Quickstart Guides

Setup

Creating a world

Hit the Create World button on the main screen. You can play with the seed and size, but it isn't anything that will make a big difference to you yet. Generate it, save it, and back to the main screen.

Choosing a storyteller

The first thing you'll be able to pick is a storyteller and a difficulty level. The AI Storytellers determine the events that occur during your game. You can do your own research in the previous link if you wish, but it is highly recommended to do Cassandra Classic on Rough to get a feel for how the game is designed to play out.

Choosing a site

Select the world you created previously. To get into the game quickly, you're going to want to pick a relatively temperate climate with which to start. You want a plot with a growing season starting in March or April and an Average Temperature around 10°. The other specifics aren't as important, so pick something that sounds fun to you. Generally speaking, more mountainous terrain gives you better defensive options but requires more digging. Flatter terrain is easier to start building but presents security issues later.

Choosing your characters

You want a good mix of skills. Remember, your characters can only do one thing at a time and they need time to eat and sleep. Also, stay away from colonists with lots of prohibited activities. Otherwise you can hamstring yourself from the start.

Getting off on the right foot

Landing

PAUSE THE GAME!
Recon: Take a look around and get a feel for the terrain. Where are the steam geysers for potential geothermal power later? Where are natural choke points to create kill zones? Where are there veins of steel, silver, and gold? Where are standing structures that you can make use of?
Prepare: Decide on a site for your initial base camp. Your characters take a penalty to their mood for sleeping on the ground and for sleeping outside, so you want them sleeping inside on real beds as quickly as possible. You also need a stable food source ASAP. With these points in mind, find a spot on the map you feel you can set up in a reasonably short period of time. Go into the Architect menu to start to get familiar with it. You're going to need a growing zone (lay it, select it, and set it to strawberries, this will be explained later) and a stockpile zone to accumulate resources, both of which are found under Zone sub-menu. Setup whatever early construction you need to get four walls and a door around the location you've picked for your colonists to sleep, as well as Sleeping Spots or Wooden Beds, but remember construction takes time and resources. (You can change the selected material by right-clicking the item in the Structure menus.) You should also take the time to unforbid any resources you want your colonists to collect by selecting them and hitting the F key.
Prioritize: Go into your "Work" tab at the very bottom of the screen. Anyone with double flames should get a 1 priority. Anyone with a single flame should get a 2 priority. Firefight, Patient, and Flick should be set to a 1 priority. Everything else should be set to a 4 priority.
Arm Yourselves: You'll start with a Survival Rifle, a Pistol, and a Plassteel Knife. Select your character with the best Shooting skill and then right-click the Survival Rifle and select Equip. Repeat with your other characters and their respective weapons.
Unpause the game and let the fun begin: Remember you can always pause again if you need to assess the situation.

Your first day

Stocking Up: You're going to want to start filling stockpile right away. Set it to 'Critical' and prioritize hauling Packaged Survival Meals, Wood, Steel, Medicine. Selecting a character and then right-clicking the item you need moved can hurry things along if you need something ASAP.
Sowing and Construction: Your characters will go about the business of planting seeds and building things on their own. Take a moment to observe them so you get a feel for the process and the time it takes them to get things done. High skill level means faster work and they will build skill points by doing work, so it creates a helpful feedback loop.
Food: As time goes on, your characters will need to eat. You're given a number of Packaged Survival Meals to start as well as a few scattered around the map, so you have some breathing space but not a lot. Most foodstuffs need to be cooked into meals or processed into nutrient paste to be consumed without taking a mood penalty. Berries are one of the few items that can be eaten raw without problem. (You're welcome.) If there are any bushes with berries near your selected site, it can be worth checking if they can be harvested. Under Architect, go to Orders and select Harvest then drag-select over them. You can also select the bushes individually to see if Harvest is an option, but it can be rather time consuming.

Your first night

Reviewing schedules: By default, your characters are all set to go to bed at the same time every evening at roughly the same time. You can change it under the Restrictions tab, but you should probably leave it till you have separate bedrooms. It can be beneficial to set an hour each day before bedtime for your characters to engage in activities that make the happy a.k.a. Joy activities. Under the restrictions tab, select Joy and then highlight a block in each of your colonists' schedules right before the blue Sleep blocks.
Plot your goals for Day 2: Nighttime is a good time to assess your options going forward. Your first big decision is Cooking (better food, takes a lot of manpower hours) versus a Nutrient Paste Dispenser (less work but your people won't like it). Lay out some blueprints.
On with the show: If you get impatient, you can fast forward to the next morning with the controls in the bottom right of your screen. Just remember that while you can pause, you can't go back and it's very easy to miss something important if you race ahead. Tread lightly.

Planning for success

Safety and security

Your colonists should have picked up the different weapons that crash landed when they did. While they're not the best weapons in the world, they'll do for now.

Your first summer

Growing outside in a temperate climate ends about September or October on average. Before then you're going to want an indoor freezer that's at least 2 walls thick. You should also consider making a hydroponics room inside. This room should be at least 2+ doors from the outside. You're going to want a Cotton growing zone. You can craft

Your first winter

Other tips moving forward

Wild and Tamed animals will get into your growing zones. Kill the wild animals and rezone your animals to a Hay growing zone.
Visitors will get into your freezer and drink your beer regardless if you forbid doors.
Beware of manhunting packs showing up with no notice.

Other guides to improve your gameplay

Continuing guided play

Intermediate Midgame Guide: Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate
Advanced Endgame Guide: Ending your colony on YOUR terms

Guides for extreme enviroments: