Heartopia Beginner Guide - Early Leveling Tips

Heartopia is a cozy life-simulation game built around slow living, free exploration, and developing hobbies at your own pace. There’s no pressure to rush progression or chase combat power. Instead, the game encourages you to enjoy daily routines, build your home, meet townsfolk, and gradually shape a lifestyle that feels uniquely yours.

This Heartopia guide for beginners covers everything you need to know about getting started, from core gameplay and hobby systems to early-game leveling and money-making tips, so you can avoid common mistakes and settle into the town comfortably.

 

 

For many players, Heartopia is perfect for short play sessions: checking in during a commute, resting, or while waiting around to harvest crops or clear quests. If you tend to play games on PC and don’t want Heartopia taking up phone storage, try OSLink! This remote access tool could let you stream and control the Heartopia PC version on your phone, making it easy to fish, farm, or finish daily quests on the go without missing progress.

 

 

Core Gameplay Overviews

At its heart, Heartopia gameplay revolves around four pillars: exploration, social interaction, hobbies, and home decoration.

Your main progression comes from completing quests, which reward Contribution Medals to upgrade your D.G. levels (Developer Grade levels). As your D.G. level increases, you'll gradually unlock more features, systems, and hobbies.

Outside of main progression, you’re free to:

• Develop hobbies like Fishing, Gardening, Cooking, Insect Catching, and Birdwatching
• Customize and decorate your home however you like
• Visit friends using the Friendship Journal and unlock special photos and collectibles

 

This flexible structure makes Heartopia especially welcoming for beginners who want to play without stress.

 

 

Hobby System

How to Unlock Hobbies in Heartopia

Hobbies in Heartopia function as life skills. Unlocking them follows a simple progression:

• Increase your D.G. levels
• Obtain a Hobby Expansion Ticket
• Give the ticket to the appropriate NPC
• Unlock the hobby and start using it

 

Once unlocked, hobbies can be practiced freely and integrated into daily play.

 

Heartopia Hobby Overviews

Fishing

Fishing is straightforward and beginner-friendly. Cast your rod toward fish shadows on the water, then manage the reel-in phase once a fish bites.

Fishes can be used to:

• Sell for gold
• Complete Daily Quests
• Used as ingredients for Cooking
• Display in aquariums at home
• Fill out your collection log

 

Fishing is a best early-game hobby and easy to do in short sessions.

 

 

Gardening

Gardening lets you grow crops and flowers in your home plot. After placing planting boxes, you’ll sow seeds and water them, then wait for harvest.

Crops can be:

• Sold for profit
• Used as cooking ingredients

 

Flowers can be:

• Sold for profit
• Used for home decoration
• Held for photos and roleplay moments

 

As you move into the early stages of the game, Gardening quickly becomes something you rely on almost every day—for earning coins, cooking meals, and decorating your home—so unlocking it sooner makes daily play much smoother.

 

Cooking

Cooking uses crops from Gardening or ingredients gathered in the wild. And Timing matters: pressing too early or missing inputs can result in failed dishes.

Dishes can:

• Restore energy
• Grant temporary buffs
• Be displayed as decorations
• Be shared with other players

 

Early on, don’t stress about perfection. Learning the rhythm matters more than dish quality.

 

Insect Catching

Insect Catching is a collection hobby in Heartopia that involves capturing insects found roaming the wild.

Insects can:

• Be sold for coins
• Displayed in insect cases

 

If you want to finish daily quests quickly, Insect Catching is one of the most efficient options.

 

Birdwatching

Birdwatching uses a scanning scope to photograph birds performing different actions. This hobby leans more toward exploration and collection than profit.

Photos can be:

• Sold
• Turned in to Bailey J for bird feed and rewards

 

Placing bird stands and feed at home will attract birds, adding a cozy, lived-in feel to your space.

 

 

Cat & Dog Care

When reaching Developer Level 12, You can raise cats and dogs in your home by petting, feeding, and playing with them. It’s a system designed for cozy gameplay rather than efficiency.

Pets will:

• Grow over time through interaction
• Occasionally bring you small gifts

 

To access Dog Care, you need you unlock Cat Care hobby first. And when purchasing cats, pay attention to personality traits—some are  sensitive or easily startled.

 

Early Game Tips and Tricks

How to Level Up Developer Grade level Faster

D.G. level progression in Heartopia relies heavily on completing quests. To level up efficiently:

• Always finish daily quests. They take very little time and offer some of the best D.G. level rewards you can get each day.
• Check quest requirements before using energy. Plan your fishing, farming, or Insect Catching around active quests so every action counts toward completion.
• Advance story quests whenever possible. Many features, hobbies, and systems are locked behind story progress, so pushing the story forward early will save you a lot of backtracking later.

 

This routine is especially helpful during your first day in Heartopia and makes the early game far smoother.

 

How to Make Money Early

Some of the best gameplay tips for earning coins include:

• Making jam from fruits like apples, blueberries, or grapes (grape jam is especially profitable)
• Cooking high-value recipes like lattes, tiramisu, or afternoon tea
• Visiting friends’ towns to photograph rare birds
• Crafting furniture such as fiber rugs instead of selling raw wood
• Fishing for rare or time-limited fish

 

These methods scale well and stay useful even beyond the early game.

 

Material Gathering Reference

Material	How to Obtain	Notes
Ore	Mine black rocks near residential areas
Shrub Branches	Gather from the ground
Stone	Gather from the ground
Wood	Chop trees	Thick trees can drop rare wood
Roaming Oak Timber	Complete main quest “Finding Answers” and help Oak-Oak	3 per day
Flawless Fluorite	Complete “Finding Answers” and mine marked nodes	3 per day
Apples	Chop fruit trees near residential areas
Oranges	Chop fruit trees near residential areas
Blueberries	Harvest bushes	Mostly in residential zones
Raspberries	Harvest bushes	Mostly in flower fields
Coconuts	Chop palm trees after completing seasonal quests	Found on Violet Glow Beach

 

Conclusion

Overall, Heartopia is an incredibly beginner-friendly, low-pressure game. Whether you’re a casual player, decorator, or efficiency-focused planner, there’s a playstyle that fits you. As long as you complete quests daily and steadily develop your hobbies, both coins and D.G. levels will naturally grow over time.

If your schedule is fragmented, playing the PC version of Heartopia on mobile via OSLink makes it easy to handle daily tasks like harvesting, stamina use, and quest turn-ins anywhere. Taking things slow, enjoying the details, and building a life piece by piece is what makes Heartopia special.

Hopefully, this Heartopia beginner guide helps you get started with confidence. Enjoy your journey—and build the cozy town life that feels right for you.