While many other survival craft titles take a no-holds-barred approach to local wildlife, Dinkum often errs on the side of conservation and caring for the environment. This concept is clearly seen with the in-game capture skill set, which players will unlock early in the game.
Instead of killing most animals (which is still an option for meat), hunters focus on capturing live animals for study. Understanding how to complete this effectively makes the difference between constantly empty traps and an influx of Dinks from investigators.
Related: All The Fish You Can Catch In Dinkum – Full Fish List
Finding where to set traps in Dinkum
Traps will not automatically spawn captured animals while players sleep. Instead, finding areas with active creatures is part of the capture skill set. Look for areas with multiple creatures hanging around, like kangaroos, pangolins, and turkeys.
Building traps near the nests and stalking areas for these creatures offers a much better chance of success than throwing a few pieces at random. Once the trap has been set, players will want to make sure they have built the animal collection point.
Using the traps
Players have two options when it comes to using traps in Dinkum: wait for the animals to naturally stumble upon the traps, or chase the animals into the traps. The natural option allows players to take care of other pressing tasks (such as preparing to unlock the Quarry) or cooking. However, chasing animals is much faster.
Many animals react to the players’ presence: Dingoes will follow the players, Turkeys will run away from the player, and Emus will chase the player. Using this knowledge to your advantage, lead the animals to the trap that will automatically activate once a creature steps on it. Players can bait traps by dropping (Q) a piece of meat in the center of the trap, but it is not necessary.
Send them to the lab!
Once a creature has been captured, players can pick it up, similar to raising rubies to sell. Take the captured animal, crate and all, to the animal collection point and right-click to drop the crate in the area. A balloon will appear, humorously resembling the catch animation from Metal Gear Solid 5, and the animal will be taken to the research lab.
Check the mail the next morning to see your rewards. Typically, players will receive a lump sum of Dinks on one card and the Animal Trap on a second card. This allows players to constantly maintain a rotation of traps without spending more resources.
