Food and Hibernation

The food meter is a bar of food pips that fill as the slugcat eats; Akupara's co-op dev log calls it the "food bar". Local Co-op Dev Log 2, 20 July 2022

What the slugcat eats and hunts is depleted from the world for future cycles, which forces it deeper into the world in search of food and shelter. Videocult on the PlayStation Blog, 28 March 2017 Food and Karma Flowers do regenerate, and since patch v1.01 their regeneration also ticks forward when the slugcat dies, a change meant to help eliminate stuck and starvation situations at low karma. Patch v1.01 notes, 6 April 2017

Neither achievement description says which foods count toward its path. Steam achievement list

A shelter is where the slugcat hibernates Local Co-op Dev Log 2, 20 July 2022, and items can be stored in it. Patch notes 1.10.2, 15 April 2025 It is not always safe: patch 1.11.6 tweaked creature sedation inside shelters to give the player slightly more leniency to escape when aggressive creatures are inside the shelter. Patch notes 1.11.6, 2 February 2026

In Downpour's local co-op, the difficulty setting decides who must reach the shelter. On Easy, one player in the shelter is enough to move on to the next cycle. On Normal, the group can hibernate once every slugcat's body is inside, even the bodies of those who died. On Hard, any death is game over, so everyone has to arrive alive. All players share one food bar. Local Co-op Dev Log 2, 20 July 2022

Videocult's James Therrien names starvation, along with the deadly rain, as an ever-present danger. Videocult on the PlayStation Blog, 28 March 2017 In Expedition Mode, which comes with Downpour, challenge progress is saved only when the slugcat survives the cycle without starving. Expedition Mode dev log, 13 December 2022 Eating enough each cycle is the safer habit.

Under the normal karma rules, surviving a cycle raises karma one tier and dying lowers it one tier. Expedition Mode dev log, 13 December 2022 Common Questions explains how karma affects gates.