecked exclusive craftables (like the machete) outside of the shipwrecked DLC.

thats honestly really cool? once i play and do everything there is to do in RoG, it might be worth buying hamlet, and eventually shipwrecked just for the new items & characters in RoG mode. honestly really cool they 'backported' the items and features into previous dlc honestly

 

well, i think i have my answer. i think im going to get DS & RoG for now, and then eventually DST when i finish doing what all i can in DS, or find some friends to play with

Thank you everyone!

[Hungry French]

Play DS. DST is worth playing only because of the new content. 
If you want a LOT of new content and you don't like the fact that the multiplayer balance changes don't make the game the same as DS.
First, download Automatic Health Adjust (makes creatures hp as in DS).
Don't Starve-wiki Ruins is an incomplete, but more similar version of the ruins as they were in DS.
Disable skill trees (Updated) ( removes something that would never have existed for single players)
I recommend trying Uncompromising mode. It makes the game harder... but it makes it different enough that DST doesn't seem like an uglier version of DS (but with updates). Pawns in ruins are super cool.

[Well-met]

dst is a straight upgrade in every way.

input lag can be fixed with the DSA workshop mod.

[Valase]

22 hours ago, CelestialVulpes said:

but has DS gotten any patches (bug fixes or not) since DST, or are the two pretty much different by this point in both features and mechanics?

DS got a lot of bugs fixed in the 10 year anniversary.

between DS(RoG) and DST, I think that DST is better just because you get more things to aim towards (I know some people mentioned the extra health boss, but most of those bosses are not needed for your playthrough), as well as more fun with the characters. Said that, I think that both HAM and SW are still worth playing for their exclusive mechanics.

[Electroely]

They're both worth playing!

I would say if you're comparing the Forest worlds (base game + Reign of Giants), then DST is a lot better. The characters are much more fun, and there's many years of added content. I wouldn't worry about the mob health being scaled up too much - the upgrades the characters have gotten over the years makes up for it. Don't worry too much about it being "designed for multiplayer" - that design philosophy seems to have mostly stuck to a few optional bosses from the A New Reign era. I would say the singleplayer DST experience is much better than the DS + RoG experience.

However, Don't Starve has two DLCs centered around adding completely new worlds. Both Shipwrecked and Hamlet are a ton of fun, and when you combine the 3 worlds via the Seaworthy and Skyworthy, you have access to a lot more content than DST does.

Besides that, DST gets regular updates and most of the modding community is focused on it rather than DS. If you want to regularly play it, I'd recommend DST, but DS sounds better if you're mainly in it to relive the glory days of the Wii U. They're both well worth their price already (speaking as someone who got the game for 15 bucks and clocked in 15,000 hours) but you can always wait for any major Steam sale to get both games for dirt cheap.

[Mike23Ua]

33 minutes ago, Valase said:

DS got a lot of bugs fixed in the 10 year anniversary.

between DS(RoG) and DST, I think that DST is better just because you get more things to aim towards (I know some people mentioned the extra health boss, but most of those bosses are not needed for your playthrough), as well as more fun with the characters. Said that, I think that both HAM and SW are still worth playing for their exclusive mechanics.

For solo DS the only reason anyone would still play that is Adventure Mode & SW & Hamlet.

In fact: if you bought the game on a Nintendo Console it now comes pre-bundled with Reign of Giants & even the DLC Shipwrecked already included, there is no version of the game on a Nintendo console that does NOT already include Reign of Giants & Shipwrecked.

Same as how on Xbox, the Reign of Giants DLC was never a Paid DLC, it was included as being a standard core base part of the game, there is no version of DS that you can buy on an Xbox that did not come with Webber and Wigfrid already in the game.

This is why DST includes the RoG DLC, because for Xbox and Nintendo- RoG was never a “DLC” it was already included as part of the base product gameplay.

I don’t own a PlayStation or PC but apparently for them: Everything has been paid dlc lmao…

Edited May 4, 2025 by Mike23Ua

[Queron81]

18 hours ago, CelestialVulpes said:

oh wow, can DS worlds be endless too, or is this exclusive to DST? that sounds pretty fun

This is exclusive to DST (inclusive the rollback option). If you want something similar for DS you will need a mod ("No Permanent Death!").

[hhh2]

On 5/4/2025 at 5:40 PM, Electroely said:

15 bucks and clocked in 15,000 hours

Damn.  Those are legendary numbers if you are telling the truth.