1. Get to the water and take your first sip
Start Drink the Ocean on the homepage and follow the prompts in the game. On a computer, move with WASD and use the mouse to look around. Approach the sea and use the drinking action. On a phone, use the on-screen DRINK button. Keep the controls reference nearby if you need a shortcut.
2. Bring a full belly to the press
Water is the beginning of your progression loop. When you fill up, head to the press on the beach. The press turns the water you collected into salt, which is the currency used for improvements. Learn where the press is before wandering too far: returning to it is part of the routine.
For your first few trips, concentrate on completing the full cycle—drink, return, press, shop. That gives you a baseline for judging whether your next upgrade makes a noticeable difference.
3. Spend salt at the shop
Step onto the blue shop pad to see the improvements available in your current run. Capacity and drinking equipment solve different problems. A bigger belly can reduce interruptions; a stronger collection setup can shorten the time spent drinking. Read the in-game descriptions and compare them with the problem you are experiencing.
Our upgrade strategy guide helps you choose between these goals without assuming that one fixed purchase order suits every run.
4. Explore the newly exposed seabed
As the water recedes, more of the underwater world becomes reachable. Take breaks from the collection loop to investigate what has appeared. The game's discoveries include a shipwreck, whale remains and a submerged city.
Eventually, progression leads to a plug at the bottom. Pulling it starts the next ocean. Read how new oceans work before deciding when to advance. This guide does not assume that every item or upgrade carries into the next run; use the game's current prompt to check what happens.
Complete a drinking-and-pressing loop, buy one useful improvement, and notice what changed. Understanding the cycle is more useful than copying an unverified upgrade order.