Caption-checked guide · spoilers through the first grave

Graveyard Keeper 2 first hour walkthrough

Your first hour follows the main path out of the dungeon, finish the gate sequence, claim the keeper base, then process and bury your first body. Video timestamps are evidence markers, not a speed target; a first playthrough will often take longer.

Check the skulls before burial

The tutorial confirms that white skulls raise a grave’s quality ceiling while red skulls lower it. The captions do not establish one organ-removal order that works for every corpse, so this guide does not invent one. Learn to inspect the values first.

1. 1

   0:47–8:00 · video

   Escape the Inquisitor dungeon

   Eat the mushrooms to restore energy, equip the pickaxe and free Larry. Read the note, take the rusty key, royal signet and Inquisitor medallion from the wall stash, then unlock the door.

   • Restore energy with the mushrooms
   • Free Larry with the pickaxe
   • Search the wall stash
   • Open the door with the rusty key
2. 2

   8:00–17:00 · video

   Cross the abandoned district

   Head down from Crown Hill, clear the barricade and keep moving through the empty streets. This stretch is mostly story and movement tutorial; enter the large building after dark and sleep to advance.

   • Clear the barricade
   • Keep heading down through town
   • Enter the shelter and sleep
3. 3

   17:00–25:00 · video

   Survive the first town defence

   Demolish the outhouse and escape through the sewers. At the defenders’ post, collect a sword and armour from the workshop, then take the banner when prompted. The signet and medallion get you through the village gate.

   • Demolish the outhouse and enter the sewer
   • Collect the sword and armour
   • Take the banner
   • Show the identity items at the gate
4. 4

   25:48–30:00 · video

   Accept the burial job and claim the base

   The guard captain sends you west to bury the fallen. Find the abandoned Inquisitor base, identify the graveyard and morgue beside the old temple, then sleep in the hut to open the tech tree and base loop.

   • Accept the burial task
   • Travel west to the base
   • Locate the graveyard, morgue and bed
   • Sleep until the body arrives

   

5. 5

   30:34–35:15 · video

   Process the first body

   Carry the delivered body to the autopsy table. The tutorial states that more white skulls and fewer red skulls allow a better grave. Learn that rule first; the video does not prove a universal organ-removal recipe.

   • Place the body on the autopsy table
   • Inspect its red and white skulls
   • Mark a grave at the blueprint desk
   • Dig, bury and add the grave sign

   

   

6. 6

   35:15–36:28 · video

   Collect the first burial certificate

   Finishing the grave and its sign awards a burial certificate. The next explicit objective is to take it to Herbert, the guard captain at the crossroads. That closes the opening tutorial loop.

   • Make sure the grave has a sign
   • Collect the burial certificate
   • Track the objective to return it to Herbert

   

What to do after the first grave

These follow-up objectives are confirmed by a second guide transcript. Because that video is edited and its captions have gaps, treat this as direction rather than a strict minute-by-minute order.

Turn in the certificate

The village begins buying the burial certificates you earn from later bodies.

Address food and firewood

Talk to the guard captain and the merchant; your hill has land to farm and trees that can supply wood.

Find seeds and the fishing lead

The merchant sells seeds and points you toward the fishing rod taken by the twins.

Inspect the base work areas

Larry identifies the outdoor crafting area, old garden and vineyard beyond the broken bridge.

Prepare the boat materials

The route toward the port eventually produces a material list for a new boat.

Video and caption evidence

▶ 36:28

CohhCarnage — Graveyard Keeper 2, Part 1

Primary source for all six opening chapters. Its complete English auto-captions were exported and checked section by section.

YouTube · Auto-captions: English · checked 2026-09-15

Sheaffer 117 — Don’t Bury Bodies Before Fixing This

Used to check the village, resource and base objectives after the first grave. English auto-captions are available but incomplete, so it is not used for an exact timeline.

Watch on YouTube

Caption limits: both transcripts are auto-generated, so names and game terms may be mistranscribed. This page only uses claims supported by tutorial text or continuous dialogue. CohhCarnage Part 2 and Thiesca’s first-play video had no exportable transcript when checked.