Ranch Simulator hands you a run down family homestead in a forested valley and a blueprint book, then leaves you to rebuild it board by board. You raise chickens, cattle, pigs and horses, grow crops, sell milk and eggs at the General Store, and take an axe or a rifle into the woods for deer, bears and wolves. PCGamesN called it House Flipper meets Red Dead Redemption 2, which is a fair description of a game where you can spend an hour nailing planks and the next hour dragging a deer carcass to a truck.
These tips go beyond the basics. They're the strategies experienced players use to play more efficiently, the hidden mechanics most people miss, and the optimizations that compound over a full playthrough. If you're just starting, check our beginner's guide first.
Essential Tips
1. Buy the axe, crowbar and table saw from the Hardware Store before anything else, because cutting your own planks removes the biggest early cash drain
Buy the axe, crowbar and table saw from the Hardware Store before anything else, because cutting your own planks removes the biggest early cash drain.
2. Collect the blueprint book from the car shop during the tutorial, since every structure in the game is placed from that notebook through the radial menu
Collect the blueprint book from the car shop during the tutorial, since every structure in the game is placed from that notebook through the radial menu.
3. Start with chickens at 50 dollars each rather than cattle
Start with chickens at 50 dollars each rather than cattle. They lay once a day, usually in the evening, and pay back the outlay fastest.
4. Skip the small coop and build the big one
Skip the small coop and build the big one. There are five sizes from Small to Expensive, and the small coop runs out of room almost immediately.
5. Add a granary once you have more than a handful of animals, because it refills feeders and troughs automatically instead of you doing laps with a bucket
Add a granary once you have more than a handful of animals, because it refills feeders and troughs automatically instead of you doing laps with a bucket.
6. Build a windmill for the same reason on the water side, since it keeps every water bowl topped up without manual trips
Build a windmill for the same reason on the water side, since it keeps every water bowl topped up without manual trips.
7. Buy a milk can before you buy your first cow, otherwise you cannot transport or sell the milk you are collecting twice a day
Buy a milk can before you buy your first cow, otherwise you cannot transport or sell the milk you are collecting twice a day.
8. Keep barn doors closed and locked
Keep barn doors closed and locked. Cows walk out of an open barn and finding them again costs more time than the milk was worth.
9. Do not build a greenhouse expecting faster crops
Do not build a greenhouse expecting faster crops. Players have found it makes no difference to growth and is purely a look.
10. Plan hauling routes around the gas station, because it is the single refuelling point for the UTV, both pickups and the SUV
Plan hauling routes around the gas station, because it is the single refuelling point for the UTV, both pickups and the SUV.
Advanced Strategies
Build Optimization
The difference between an average build and an optimized one is massive. See our builds guide for full breakdowns.
For Chicken and egg operation (A-Tier):
- Focus on Blueprint book building combinations for maximum output.
- Core gear: Axe
- Stat priority: Offensive stats first
For Cattle and dairy (A-Tier):
- Versatile approach that handles any situation.
- Core gear: Crowbar
- Stat priority: Balanced stats
Mechanic Interactions
Understanding how Ranch Simulator: Build, Hunt, Farm's systems interact is where the real optimization lives. Our combat guide covers this in detail.
Blueprint book building + Livestock feeding and breeding: The radial menu opens a blueprint notebook you collect from the car shop during the tutorial. Combined with Livestock feeding and breeding, chickens, cows, pigs, goats and horses all need feed and water.
Hunting deer bears and wolves + Selling produce at the General Store: The base game has three wild animals. When paired with Selling produce at the General Store, eggs, milk, meat, cheese, sausages and trained horses all convert to cash at the general store.
Vehicles and fuel scaling: You can own a UTV, a small pickup, a large pickup and an SUV, and every one of them burns fuel. The gas station is the only place on the map that refills a vehicle or a jerry can, so plan hauling trips around it.
Equipment Efficiency
| Equipment | Best Use Case | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Axe | Turning the forest around the homestead into free building material | The first purchase at the Hardware Store, used to fell trees for the logs that feed the table saw. |
| Crowbar | Tearing out rotten walls and floors during the renovation phase | The demolition tool for stripping the derelict farmhouse back to a frame you can rebuild. |
| Table Saw | Building coops, barns and fences without draining your cash | Cuts felled logs into the planks every blueprint consumes, which is what stops you paying the Hardware Store for lumber. |
| Handgun | Wolf defence and early meat income before you can afford a rifle | Found in a chest in the attic of the old farmhouse during the tutorial, and enough to kill a wolf in one shot for two wild meat. |
| Hunting Rifle | Deer and bears, where a handgun round is not enough | The proper hunting weapon, added in a later update, and the sensible answer to deer at range and bears at any range. |
Location Efficiency
Your Homestead (Day 1 onward): The derelict family ranch you inherit, complete with the attic chest that holds the tutorial handgun and the ground you will fill with coops and barns.
General Store (Day 1 onward): Livestock, feed and ammunition in, eggs, milk, meat and horses out. Chickens are 50 dollars, roosters are 250 and handgun ammo is about 40 dollars a pack.
Hardware Store (Day 1 onward): Tools, building materials and paint. The axe, crowbar and table saw all come from here, and it is the fallback when you run out of self cut planks.
Gas Station (Once you own a vehicle): The only refuelling point on the map for both vehicles and jerry cans. The stretch of road between here and the Hardware Store, near the bus stop, is a reliable wolf spot.
The Lake (Once you own a rifle): The flat open ground by the lake, between the neighbouring ranch and the Hardware Store, is where bears turn up most consistently.
Mistakes Even Veterans Make
- Buying building materials from the Hardware Store when an axe and a table saw would have produced the same planks from your own trees for free.
- Building the small coop first and having to demolish and rebuild once the flock outgrows it inside a few in game days.
- Buying cows before owning a milk can, which leaves the milk uncollectable and the investment idle.
- Leaving barn and pen doors open so livestock escape onto the road and scatter across the valley.
- Charging a bear with the tutorial handgun instead of a rifle, which usually ends with a trip back to the farmhouse and nothing to show for it.
Pro Quick Tips
- Buy the axe, crowbar and table saw from the Hardware Store before anything else, because cutting your own planks removes the biggest early cash drain.
- Collect the blueprint book from the car shop during the tutorial, since every structure in the game is placed from that notebook through the radial menu.
- Start with chickens at 50 dollars each rather than cattle. They lay once a day, usually in the evening, and pay back the outlay fastest.
- Start with Cattle and dairy, switch to Chicken and egg operation when ready
- Invest in Axe above everything else
- Clear areas in order: Your Homestead → General Store → Hardware Store → Gas Station → The Lake. See our maps guide
- Blueprint book building + Livestock feeding and breeding together are stronger than either alone
More Ranch Simulator: Build, Hunt, Farm Guides
- Ranch Simulator: Build, Hunt, Farm Ranch Simulator: Build, Hunt, Farm Overview
- Ranch Simulator: Build, Hunt, Farm Best Builds
- Ranch Simulator: Build, Hunt, Farm Tier List
- Ranch Simulator: Build, Hunt, Farm Walkthrough
- Ranch Simulator: Build, Hunt, Farm Beginner's Guide
- Ranch Simulator: Build, Hunt, Farm Weapons Guide
- Ranch Simulator: Build, Hunt, Farm Combat Guide
- Ranch Simulator: Build, Hunt, Farm Boss Guide
- Ranch Simulator: Build, Hunt, Farm Maps & Locations
- Ranch Simulator: Build, Hunt, Farm Crafting Guide
- Ranch Simulator: Build, Hunt, Farm Classes & Characters
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If you enjoy Ranch Simulator: Build, Hunt, Farm, check out these related guides:
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