Call of the Desert.

Worm riding

Get equipment with E at the hookmaster’s camp. Once away from rock, set a thumper with R or the Call a worm button. Approach the marked side ring, stop, and hold E / Collect for 1.4 seconds. Once mounted, steer with the direction keys. Press R near rock to dismount; you cannot dismount on open sand. On the minimap, golden dots mark spice, pale green dots camps, and turquoise dots water caches.

Movement and exploration

W A S D or the arrow keys to walk. Shift lets you run. Q switches to irregular sandwalking: you slow down, but vibrations decrease. On a phone, use the directional buttons.

Water and spice

Stop beside spice and hold E, Space, or Collect. After three samples, the golden arrow points to the sietch. The blue water cache replenishes your reserve once. There are three additional caches in distant regions. Activate the wind measurement tower with E; sandstorms increase water consumption on open ground.

The danger beneath the sand

Worm encounters occur on your first open-sand expedition and after your second sample. Fast, regular footsteps trigger additional encounters. When rings appear in the sand, leave that area within 3.5 seconds. Rocks are safe. If water reaches zero, the expedition ends. P or Escape pauses the game.