Klei Entertainment's indie survival game Don't Starve has received plenty of love since its initial release in 2013. Continually receiving updates, and even a multiplayer version, Don't Starve remains fresh with its quality-of-life updates and DLC that bring additional gameplay content to the table.
The latest DLC, Hamlet, is specifically for seasoned players, as the difficulty spike and change in gameplay is even more strenuous than Reign of Giants or Shipwrecked. Like the latter, it features an entire shift in locations, seasons and content. Unlike any iteration of the game, however, it features civilization of a sorts and requires doing something never done before in Don't Starve: buying a house.
Houses are incredibly important to surviving in Hamlet, as the usual approach of building up a strong base won't work here. Vampire Bats can fly over any traps you set, and the shifting seasons are more damaging to your character than in prior DLCs. The Humid season can slow your character down to a crawl while wearing most clothing items, and the Lush season also sees the coming of Hay Fever, which sends your character into a sneezing fit that drops items and damages sanity.
Having a house helps mitigate these effects while providing a safe place to retreat when the Vampire Bats come calling. It's a central mechanic in the DLC, and one you want to get by Day 10 at the latest, preferably earlier so you can explore before the Humid season comes with its fog.
As with any Don't Starve session, you need explore the area immediately, and this especially the case in Hamlet. Once the Temperate season is over on Day 11, exploration will slow to a crawl and (in some cases) halt altogether. As such, you want to find all the items you'll need to build the Science Machine as quickly as possible. This necessitates flipping over many stones and finding the Painted Biome to get the rocks, gold and flint you'll need. Once you have that, you can craft an axe, chop down trees and make the Science Machine. Build it in a place where you can find it again to deconstruct it, then construct the Ball Pein Hammer.
Once that's done, head into the jungle and be careful of mobs and vines. Look for crumbling ruins that you can use the Ball Pein Hammer on to get artifacts. Don't use a Pickaxe, as that will destroy the whole thing and leave you with regular rocks. These artifacts don't stack, so grab as many as you can and head back to the Hamlet, or start hunting for it if you haven't already found it.
If you need to overnight in the jungle, try finding a Crumbling Brazier. You can add anything flammable to it, and it functions much like a cross between a regular campfire and a fire pit, meaning you don't have to worry about making the base cost of logs and grass to make one.
Once you get to the Hamlet, look for the Swinesbury Academy, a distinctive gray and black building. Alternatively, you can also find an elderly Professor Pig wandering around outside during the day, but it's better to go to the building if it's evening. Either way, you can exchange the Lost Relics you found in the jungle for Tenpiece Oincs. You'll need five to buy the Slanty Shanty to call home.
There are also odd jobs you can do around the Hamlet to earn Oincs, although this takes longer and is better treated as a supplement or means to buy food or tools. Picking up manure will cause a nearby pig to pay you a coin, while the blue-wearing Florist Pig will pay you for petals once per day, which you get from flowers that you'll most likely be picking to manage your sanity. Shopkeep Pigs will pay for clippings you can get from hedges using Shears or Razors, while Farmer Pigs in the nearby suburbs will pay for grass.
No matter how you do it, once you get 50 Oincs, you can go to the Town Hall and buy the deed of ownership for the Slanty Shanty, which will be roughly in the middle of the town. But be careful -- the Masked Pig will start to target you once you have Oincs in your inventory. If one sneaks up and hits you, all your hard work will go flying.
As for the benefits of having a house, aside from being a safe place to store items, dry off and hide from hostile mobs, being inside your house boosts your sanity. This is especially important during long nights or when your sanity has otherwise been severely drained. Plus, once you have a house, you can decorate it or add more rooms for extra space. If it gets destroyed or damaged, nearby repair pigs will fix it for you. It's definitely a cozy little home and a great place to prepare for the impending Aporkalypse.