Taming in Polylithic

The 1.0 pitch includes a sentence that sold a lot of wishlists: you can tame a dog or a hyena. Both are loyal. One is slightly more alarming. Both eat, heal, follow commands, and will judge your decisions. This page is how to use that sentence without starving the village or watching your new friend orbit a boulder until a bear arrives.

Taming is not the first-hour project. Secure flint, fire, and a bed with getting started first. A companion on an empty stomach is just wildlife you invited indoors.

What you can actually tame

Official 1.0 text names dogs and hyenas. Older community notes about dire wolves not being tameable still match the vibe: the scary wild canines are hunts, not pets. If a prompt appears on a creature, believe the prompt. If no prompt appears, it is food or a wipe. Do not stand in a bison and hope friendship happens.

Dogs are the readable choice. They read as camp. Hyenas read as a joke the art team won. Functionally, treat both as extra inventory, a scout, and a creature that will path worse than you. They are not a substitute for a bow or for how to hunt discipline.

Feeding and commands

Companions share the food economy. Cook surplus before you recruit a mouth with fur. If the camp is already stretching roasts across villagers, delay the tame. Cooking is the real taming prereq.

Commands exist. Use them in open ground, not in a hut doorway, not in a river. Launch players describe animals that circle, flee toward you, or get stuck on terrain. If your dog is writing circles, park the command, walk away, and whistle again from a flatter tile. If the hyena is in water, you now own a swimming lesson. Bring controls patience and the unstuck energy you already spend on villagers.

Combat and the fantasy of a tank

A tame can distract. A tame can also pull a second animal you did not want. Do not send a dog into bison. Do not assume a hyena understands your kite plan. Start the fight yourself with range, keep the companion off to the side, and be ready to disengage if pathing turns the pull into a reunion.

Tribe members have the same problem on follow. A dog plus a follower plus you is three pathing experiments. For serious hunts, leave the village at home and take the bow. For chores, take the dog and let it vacuum the obvious.

When taming is a story object

Some players reported missing dogs after a quest or a knockout. If a tame vanishes, check the map for a marker, wait a day-night cycle, and relog. If the animal is gone, it is gone. Do not burn an evening on a ghost collar. The story guide collects similar “the world forgot my progress” stalls.

Taming is one of the charms that makes Polylithic feel like a camp instead of a spreadsheet. Keep it charming. Feed the thing, call it on flat ground, and never let it decide your bison policy.