The first thing I realized when I opened Rusty’s Retirement was that I had no idea how to play this game. Opening a new save file was the easiest, and then there was a cool, Stardew Valley-style game at the bottom of my screen. With no instructions or introduction to the game, I just started clicking. However, after a few hours, I discovered the five things you should do first at Rusty’s Retirement to help you.
What to do first at Rusty’s Retirement
The HELP section found in Settings (the cog in the menu to your right, which you can open by clicking on any of the tabs) wasn’t very helpful to me as I was trying to figure out where to start and how to actually play the game. . So, here are five things you need to do first to get your farm up and running while you enjoy the relaxing music playing from Rusty’s Retirement.
1. Plant your first harvest
When you start your farm, you will have three crops to choose from under the tab that looks like a strawberry. These are wheat, radishes and cabbages. You’ll want to start by planting some wheat. To do this, click on the wheat with your mouse, slide over to the empty crop field, and click to plant it. You can click and drag your mouse to save time.
Once you have planted your first crop and obtained more spare parts, you can continue planting radishes and cabbages. You will need all three for your farm to function properly.
2. Dig a new crop plot
You won’t get very far planting one type of crop at a time in your singular field, so it’s time to invest in a new crop plot. There are three sizes to choose from (4×4, 3×3, 2×2), but I stuck with the 4×4 grow patch because I wanted a uniform farm. You know, like most farming game players do.
Click on the crop patch you want to purchase and move your mouse to the area you want. The game will outline the edges in white so you can see where it’s going. If the corners are red, that means there is something in the way and you can’t build your garden there.
Once Rusty finishes building the garden, plant more crops!
3. Build your first bot
After getting some crops through the generator, you should have earned enough spare parts and biofuel to build your first useful robot. Click on the menu tab that looks like a house to open the Buildings and Houses menu. There are three robots, which are in the second line: Water Bot, Harvest Bot and Biofuel Bot.
Each of these robots plays an important role in your idle farm, allowing Rusty to relax more during his retirement. Start with the Water Bot and then move up simply because of the cost difference. Each one will help Rusty, so it doesn’t really matter if you buy the most expensive bot first.
4. Unlock more crops
Your farm looks great and I’m sure Rusty is enjoying his retirement. But planting the same three crops is boring. Next on your list is the task of unlocking more crops so you don’t have to worry about that as your farm progresses.
You have to achieve certain objectives to unlock each crop. The fourth crop available is a leek, which you will unlock early on while working on your farm. I honestly didn’t even realize I had unlocked it (it’s just four wheats and four radishes).
After the leeks, you can unlock carrots if you have 10 radishes and 18 cabbages available. Each crop in the game gives you a different amount of biofuel and spare parts, so if you’re trying to maximize the returns from your farming efforts, make sure you invest in the ones that will give you the biggest return as you unlock more. .
Celery requires a little more work. You will need 18 Wheat, 33 Radishes, and 17 Leeks to unlock this crop.
5. Build Haiku’s house
You’ve got all three robots, you’ve started unlocking crops, and Rusty’s retirement farm is looking pretty good. That was all about the easy stuff compared to what you should be focusing on next.
In the Buildings and Houses menu tab, I’m sure you’ve noticed several houses that you can build that have useful features. The cheapest house to build in Rusty’s Retirement costs 50 Biofuels and 1000 Spares. This is the House of Haiku. Haiku helps with some of the same tasks that Rusty does, but not all. Most importantly, Haiku can help with construction, something none of your three original robot friends can do.
At this point, you will be running out of space. After all, your starting farm in Rusty’s Retirement isn’t huge. To the left and right of your farm, you may have noticed areas that look like a junkyard. The first of these on either side of your idle farm costs 6,000 spare parts to unlock and add additional space to your farm. From there, the price increases dramatically, but these first two are good goals to aim for.
What are Spare Parts and Biofuels for?
Both spare parts and biofuel act as currency at Rusty’s Retirement. They are a byproduct of crop production and their introduction into the biofuel generator. You will get less biofuel, but it is worth more than refills. You won’t be able to plant crops, build houses, or do much of anything without having these two items. Likewise, you cannot get biofuels and spare parts without growing crops.
You can use the converter in the menu to convert excess Biofuel into Spare Parts. This is useful because you’ll constantly get biofuel once you have three different crops to put into the generator, and the things you can unlock cost less biofuel than spare parts.
Now that you understand more about Rusty’s Retirement, enjoy a nice idle farming game on the bottom or side of your screen while you work on something else. It will practically take care of itself, you just need to go back and plant more crops or build new things from time to time.
Looking for more idle gaming content from Pro Gaming Guides? Check out our guide on the best idle mobile games and the best heroes in Idle Heroes.