Rusty's Retirement is an idle farming sim from solo developer Mister Morris Games, released on 26 April 2024. Its trick is the layout: the farm docks to the bottom of your screen as a thin strip so it runs beside a browser, a code editor or a stream, and a vertical side-screen mode and a slower Focus Mode exist for people who want it even less distracting. You play a robot named Rusty who plants crops, converts them into biofuel, turns biofuel into spare parts and spends those parts on more land, more bots and more robot neighbours. There are 71 achievements and a Twitch integration that lets chat run the farm, and the game sits at 97 percent positive on Steam.
This guide covers everything you need: core mechanics, the best builds, equipment worth investing in, location progression, and the tips that actually make a difference.
Core Mechanics
Bottom bar farm that shares your desktop
The window is a strip pinned to the bottom of the screen rather than a normal game window, so it stays visible while you work in something else. A vertical mode moves it to the side of the display for tall monitors, and Focus Mode slows production so the movement on screen is less likely to pull your eye. The design decision that follows from this is that nothing in the game demands a fast reaction, only occasional clicks.
Biofuel converters and spare parts
Harvested crops go into a Biofuel Converter, which needs three different crop types feeding it before it will run. Biofuel is the currency for building things, and a convert button turns it into spare parts, which buy land, seeds and decorations. One achievement asks for ten Biofuel Converters on a single farm, which tells you where the late game economy ends up.
Seven bot types running the farm
Water Bot, Harvest Bot, Biofuel Bot, Berry Bot, Feeder Bot, Waste Bot and Fertilizer Bot each handle one job and each is bought with biofuel. Once Echo's Workshop is built they can be upgraded along two lines, capacity and speed, with capacity giving the larger return on most of them. The Berry Bot is the odd one out, since it only takes speed upgrades.
Crop unlock chain and giant crops
You start with wheat, radish and cabbage, and every later crop unlocks by growing quantities of earlier ones, so planting a few tiles of a crop you do not need yet pays off later. Tomatoes, cabbage and cucumbers can grow into giant versions when planted in a 2 by 2 block, and pumpkins need a 3 by 3 block, with a rare golden pumpkin possible from the larger field. Giant crops are worth far more than the tiles they occupy, so squaring off plots matters.
Animals, waste and fertilizer loop
Slate's Barn opens the animals menu and needs fossils, which appear in field tiles as slate and have to be dug out. Cows, pigs and chickens need an animal feeder each and a Feeder Bot to keep them fed, then produce waste that a Waste Bot carries to a fertilizer facility. The fertilizer that comes back makes crops grow 25 percent faster for an hour, which is the payoff that justifies the whole chain.
For a deeper dive into how these systems interact, see our Rusty's Retirement combat guide.
Builds Overview
| Build | Tier | Playstyle | Key Stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Haiku | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Echo | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Splunk | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Slate | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Forbic | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
For full build breakdowns with gear and stat priorities, see our Rusty's Retirement builds guide. For rankings, check the tier list.
Equipment Guide
| Equipment | Why It Matters | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Water Bot | Waters crop tiles, which is the single job that stops the farm dead if it is neglected. | The first hour of any farm and every field expansion afterwards. |
| Harvest Bot | Collects finished crops and carries them to storage or a converter. | Large fields where crops finish faster than Rusty can pick them up. |
| Biofuel Bot | Moves crops into the Biofuel Converter, which needs three different crop types before it will produce anything. | Keeping converters fed once you stop clicking manually. |
| Berry Bot | Handles berry bushes specifically, and it is the one bot that only accepts speed upgrades rather than capacity. | Farms that have committed to berries as a converter input. |
| Waste Bot | Collects animal waste and delivers it to a fertilizer facility, where it converts instantly. | Any farm that has built Slate's Barn and wants the 25 percent fertilizer growth boost. |
Water Bot: Waters crop tiles, which is the single job that stops the farm dead if it is neglected. Capacity upgrades let one bot cover more tiles per trip, so a small number of upgraded Water Bots beats a crowd of unupgraded ones.
Harvest Bot: Collects finished crops and carries them to storage or a converter. Its capacity decides how many crops it can carry per run, which becomes the limiter once your plots outgrow its bag.
Biofuel Bot: Moves crops into the Biofuel Converter, which needs three different crop types before it will produce anything. Without one, the converter sits idle while your storage fills.
Berry Bot: Handles berry bushes specifically, and it is the one bot that only accepts speed upgrades rather than capacity. That makes upgrading it cheaper but caps its ceiling lower than the others.
Waste Bot: Collects animal waste and delivers it to a fertilizer facility, where it converts instantly. One achievement asks for 1,000 units of waste collected, which is a good measure of how long the animal loop runs.
Full breakdowns in our Rusty's Retirement weapons guide.
Location Progression
| Location | Level Range | Key Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Rusty's House | Present from the first minute | Unlimited crop storage, the base of the build grid |
| Biofuel Converter | First 20 minutes | Biofuel income, spare parts through the convert button |
| Echo's Workshop | Early to mid, after Haiku's House | Capacity and speed upgrades for every non-unique bot |
| Slate's Barn | Late, once spare parts run past 20,000 | Cows, pigs and chickens, fossil digging, the waste and fertilizer chain |
| Bulb Hives | Mid to late | Honey production, an extra biofuel input, the beekeeping achievements |
Rusty's House: The starting structure and your unlimited storage, which means crops carried here never overflow. Everything else on the farm is built outward from it, so leave room around it rather than boxing it in with early plots.
Biofuel Converter: Turns crops into biofuel, but only runs when three different crop types are available to it. Building more converters multiplies output, and an achievement asks for ten on one farm.
Echo's Workshop: Costs 300 biofuel plus several thousand spare parts and unlocks bot upgrades along capacity and speed lines. It is the largest single jump in farm throughput in the game, since one upgraded bot replaces two ordinary ones.
Slate's Barn: Costs 3,000 biofuel and 10,000 spare parts and opens the animals menu along with fossil collecting. Fossils come out of slate patches in field tiles, and each animal also needs a feeder built before it will arrive.
Bulb Hives: Unlocked by Forbic's House and used for beekeeping, with each additional hive costing more than the last. An achievement asks for ten on a single farm, so the hive line is a long term spare parts sink rather than an early purchase.
See our maps & locations guide for detailed area breakdowns and our walkthrough for the optimal progression path.
Tips That Actually Matter
- Buy Water Bots before any other bot, because unwatered tiles stop growing entirely and every other job depends on crops finishing.
- Click the golden cog whenever it appears on the strip, since it hands over free spare parts and costs nothing but the click.
- Plant a few tiles of crops you have no immediate use for, because later crop unlocks are gated on quantities of the earlier ones.
- Lay plots out as 2 by 2 squares for tomatoes, cabbage and cucumbers, and 3 by 3 for pumpkins, so giant crops have room to roll.
- Build Haiku's House first at 50 biofuel and 1,000 spare parts, since Haiku waters, harvests and builds and effectively doubles your labour.
- Take capacity upgrades before speed upgrades on every bot except the Berry Bot, which only offers speed.
- A Biofuel Converter will not run unless three different crop types are available to it, so never plant a single crop across the whole field.
- Use Focus Mode when you need to concentrate on other work, because it slows production rather than pausing it and keeps the farm ticking.
- Hold off on Slate's Barn until spare parts are comfortably past 20,000, since the barn plus feeders plus fossils runs into tens of thousands.
- Set signs once Splunk's House is built so seeds replant themselves, which is what turns the game from a clicker into a genuinely idle sim.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Expanding the field before buying enough Water Bots, which leaves half the farm dry and produces less than the smaller farm did.
- Planting one crop type everywhere, then finding the Biofuel Converter idle because it needs three different crops to run.
- Scattering single tiles of tomato or pumpkin, which makes giant crops impossible since they need 2 by 2 and 3 by 3 blocks.
- Spending on decorations from Sonnet's Shop before Echo's Workshop, which delays bot upgrades by hours of real time.
- Building Slate's Barn early, then stalling with no spare parts left for the animal feeders that the animals actually require.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the farm keep running while I work on something else?
Yes, that is the whole design. The window sits as a strip along the bottom of your screen, or vertically at the side, and production continues while you use other applications. Focus Mode slows the rate so there is less movement in your peripheral vision.
What should I build first?
Water Bots, then Haiku's House at 50 biofuel and 1,000 spare parts, then Echo's Workshop at 300 biofuel. Haiku adds a second worker doing everything Rusty does, and Echo unlocks the capacity upgrades that carry the rest of the run.
How do I unlock animals?
Build Slate's Barn, which costs 3,000 biofuel and 10,000 spare parts. After that each animal needs fossils, dug from slate patches in your field tiles, and an animal feeder built nearby. Cows, pigs and chickens are the three types.
What are giant crops and how do I get them?
Certain crops including tomatoes, cabbage, cucumbers and pumpkins can grow oversized when planted in a solid block. Tomatoes, cabbage and cucumbers need a 2 by 2 plot and pumpkins need 3 by 3. A golden pumpkin is a rare result from a full 3 by 3 pumpkin field.
Is there an ending?
There is no story ending. Progress runs through 71 achievements, the crop unlock chain, the seven robot neighbours and long targets such as 666 crop tiles on one farm or 10,000,000 spare parts earned. Most players treat it as a background game they return to for months.
More Rusty's Retirement Guides
- Rusty's Retirement Best Builds
- Rusty's Retirement Tier List
- Rusty's Retirement Walkthrough
- Rusty's Retirement Beginner's Guide
- Rusty's Retirement Tips & Tricks
- Rusty's Retirement Weapons Guide
- Rusty's Retirement Combat Guide
- Rusty's Retirement Boss Guide
- Rusty's Retirement Maps & Locations
- Rusty's Retirement Crafting Guide
- Rusty's Retirement Classes & Characters
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