56+ Ways to Play BTH - Beyond the Horizon: Choose Your Own Adventure
BTH - Beyond the Horizon isn't just another kitchen sink modpack. With over 340 carefully curated mods and unique customizations, you could literally replay it a dozen times and have a completely different experience each time. Whether you're a builder, explorer, tech enthusiast, magic user, or roleplay fan, BTH has a path for you.
Note: This guide started as "50 Ways to Play" but keeps expanding as the community discovers new playstyles! We're now at 61 and counting...
The Food System: Your Key to Survival
Before diving into playstyles, understand that BTH uses Spice of Life: Valheim Edition, completely changing how hunger works. You don't have a traditional hunger bar - instead, food provides temporary health and speed buffs. You start with only 3 hearts when unfed, making food diversity essential for survival. Better quality foods give stronger and longer-lasting buffs, turning cooking from an afterthought into a critical progression system. Every playstyle below must account for food management!
Here are 61 unique ways to play BTH, each offering a distinct gameplay experience with different goals, progression paths, and endgame objectives.
🌟 Featured Playstyles - The Most Unique BTH Experiences
1. The Ultimate BTH Master
The final challenge combining all aspects: Craft both Terminus AND automate NanoBot Soda production. Master the food system to maintain 20+ hearts while progressing through every major mod. End goal: Terminus with perfect enchantments, automated NanoBot Soda, and 100% quest completion.
2. The BTH Cartographer
Find and document every custom BTH structure in the world. These unique structures feature elements from many mods including Create, offering special loot, maps, and journals. Build a grand library displaying all collected maps and journals in themed sections. End goal: Complete collection of every BTH map and journal, creating a comprehensive archive of the world's lore and locations.
3. The Master Chef
Master the Spice of Life: Valheim food system that defines BTH survival! Using all Farmer's Delight variants (Farmer's Delight, Nether's Delight, End's Delight), focus on automating complex multi-ingredient meals that provide the longest-lasting and strongest health buffs. Prioritize dishes like feasts, cakes, and stews that combine multiple food groups. End goal: Automated production of the highest-tier foods from each Delight mod, maintaining 20+ hearts permanently through optimized food rotation with diverse, complex recipes.
4. The Swarm Commander
Combine ALL creature automation mods for the ultimate living factory! Use Rats for complex automation, Anthill Inside ants for farming, Ars Nouveau Drygmies for resource gathering, and Domestication Innovation to enhance everything. No traditional automation allowed - only living creatures! End goal: Massive bio-factory where hundreds of creatures work in harmony, each species specialized for different tasks, creating a living ecosystem that produces everything you need.
5. The Legendary Smith
Master Tiered Forge to hunt for the perfect legendary gear! Every weapon and armor piece can roll with random quality tiers and attributes. Grind dungeons, trade with villagers, and explore structures to find increasingly rare tiers. End goal: Full set of Legendary or Mythic tier gear with perfect attribute rolls, creating the ultimate overpowered loadout.
6. The Portable Empire
Master the art of portable living, never settling in one place for more than 3 days! Start with AstikorCarts for early game transport - load all your belongings on wheeled carts pulled by horses. Progress to Nomadic Tents for instant portable shelters that pack/unpack entire bases. Use Packing Tape mod to box up machines and storage. Mid-game: unlock Hyperbox for pocket dimension bases you can carry anywhere. Late-game: master Applied Energistics 2 Spatial Storage to digitize and transport entire structures! Travel with Sophisticated Backpacks upgraded with feeding and tool-swapping modules. Keep enhanced pets from Domestication Innovation as companions and guards. End goal: Visit every biome and dimension while maintaining a fully functional mobile base that evolves from carts to pocket dimensions, never staying anywhere longer than 3 days.
7. The Skyship Admiral
Live entirely in the sky using Immersive Aircraft. Build floating bases, sky docks, and aerial trade routes. Never touch the ground after day one. End goal: Fleet of airships with sky bases in every biome.
8. The Museum Curator
Collect and display every unique collectible in BTH! Hunt for all 30+ magical items from Artifacts, collect every decorative item from Supplementaries (globes, hourglasses, pedestals, flags, and more), and complete the entire Plushie collection! Build themed exhibition halls - ancient artifacts wing, decorative arts gallery, and plushie sanctuary. End goal: Grand museum with every artifact, supplementary item, and plushie beautifully displayed with proper lighting, item frames, and pedestals, complete with plaques describing each item's lore and origin.
9. The Rat Whisperer
Rush to Ratlantis as fast as possible! Your primary goal: gather coins from distant loot chests (farther from spawn = more coins) to acquire a Chunky Cheese Token for the portal. Great power awaits those brave enough to associate with rats - in Ratlantis you'll find exclusive resources and ancient secrets. Meanwhile, harness the surprising power of tamed rats with cheese and upgrades, creating squads for gathering, hunting, harvesting, and even auto-crafting. Rats can replace traditional automation entirely when properly upgraded and commanded. End goal: Be the first to reach Ratlantis and unlock its mysteries, then return to build an empire powered entirely by your rat companions.
More Playstyles to Explore
The featured playstyles above represent some of the most unique BTH experiences, but there are dozens more ways to play! Use these as individual playstyles, mix and match elements to create your own hybrid approach, or invent something entirely new.
Make up your own! If you come up with a new playstyle or have accomplished any of these, let us know in the Discord - we'd love to hear about your adventures and add community-created playstyles to this guide!
🗡️ Combat & Adventure
10. The Dragon Rider
Rush Dragon Mounts: Legacy and become a dragon master! Breed every type of dragon - each with unique attributes! Master the Ice Dragon for frost attacks, Fire Dragon for devastating burns, Aether Dragon for sky dominance, and many more varieties detailed in the Quest Book. Each dragon type requires specific breeding conditions and offers different combat advantages. Train multiple dragons for different purposes: speedy scouts, heavy combat mounts, and long-distance flyers. End goal: Successfully breed all dragon variants, maintain a full dragon stable with every type, and defeat all bosses while mounted on the perfect dragon for each battle.
11. The Mutant Slayer
Hunt down the terrifying creatures from Mutant Monsters that tower above normal mobs! Each mutant brings devastating powers and legendary rewards. Defeat the Mutant Zombie for its mighty Hulk Hammer that slams the ground. Take down the Mutant Skeleton to craft powerful armor from its bones. Survive the Mutant Creeper's chain explosions to obtain Creeper Minion Eggs - hatch explosive allies to fight by your side! Challenge the teleporting Mutant Enderman and claim its Endersoul Hand for teleportation powers. Use Chemical X to create your own mutants or spawn the unpredictable Spider Pig! Build a fortress with trophy halls displaying your conquests: Hulk Hammers, Mutant Skeleton Armor sets, Creeper Shards, and more. Track your Creeper Minions with specialized devices and command an army of explosive companions. End goal: Defeat every mutant variant, collect all legendary weapons and armor, maintain a stable of Creeper Minions, and display the complete collection of mutant trophies in your monster hunter's fortress.
12. The Spell Blade
Combine Iron's Spells 'n Spellbooks with Simply Swords. Master both magic and melee combat. End goal: Craft Terminus using only spell-enhanced combat.
13. The Beast Master
Master Domestication Innovation to create an unstoppable pet army. Enhance pets with enchanted pet beds, armor, and accessories. Never fight personally - let your enhanced pets do everything! End goal: Defeat all bosses using only your pet army, with at least 20 maxed-out pets.
14. The Arena Champion
Build elaborate mob arenas with PneumaticCraft spawner automation for custom waves. Use Domestication Innovation pets as gladiators! End goal: Create fully automated arena with programmable difficulty levels and survive your ultimate challenge.
15. The Tetra Craftsman
Master Tetra's modular tools. Never use non-Tetra equipment. Explore ancient forges, upgrade hammers, and perfect your crafting technique. End goal: Perfect tier tools with maxed stats, every module unlocked, and legendary materials integrated.
🔮 Magic Paths
16. The Ars Nouveau Archmage
Master every spell in Ars Nouveau. Build a mage tower with automated spell turrets. End goal: Create the ultimate spell combining all elements.
17. The Botanist
Focus entirely on Botania. No tech mods allowed. Automate everything using only botanical methods. End goal: Fully automated base powered by flowers.
18. The Dark Sorcerer
Master Forbidden & Arcanus and Eidolon: Repraised. Embrace dark magic and corruption. End goal: Become undead and command an army of the damned.
19. The Elemental Master
Combine Ars Elemental with other magic mods. Build elemental shrines in appropriate biomes. End goal: Master control over all elements simultaneously.
20. The Enchantment Collector
Collect every possible enchantment at max level. Build the ultimate enchanting setup. End goal: Full set of gear with every compatible enchantment.
⚙️ Technology & Automation
21. The Create Engineer
Use only Create and its addons. No other tech mods. Build increasingly complex contraptions. End goal: Fully automated factory producing every item.
22. The Digital Overlord
Master Applied Energistics 2, Modular Routers, and CC: Tweaked. Digitize everything with AE2, use Modular Routers for intelligent item routing with their 30+ modules, and automate with computers. End goal: Base runs entirely on programmed computers with smart routing networks handling all logistics.
23. The Power Mogul
Generate obscene amounts of power using every method available. Master Ender IO's advanced power generation and conduits for distribution - likely your best option since BTH lacks Mekanism Fission, Powah!, or big reactors. Build and perfect the Soul Engine for ultimate power generation. Supplement with Immersive Engineering's diesel generators and windmills. End goal: Generate 1 million FE/tick sustainably with planet-wide power grid using Ender IO's dimensional transceivers. (Is this even possible? We don't know!)
24. The Pneumatic Master
Focus on PneumaticCraft: Repressurized. Build pressure-based everything and become Iron Man! Craft the full Pneumatic Armor suit with all upgrades - jet boots for flight, speed boost, magnet, night vision, and more. Program drone armies for automation. End goal: Fully upgraded "Iron Man" pneumatic suit with superhuman abilities, plus entire base automated by programmed drone swarms.
25. The Integrated Programmer
Master IntegratedDynamics and related mods. Create visual programs for everything. End goal: Base with zero manual interaction needed.
26. The Logistics Master
Build the ultimate item routing empire using Modular Routers and Ender IO. No AE2 allowed! Use Modular Routers' 30+ modules for intelligent sorting, Ender IO's conduits for multi-network transport, and vacuum chests for collection. End goal: Planet-wide logistics network where items teleport exactly where needed using advanced filters, priorities, and smart routing logic - all without digital storage.
27. The Railway Tycoon
Master Create: Steam 'n' Rails to build an interconnected railway network across the world. Connect villages, biomes, and dimensions with elaborate train stations. End goal: Automated cargo and passenger system spanning 10,000+ blocks.
28. The Village Connector
Build roads, railways, and hypertube networks connecting villages across the world. Master Create: Hypertubes for rapid pneumatic travel between settlements. Add waystones, trading posts, and rest stops. End goal: Create a multi-modal transportation network linking 10+ villages with hypertubes as the express lanes.
📦 Storage Mastery
29. The Digital Architect
Master Applied Energistics 2 to create the ultimate digital storage system. Build multiple networks, wireless access points, and auto-crafting for everything. End goal: Fully automated base where every item is digitally stored and auto-craftable on demand.
30. The Botanical Organizer
Use Botania's Corporea system for magical item storage and retrieval. No tech allowed! Build a base entirely organized with sparks and crystals. End goal: Complete Corporea network handling all storage and crafting through flower power.
31. The Mechanical Warehouse
Master Create 6.0's new storage system with Item Hatches, Stock Links, Stock Tickers, Package Postboxes, and massive 2048-slot Vaults. Build automated warehouses with chain conveyors and improved brass tunnels. End goal: Fully integrated storage network with contraption-mounted depots and real-time stock tracking displays!
32. The Arcane Librarian
Use Ars Nouveau storage lecterns and magical sorting. Organize everything by magical properties. Build a grand library storing items in enchanted books and containers. End goal: Mystical library where items are summoned through spellcasting.
33. The Network Engineer
Master IntegratedDynamics and Integrated Tunnels for complex storage logic. Create visual programs for item routing and storage. End goal: Self-organizing storage system that learns and adapts to your usage patterns.
34. The Drawer Master
Use only Storage Drawers and Sophisticated Backpacks/Chests. No digital storage! Create massive drawer walls with complex routing. End goal: Cathedral of drawers with every item visible and accessible.
🌍 Explorer & Adventurer
35. The Dimension Hopper
Establish bases in every dimension. Each base reflects that dimension's theme. End goal: Self-sufficient outpost in every dimension.
36. The Structure Seeker
Find and loot every type of structure. Document with screenshots and maps. End goal: Complete structure encyclopedia with 100% discovery.
37. The Cave Dweller
Master Alex's Caves. Live in and explore only cave biomes. End goal: Establish bases in every cave biome type.
38. The Ocean Explorer
Focus on Aquamirae and ocean content. Build underwater bases and submarine fleets. End goal: Map entire ocean floor and defeat all ocean bosses.
39. The Aether Colonist
Live primarily in the Aether. Only visit overworld for essential resources. End goal: Thriving Aether civilization with multiple settlements.
🌾 Peaceful & Farming
40. The Gourmet Survivor
Focus entirely on maximizing the Spice of Life: Valheim system. Never eat the same food twice in a row. Document every recipe's buff duration and strength. Build specialized farms for ingredient diversity. End goal: Maintain maximum health (20+ hearts) for 100 days straight using only food buffs.
41. The Zookeeper
Collect and display every passive mob from Alex's Mobs. Use Domestication Innovation to enhance their abilities and create breeding programs. Build proper habitats with pet amenities. End goal: Complete zoo with every mob type enhanced to maximum potential.
42. The Merchant Prince
Master Lightman's Currency. Build shops, establish trade routes. Sell high-quality foods for premium prices (remember: food = health in BTH!). End goal: Accumulate 1 million Tiny Coins through commerce only.
43. The Beekeeper
Focus on Buzzier Bees and bee-related content. Build apiaries and honey farms. Honey-based foods provide excellent buffs! End goal: Every bee type with maximum production.
🏗️ Builder & Architect
44. The Colony Governor
Focus entirely on MineColonies. Build a massive, self-sustaining colony with specialized districts, train colonists, and defend against raids. End goal: Max-level colony with all research unlocked.
45. The Underground Architect
Create an entire underground civilization using Galosphere caves and Create contraptions. Surface is off-limits except for resources. End goal: Self-sufficient underground megacity.
🎨 Creative & Aesthetic
46. The Photographer
Document your journey with Exposure mod. Build galleries and exhibitions. End goal: 1000 unique photographs telling your story.
47. The Decorator
Master Supplementaries and every decoration mod. Build themed rooms and showcases. End goal: Create a museum of perfectly decorated spaces - medieval, modern, rustic, magical, and industrial themes.
48. The Musician
Use Etched to create music venues and albums. Host concerts. End goal: Complete album collection with custom music.
49. The Painter
Master Joy of Painting. Create art galleries and murals everywhere. End goal: Original painting in every structure you find.
🎭 Roleplay & Challenge
50. The Three Heart Challenge
Never eat food. Survive the entire game with only your base 3 hearts from Spice of Life: Valheim. Since there's no hunger bar to deplete, you won't starve - you just stay at 3 hearts forever. Ultimate hardcore mode! End goal: Defeat Ender Dragon at 3 hearts.
51. The Nocturnal
Only venture outside at night. Stay underground or indoors during day. Build elaborate underground networks to travel safely. Use nocturnal pets as companions. End goal: Complete game while minimizing daylight exposure.
52. The Minion Master
Master creature automation with Rats and Anthill Inside. Build armies of worker creatures - rats for complex tasks, ants for farming and collection. Enhance them with Domestication Innovation for armor and upgrades. Never do manual labor again! End goal: Fully automated base run entirely by your minion workforce - rats handling crafting and logistics, ants managing farms and resource collection.
53. The Plushie Collector
Complete the Plushie Challenge. Display collection prominently. End goal: 100% plushie completion with museum display.
54. The Goblin Trader
Only acquire items through trading with Goblin Traders and villagers. No crafting allowed (except cooking for survival). End goal: Full netherite equivalent gear through trade.
55. The Vegan
No killing or eating animals. Only plant-based food and materials. Challenging with the food=health system! End goal: Reach endgame without harming any creature.
56. The Hoarder
Collect and organize one of everything. Build massive storage facility. End goal: Complete item museum with every obtainable item.
57. The Speed Runner
Complete major progression milestones as fast as possible. Document times. End goal: Defeat Ender Dragon in under 10 hours.
58. The One Chunk
Build entire base in a single chunk. Use only resources from that chunk plus trading. End goal: Fully automated one-chunk base.
59. The Skyblock Convert
Start on a sky island you build. Expand using only generated resources. End goal: Thriving sky civilization without touching natural ground.
🔧 Hybrid Playstyles
60. The Magitech Engineer
Balance magic and technology equally. Use Ars Creo for integration. End goal: Base where magic and tech are indistinguishable.
61. The Void Researcher
Focus on End content and void-related mods. Build End bases and infrastructure. End goal: Make End dimension more hospitable than Overworld.
Start Your Adventure
Each playstyle offers dozens of hours of unique gameplay. Mix and match elements to create your own hybrid style. The beauty of BTH is that these aren't mutually exclusive - you can pivot between playstyles as you discover what you enjoy most.
Pro Tips for Any Playstyle:
- Join the BTH Discord to share your journey
- Document your playthrough with screenshots
- Try combining two playstyles for extra challenge
- Set personal milestone goals along the way
- Remember: the journey matters more than the destination
BTH's incredible mod variety and customization means your adventure is truly your own. Whether you're building an empire, mastering magic, engineering contraptions, or just exploring, there's always something new to discover.
Which path will you choose first?