Rec Room Inc. put Rec Room on Steam on 1 June 2016 as a free social platform, and it now cross plays across PC, SteamVR, Meta Quest, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, iOS, Android and PICO headsets. The Rec Center is the hub, and its doors lead to first party games including Paintball, Laser Tag, Rec Royale, Dodgeball, Disc Golf, Soccer, Bowling and Paddleball. Everything beyond that is player built with the Maker Pen and Circuits V2, and creators who sell rooms and items can convert their earnings into real money.
This walkthrough takes you from your first session to endgame content. Each phase has specific goals, priorities, and milestones. New to the game? Start with our beginner's guide first.
Quick Progression Summary
| Phase | Area | Focus | Build | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Start | Rec Center | Maker Pen building basics | Circuits engineer | 1-2 hours |
| 2. Early | Rec Royale | Circuits V2 visual scripting mastery | Circuits engineer | 3-5 hours |
| 3. Mid | Quest for the Golden Trophy | Rec Room Studio and Unity + gear | Room creator or Circuits engineer | 5-10 hours |
| 4. Late | Isle of Lost Skulls | Build optimization | Room creator | 5-10 hours |
| 5. Endgame | Curse of the Crimson Cauldron | Min-max | Room creator or PvP competitor | Ongoing |
See our maps guide for detailed area breakdowns.
Phase 1: Getting Started (Rec Center)
The hub every account starts from, with doors sorted into categories including a Sports and PvP door that leads to Paintball, Rec Royale, Laser Tag, Bowling, Dodgeball, Disc Golf, Soccer and Paddleball. It is also where most players first meet the Maker Pen.
Level/Difficulty: Available from account creation Key Rewards: Access to every Rec Room Original and the route into player made rooms
What to Do in Rec Center
- Learn Maker Pen building. The Maker Pen arrived in October 2017 and replaced the older 3D Pen, adding more shapes, a wider colour set and a Clone tool. Spend your first session getting comfortable with this.
- Pick Circuits engineer as your starting build. See our builds guide for why.
- Circuits V2 ports are colour coded for a reason: orange carries execution signals, blue carries floating point values, green carries integers and purple carries text. Matching colours is the quickest debugging pass on a board that will not fire.
- Acquire your first equipment upgrade: Splat Sniper or whatever's available.
- Clear all main content before moving on.
Phase 1 Checklist
- Understand Maker Pen building fundamentals
- Circuits engineer selected and functional
- Rec Center main content cleared
- Ready for Rec Royale
Phase 2: Early Game (Rec Royale)
The battle royale original, where the full weapon list appears as ground loot rather than as a chosen loadout. Solo and squad variants both run, and it mixes the paint weapons with the laser weapons in the same pool.
Level/Difficulty: Open to all players, PvP Key Rewards: Tokens from playing an Original, plus the fastest way to learn every weapon
What to Do in Rec Royale
- Work on Circuits V2 visual scripting. Circuits V2 replaced the original wiring system in 2021 with grey rectangular chips and colour coded ports: orange for execution signals, blue for floating point values, green for integers and purple for text. This system becomes critical from here on.
- Farm for Splat Sniper if you haven't already. It's the key upgrade for this phase.
- Every room has an ink budget for Maker Pen geometry. Build the game loop first and decorate afterwards, because a room that runs out of ink halfway through the decoration pass has to be rebuilt rather than trimmed.
- Complete all objectives before pushing to Quest for the Golden Trophy.
- Consider whether Room creator might suit your playstyle better than Circuits engineer.
Phase 2 Checklist
- Circuits V2 visual scripting integrated into gameplay
- Splat Sniper acquired
- Rec Royale fully cleared
- Ready for Quest for the Golden Trophy
Phase 3: Mid Game (Quest for the Golden Trophy)
The original co-op quest, running one to four players through nine acts of fantasy enemies to a final boss. Finishing all nine acts and the boss awards each player a chest containing an item from the Golden Trophy cosmetic sets.
Level/Difficulty: 1 to 4 players, co-op Key Rewards: Golden Trophy cosmetic set items from the completion chest
What to Do in Quest for the Golden Trophy
- Master Rec Room Studio and Unity. Announced in September 2022 as a partnership with Unity, Studio brings professional asset pipelines to Rec Room rooms. This unlocks a new layer of gameplay.
- Start working toward Splat Shotgun. It's the best equipment and becomes accessible around now.
- Tokens come from three places: real money, the Rec Room Plus subscription, and playing Rec Room Originals. Players who only enter user made rooms miss the free earning route entirely.
- This area is the main skill check. If you can clear it, you're ready for late game.
- Start investing in Tokens and creator payouts for the tactical depth you'll need going forward.
Phase 3 Checklist
- Rec Room Studio and Unity mastered
- Splat Shotgun acquired or in progress
- Quest for the Golden Trophy fully cleared
- Ready for Isle of Lost Skulls
Phase 4: Late Game (Isle of Lost Skulls)
A pirate themed co-op quest for up to three players, built around fighting through enemy filled levels and smashing breakable loot containers. Beating the final boss awards a treasure chest.
Level/Difficulty: Up to 3 players, co-op Key Rewards: Treasure chest drops and pirate themed cosmetics
What to Do in Isle of Lost Skulls
- Finalize your build. You should be running Room creator or Circuits engineer with optimized gear.
- Splat Shotgun should be your primary. If you don't have it yet, prioritize getting it.
- Rec Room Studio requires an account at level 20 or above, published rooms and a clean moderation history. Those three gates are easier to clear with several small finished rooms than with one ambitious unfinished one.
- Cross play between VR and screen optimization starts here. Small improvements compound into massive advantages.
- Farm this area for the resources needed to push into Curse of the Crimson Cauldron.
Phase 4 Checklist
- Build fully optimized
- Splat Shotgun upgraded to max
- Isle of Lost Skulls fully cleared
- Ready for Curse of the Crimson Cauldron
Phase 5: Endgame (Curse of the Crimson Cauldron)
The hardest and longest of the official quests, adding dynamic encounters with less predictable enemy behaviour alongside puzzle solving and environmental hazards. Bring a coordinated party rather than a random group.
Level/Difficulty: Co-op, hardest official quest Key Rewards: Crimson Cauldron cosmetics and the toughest quest completion in the game
What to Do in Curse of the Crimson Cauldron
- Curse of the Crimson Cauldron tests everything. Come prepared with your best build and gear.
- VR and screen players are in the same lobbies, and they are good at different things. Screen players generally do better with the Splat Shotgun and the Wand, while VR players get more out of the Bow and the Splat Sniper.
- The endgame loop: run Curse of the Crimson Cauldron, optimize gear, push harder content.
- Experiment with PvP competitor for a fresh take once you've mastered the standard builds.
- This is where Cross play between VR and screen mastery separates good players from great ones. See our tips guide for advanced strategies.
Phase 5 Checklist
- Endgame content on farm
- Best-in-slot gear acquired
- Curse of the Crimson Cauldron fully cleared
- Ready for challenge content
Common Progression Mistakes
- Following Maker Pen tutorials from before December 2017. Saved Rooms did not exist until that update, so older guides describe a build workflow where nothing persisted.
- Wiring Circuits V2 by trial and error instead of reading the port colours. A blue float output will not connect to a green integer input, and that refusal is the system telling you where the bug is.
- Buying Tokens before playing any Rec Room Originals. Originals grant Tokens for playing them, and a few sessions of Paintball or Rec Royale cover a lot of cosmetics.
- Taking the Bow into a quest as a screen player. The arc and draw mechanics are built around VR hand tracking, and the Wand covers the same ranged role far more comfortably on a controller.
- Attempting Curse of the Crimson Cauldron with a random party on a first run. It is the longest and hardest official quest, with hazards and puzzles that punish a group that cannot communicate.
Key Tips for Smooth Progression
- Circuits V2 ports are colour coded for a reason: orange carries execution signals, blue carries floating point values, green carries integers and purple carries text. Matching colours is the quickest debugging pass on a board that will not fire.
- Every room has an ink budget for Maker Pen geometry. Build the game loop first and decorate afterwards, because a room that runs out of ink halfway through the decoration pass has to be rebuilt rather than trimmed.
- Tokens come from three places: real money, the Rec Room Plus subscription, and playing Rec Room Originals. Players who only enter user made rooms miss the free earning route entirely.
- Rec Room Studio requires an account at level 20 or above, published rooms and a clean moderation history. Those three gates are easier to clear with several small finished rooms than with one ambitious unfinished one.
- VR and screen players are in the same lobbies, and they are good at different things. Screen players generally do better with the Splat Shotgun and the Wand, while VR players get more out of the Bow and the Splat Sniper.
For more advanced strategies, see our tips & tricks guide.
More Rec Room Guides
- Rec Room Rec Room Overview
- Rec Room Best Builds
- Rec Room Tier List
- Rec Room Beginner's Guide
- Rec Room Tips & Tricks
- Rec Room Weapons Guide
- Rec Room Combat Guide
- Rec Room Boss Guide
- Rec Room Maps & Locations
- Rec Room Crafting Guide
- Rec Room Classes & Characters
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