Everything Beginner Tips - Scale, Possession, and Exploration

Everything is David OReilly’s 2017 simulation game, released on PlayStation 4 and later storefronts including Steam, itch.io, and Nintendo Switch. This is the game where you become animals, objects, atoms, planets, galaxies, and stranger points between them, not a conventional adventure with quests or combat goals.

The best way to start is to treat it as a scale-and-perspective sandbox. You are learning how to move through forms, listen to thoughts, hear Alan Watts narration, and build a personal catalogue of things. The guide below focuses on that supported play loop without assuming hidden objectives the game does not enforce.

Essential Tips

1. Start by Observing Before You Transform

Everything can feel confusing because it gives you a world instead of a checklist. When you first take control of a creature or object, move around long enough to understand its immediate scale. Notice what looks larger, what looks smaller, what can be approached, and which nearby things produce thoughts or prompts.

This first minute matters. The game is about relationships between things, so your current body is also your measuring tool. A small animal, a tree, a speck, and a planet all make the surrounding world read differently. Do not rush to leave a form before it teaches you what scale you are on.

2. Use Scale as Navigation, Not Just a Novelty

Ascending and descending are how you travel. Supported community collection notes describe seven broad scale levels: Galaxy, Planet, Landmass, Human, Tiny, Particle, and Collapse. Moving up or down changes what you can see, what you can reach, and which things become practical targets.

If you feel lost, change scale with a purpose. Go larger when you need a broader scan of the area. Go smaller when nearby details seem more interesting than the landscape. The game often rewards a simple rhythm: become something, look around, move a little, then shift to a related larger or smaller thing.

3. Do Not Search for a Traditional Mission Marker

Everything does not push you through enforced goals, scores, or required tasks. That does not mean there is nothing to do. Your progress comes from occupying new things, hearing thoughts and narration, learning abilities, and expanding what the world can show you.

Set your own short goals. Try to reach a scale you have not seen, collect a family of related forms, follow a thought bubble, or find a route from a tiny thing back out to a planet. Small self-made goals fit the game better than waiting for an objective log to tell you what matters.

4. Treat Movement as Expression

Many creatures and objects do not move in a realistic way. A creature may flip end over end, and a form that should feel heavy can still become playable. That visual oddness is part of the game, so judge movement by what it lets you do rather than whether it looks natural.

Take a few seconds with each new body. Some forms are good for scanning, some are fun for wandering, and some mainly help you bridge to a different scale. If movement feels awkward, use it long enough to bond with or understand the form, then shift into something better suited to your next idea.

5. Listen to Thoughts and Narration

Other things can express thoughts, and the game includes Alan Watts narration through prompts and audio moments. These are not just background decoration. They frame how Everything wants you to think about scale, identity, and connection.

When a thought or narration prompt appears, slow down. You are not losing time by listening; you are playing the part of the game that gives your wandering context. If you only chase new forms, you may miss the reason those transformations feel different from a normal collectible hunt.

6. Build Your Catalogue Naturally

The collection side works best when you let curiosity lead. Community collection notes point to a very large number of things for full completion, so trying to force total completion from the opening hours can turn a relaxed game into a spreadsheet.

Use categories as loose targets. If you have been exploring animals, look for plants, rocks, water, buildings, particles, or astronomical forms. If you have been small for a long time, scale back up and see which larger category your route has opened. Completion is more manageable when you think in families of things instead of one endless list.

7. Go Bigger When You Cannot Find Anything New

Larger forms help you scan farther. If every nearby object feels familiar, move up a scale and use the broader view to spot movement, lights, shapes, or forms you could not see before. This is especially useful when you are trying to find flying things or distant bodies.

Planet and galaxy-scale play can be disorienting, so pick landmarks. A bright object, an unusual silhouette, or a cluster of forms can work as a reference point while you decide what to become next. The larger the view, the more important it is to choose one clear target at a time.

8. Use Grouping and Dancing as Interaction

Everything is not only about replacing one body with another. Supported gameplay descriptions include grouping things together, making them dance, and producing new matter as abilities open up. Use these actions when you want to interact with a form instead of immediately leaving it behind.

This is also a good way to make the game feel less solitary. If you find a set of related things, gather them, move together, dance, then see what changes in your sense of place. It may not resemble a standard puzzle solution, but it is a supported part of how the simulation invites play.

9. Let Autoplay Teach You When You Are Stuck

Everything can keep going without direct control if you let it. That feature is useful when you feel frozen by choice. Set the controller down for a while and watch which forms the game chooses, which scales it visits, and what kinds of transitions it makes.

Do not treat autoplay as failure. It can function like a living hint system, showing a route or rhythm you may not have considered. When something catches your attention, take control again and follow that thread manually.

10. Keep Completion Attempts Separate From First Discovery

There is a real collection layer, and detailed community notes describe scale levels, environment types, level variants, and large thing counts. Save that mindset for later. Your first pass should be about learning how scale and possession feel, because a complete checklist makes much more sense after you understand the world structure.

When you do decide to collect seriously, work from broad to narrow. Confirm the scale you are in, identify the environment type, and use larger forms to search before drilling down into smaller targets. A calm route beats random transforming, especially in big or repeating spaces.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Waiting for a quest objective - the game expects self-directed exploration, transformation, and discovery.
2. Changing forms too quickly - staying briefly in each body helps you read scale, movement, and nearby possibilities.
3. Treating awkward movement as a problem - unusual flipping and motion are part of how many forms are represented.
4. Ignoring smaller things nearby - descending often reveals the next layer of play rather than a dead end.
5. Staying tiny when you need a wider view - ascending makes scanning and route planning easier.
6. Skipping thoughts and narration - the spoken and written moments give context to the transformations.
7. Starting with a full completion checklist - early play works better when discovery comes before exhaustive collection.
8. Forgetting autoplay exists - letting the game run can reveal transitions and possibilities when you are stuck.

Summary

Category	Top Tip
Identity	Confirm you are playing David OReilly’s 2017 simulation before using advice for similarly named games.
Scale	Ascend for a wider scan; descend when nearby detail becomes the interesting path.
Possession	Stay in a new form long enough to understand its movement and surroundings.
Interaction	Use thoughts, narration, grouping, and dancing as part of the main experience.
Completion	Learn the scale structure first, then chase full collection later.