5 things to do first in Rusty’s Retirement

The first thing that 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 thing, and then there was just a cool, Stardew Valley-esque game sitting at the bottom of my screen. With no instructions or introduction to the game, I just started clicking. After some hours though, I've figured out the five things to do first in Rusty's Retirement to help you out.

What to do first in Rusty's Retirement

The HELP section found under Settings (the cog in the menu on your right, which you can open by clicking any of the tabs) wasn't very helpful to me as I tried to figure out where to start and how to actually play the game. So, here are five things you should do first to get your farm up and running while you enjoy the soothing music that Rusty's Retirement plays.

1. Plant your first crop

When you start your farm, you'll 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 that, click on the wheat with your mouse, glide over to the empty crop field, and click to plant it. You can click and drag your mouse to save time.

Once you've planted your first crop and earned more Spare Parts, you can go on to plant radishes and cabbages. You'll need all three to get your farm running properly.

2. Dig a new crop patch

You won't get very far planting one type of crop at a time on your singular field, so it's time to invest in a new crop patch. There are three sizes to choose from (4x4, 3x3, 2x2), but I stuck with the 4x4 crop patch because I wanted a uniform farm. You know, like most farming game players do.

Click on the crop patch you want to buy and move your mouse over to the area you want it. The game will outline the edges in white so you can see where it's going. If the corners are red, that means something is in the way and you can't build your crop patch there.

Once Rusty finishes building the crop patch, plant more crops!

3. Build your first bot

After getting a few crops through the generator, you should have earned enough Spare Parts and Biofuel to build your first helpful robot. Click the menu tab that looks like a house to open up the Buildings and Houses menu. There are three bots, which are found on the second line: The Water Bot, Harvest Bot, and Biofuel Bot.

Each of these bots plays an important role in your idle farm, allowing Rusty to relax more during his retirement. Start with the Water Bot and then make your way down the line purely because of the difference in cost. 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 is looking 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 that you don't have to worry about that as your farm advances.

You have to hit certain targets to unlock each crop. The fourth crop available is a leek, which you'll find you unlock pretty early on while working on your farm. I honestly didn't even notice that I'd unlocked it (it's only four wheat and four radishes).

After leeks, you can unlock carrots by having 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're investing in the ones that net you the biggest return as you unlock more.

Celery takes a fair bit more work. You'll need 18 wheat, 33 radishes, and 17 leeks to unlock this crop.

5. Build Haiku's House

You have all three bots, you've started unlocking crops, and Rusty's Retirement farm is looking pretty good. That was all 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 various houses you can build that have helpful features. The cheapest house to build in Rusty's Retirement is 50 Biofuel and 1000 Spare Parts. This is Haiku's House. Haiku helps with some of the same tasks that Rusty does, but not all of them. The most important thing is that Haiku can help with building, which is something that none of your three funky robot friends can do.

By this point, you'll be running out of room. Your starting farm in Rusty's Retirement isn't huge, after all. To the left and right of your farm, you may have noticed areas that look like a scrapyard. The first one of these on either side of your idle farm costs 6000 Spare Parts to unlock and add extra space to your farm. From there, the price increases quite dramatically, but these first two are good goals to aim for.

What are Spare Parts and Biofuel for?

Both Spare Parts and Biofuel act as currency in Rusty's Retirement. They are a by-product of you producing crops and putting them into the Biofuel generator. You'll get less Biofuel, but it's worth more than Spare Parts. You won't be able to plant crops, build houses, or do much of anything without having these two items. Similarly, you can't get Biofuel and Spare Parts without having crops.

You can use the converter in the menu to convert excess Biofuel into Spare Parts. This is useful because you'll consistently earn Biofuel once you have three different crops to put in the generator, and things that you can unlock cost less Biofuel than Spare Parts.

Now that you understand more about Rusty's Retirement, enjoy having a cute idle farming game at the bottom or the side of your screen while you work on something else. It'll pretty much look after itself, you just need to come back and plant more crops or build new things every now and then.

Looking for more Pro Game Guides idle game content? Check out our guide on Best Idle Mobile Games and Best Heroes in Idle Heroes.