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 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 | Rusty's House | Bottom bar farm that shares your desktop basics | Echo | 1-2 hours |
| 2. Early | Biofuel Converter | Biofuel converters and spare parts mastery | Echo | 3-5 hours |
| 3. Mid | Echo's Workshop | Seven bot types running the farm + gear | Haiku or Echo | 5-10 hours |
| 4. Late | Slate's Barn | Build optimization | Haiku | 5-10 hours |
| 5. Endgame | Bulb Hives | Min-max | Haiku or Forbic | Ongoing |
See our maps guide for detailed area breakdowns.
Phase 1: Getting Started (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.
Level/Difficulty: Present from the first minute Key Rewards: Unlimited crop storage, the base of the build grid
What to Do in Rusty's House
- Learn 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. Spend your first session getting comfortable with this.
- Pick Echo as your starting build. See our builds guide for why.
- Buy Water Bots before any other bot, because unwatered tiles stop growing entirely and every other job depends on crops finishing.
- Acquire your first equipment upgrade: Harvest Bot or whatever's available.
- Clear all main content before moving on.
Phase 1 Checklist
- Understand Bottom bar farm that shares your desktop fundamentals
- Echo selected and functional
- Rusty's House main content cleared
- Ready for Biofuel Converter
Phase 2: Early Game (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.
Level/Difficulty: First 20 minutes Key Rewards: Biofuel income, spare parts through the convert button
What to Do in Biofuel Converter
- Work on Biofuel converters and spare parts. Harvested crops go into a Biofuel Converter, which needs three different crop types feeding it before it will run. This system becomes critical from here on.
- Farm for Harvest Bot if you haven't already. It's the key upgrade for this phase.
- Click the golden cog whenever it appears on the strip, since it hands over free spare parts and costs nothing but the click.
- Complete all objectives before pushing to Echo's Workshop.
- Consider whether Haiku might suit your playstyle better than Echo.
Phase 2 Checklist
- Biofuel converters and spare parts integrated into gameplay
- Harvest Bot acquired
- Biofuel Converter fully cleared
- Ready for Echo's Workshop
Phase 3: Mid Game (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.
Level/Difficulty: Early to mid, after Haiku's House Key Rewards: Capacity and speed upgrades for every non-unique bot
What to Do in Echo's Workshop
- Master 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. This unlocks a new layer of gameplay.
- Start working toward Water Bot. It's the best equipment and becomes accessible around now.
- Plant a few tiles of crops you have no immediate use for, because later crop unlocks are gated on quantities of the earlier ones.
- This area is the main skill check. If you can clear it, you're ready for late game.
- Start investing in Crop unlock chain and giant crops for the tactical depth you'll need going forward.
Phase 3 Checklist
- Seven bot types running the farm mastered
- Water Bot acquired or in progress
- Echo's Workshop fully cleared
- Ready for Slate's Barn
Phase 4: Late Game (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.
Level/Difficulty: Late, once spare parts run past 20,000 Key Rewards: Cows, pigs and chickens, fossil digging, the waste and fertilizer chain
What to Do in Slate's Barn
- Finalize your build. You should be running Haiku or Echo with optimized gear.
- Water Bot should be your primary. If you don't have it yet, prioritize getting it.
- 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.
- Animals, waste and fertilizer loop optimization starts here. Small improvements compound into massive advantages.
- Farm this area for the resources needed to push into Bulb Hives.
Phase 4 Checklist
- Build fully optimized
- Water Bot upgraded to max
- Slate's Barn fully cleared
- Ready for Bulb Hives
Phase 5: Endgame (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.
Level/Difficulty: Mid to late Key Rewards: Honey production, an extra biofuel input, the beekeeping achievements
What to Do in Bulb Hives
- Bulb Hives tests everything. Come prepared with your best build and gear.
- Build Haiku's House first at 50 biofuel and 1,000 spare parts, since Haiku waters, harvests and builds and effectively doubles your labour.
- The endgame loop: run Bulb Hives, optimize gear, push harder content.
- Experiment with Forbic for a fresh take once you've mastered the standard builds.
- This is where Animals, waste and fertilizer loop 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
- Bulb Hives fully cleared
- Ready for challenge content
Common Progression Mistakes
- 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.
Key Tips for Smooth Progression
- 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.
For more advanced strategies, see our tips & tricks guide.
More Rusty's Retirement Guides
- Rusty's Retirement Rusty's Retirement Overview
- Rusty's Retirement Best Builds
- Rusty's Retirement Tier List
- 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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