Beginner Guide

What you are actually doing

You’re a former scavenger running a storefront on a dystopian space station. You got the shop on a loan, the rent keeps rising, and the win condition is to buy the store from the landlord OfficialOfficial. In practice each in-game day has two halves:

• Shop hours. Customers come to the counter one at a time. You can buy from sellers, sell to buyers, haggle, refuse, report, or “look away” Official. Every item has its own risk. Cigarette packs need a visual check, water has to be tested and filtered, weapons need permits, and rare items need appraising so you don’t overpay Official.
• After hours. You can leave the shop for after-hours locations, such as the scavenging dumping grounds, or stay in and let machines run overnight Official. Community testing says going out costs you one random customer the next day Community.

Before you sleep, the end-of-day screen bills services such as power. A community guide notes that these fees come out of the cash you hold at that moment, so tonight’s machine output can’t cover them Community.

Controls the tutorial goes quickly over

These come from the official patch notes unless marked otherwise Official:

Pick a start and a difficulty

1.0 ships with 9 starting scenarios and 4 difficulty options, chosen after the scenario Official. For the first run:

• Apprentice is a generalist start, “best for beginners” according to the developer Official.
• The Aquafarmer start is described as slower-paced and more beginner-friendly than rat ranching Official.
• Avoid the Sentinel Collapse Disorder option on your first run. The developer’s own advice: “Seriously, don’t.” Official
• The guide author 诺布诺布 notes that the two easier difficulties apply a default retail markup and lower costs, while the two harder ones don’t. On the harder ones you live on purchase discounts, event price spikes and value added by crafting Community.

Compare all nine on the starting scenarios page.

Your first week, day by day

The timeline below comes from a community playthrough of an Apprentice start with the tutorial on, on the hardest difficulty Community. Prices and dates may differ on easier settings, so use it as a shape, not a script.

Seven habits that keep a run alive

1. Rent first, always. The rent rises over the run and confiscated stock can wipe out a week’s margin Official. Count next rent as already spent.
2. Inspect before you pay. Suppliers overstate value and contraband problems often show up only after the deal Official. Testing water you buy catches mislabels and gets you a discount Community.
3. Don’t overstuff the display case. It brings buyers and sellers, but signs compete for a limited number of customer slots, and low-priority signs may never roll Community. See how to make money.
4. Keep store attractiveness at 100 or above. Below 100, the display case stops generating buyers entirely Community.
5. Don’t sell your starting water jug on a water start. It can be a long while before you find another Community.
6. Machines must earn their keep. “Every purchase needs to earn its keep” comes from the store page itself Official. Count battery and power costs before you buy a production line. See machines & automation.
7. Read the patch notes. Balance is moving fast after launch. On day two, hotfix 1.0.0.2 cut the Moisture Farm price from 650 to 350 and the Water Filter price from 50 to 25 Official. We track every change on the patch notes page.

When you are ready for more

• Run the numbers on the endgame in how to buy the store. The buyout and the mortgage are both covered.
• Learn the most reliable early earner in water purification.
• Learn the security, smuggling & augs rules before you touch contraband.