Rusty’s Retirement is a newly released idle farming simulator which you can find on Steam. It is like Stardew Valley, but you do not have to spend a lot of time actually playing the game. As it is supposed to rest on the side of your screen while you do something else. It is a fun little game which will keep you entertained while you are getting work done. This guide will show you tips and tricks which will improve your experience in the game. Keep reading to learn more.
Best Tips & Tricks for Better Gameplay
Settings
The game offers a bunch of options in the settings to help you tailor the game to your liking. Let’s first talk about the graphics settings:
Graphics Settings
The game is pretty simple and has pixelated graphics so it is not that hard to run. If you have a fairly modern machine, you should have no trouble running this game.
However, if your laptop or computer is a bit old and you do not want the game to hog all the resources then you can change the following graphics settings to make the game lighter on your system.
- Set the FPS to 30.
- Set the value of On Demand Rendering to 1.
Display Settings
You can change the display size of your game to the one you prefer and you can place the game window anywhere you want. It can also be flipped from a horizontal setting to a vertical one. I suggest you give this setting a few minutes and set up your game in a way that is most convenient for you.
You can also play the game in Full Screen if you wish although that is not the intended way of playing. However if you have a multiple monitor setup then you can dedicate one of your monitors to the game and play it that way.
Focus Mode
In the settings menu, you will also find a toggle for Focus Mode. If you turn this option on, you will gain the ability to make your game progress faster or slower.
This mode is for those that do not want to keep looking at the game window so they can slow down their game and then focus on their work or whatever else they want to get done. The game will still be progressing like usual but at a slower rate.
I suggest that you turn on this option and set the speed of the game to one that is most relaxing for you. Remember that this game is supposed to be a fun relaxing experience.
Keybinds
Following are some keys that can make controlling the game easier for you:
- You can zoom in by using UP arrow key or M and zoom out by using DOWN arrow key or N.
- Cycle through tabs by pressing numbers from 1 to 9.
- Use Spacebar to pause your game.
- Demolish something by pressing Backspace.
- Reset your camera to Rusty by pressing R.
- Pressing I will bring out the Crop Inspector.
Customization
The game is pretty colorful and offers a lot of different color options for you to customize your farm however you like. I suggest you take advantage of that and make your farm look awesome. It will freshen up your experience.
Fertilization
This is one of the important mechanisms of this game and you should not skimp on it. Using it is pretty simple, you just apply it on your crops. Crops that are fertilized will increase their yield by 25% and this effect will last for an hour.
To get fertilizer, you need to feed your animals. Once fed, they will release manure. This manure is then collected by Waste Bots which dump it into the Fertilization Facility.
Tip: Place your Fertilization Facility close to your Waste Bots so they do not have to travel much and can get the job done faster.
Beekeeping
The game also allows you to do Beekeeping. There are 9 different types of Bushes that produce Berries and their rate of production is between 20 – 30 minutes. And you get 20 – 40 Biofuel per berry. Berries are picked by Forbic and his Drones.
You can also place Butterfly Cages which will increase the production of Berries in the Bushes. A single Cage will spawn 8 Butterflies.
Bulblets
To get more Biofuel, you can take advantage of Bulblets which look like little bugs. To spawn Bulblets, you need to place Bulb Hives. Once spawned, Bulblets will start collecting Biofuel in their containers. You can click on them to get the Biofuel they have collected.
Storage Bins
This is where you will be storing your crops. All the Storage Bins in the game are actually connected. It means if something is stored in one Storage Bin, it will also appear in the other ones.
Your Harvester Bots will harvest the crops and then store them in the Storage Bins closest to them. After that, Biofuel Bots will take out the crops from the Storage Bins to make use of them.
Splunk
Splunk is one of the Farm Members which is the last member you will unlock. He will automate the process of planting crops. He uses the latest 8 seeds that you have unlocked and plants them.
Or you can make Splunk plant the crops you want by placing Splunk’s Signs on the crop plots. You can buy Splunk’s Signs from the Sonnets Shop. Once you place a Splunk’s Sign on top of a crop plot, Splunk will only plant that specific crop there.
Tip: You can take advantage of this and make sure to plant 3 different types of crops as that will increase the Biofuel you get.
Biofuel Conversion
You can convert Biofuel to Scrap and here are the conversion rates:
- 1 Biofuel will get you 10 Scrap.
- 5 Biofuel will get you 50 Scrap.
- 10 Biofuel will get you 100 Scrap.
- 50 Biofuel will get you 500 Scrap.
- 100 Biofuel will get you 1000 Scrap.
- 500 Biofuel will get you 5000 Scrap.
- 999 Biofuel will get you 9990 Scrap.
Priorities
If you are running low on a specific resource or want to get something done faster, then you can use the Priority mechanism of the game. It allows you to set Priorities for Rusty and Haiku. They will focus on the thing that is on top of the Priority List and once that is done, they will move down to the next thing that is on the list.
Upgrading Bots
This is also one of the most important mechanisms in the game that you need to keep in mind. As you know, Bots are responsible for doing most of the work on your farm. So upgrading them can be very beneficial. Which is why I suggest you upgrade your Bots whenever you can.
The only downside is the Recharge Cost so make sure to upgrade the Bots that are more important first and will have a bigger impact on your farm.
Other Farm Types
Playing on a single Farm can get boring in due time so that is why the game offers a bunch of different Farms for you to experience. Each Farm brings a new problem for you to cope with which can keep things interesting. Those extra Farms will be locked in the beginning and you will have to unlock them as you keep playing.
Here are the different Farms that you can play in:
- Basic Farm
- The simplest farm that is unlocked from the start. No extra conditions or challenges.
- Swamp Farm
- You will not need Water Wells in this Farm as water can naturally flow. However it can also get in your way so you will have to deal with that.
- Desert Farm
- This Farm will have extreme heat which will make your crops dry out if they are not watered quickly enough (about every 2 minutes and 6 minutes if they are ready for harvest).
- Blossom Farm
- This Farm will have stuff that you can not remove so they will get in your way and you would have to work around them.
- Oasis Farm
- This Farm is a combination of the Desert and Blossom Farms, you will find aspects of both of those in this Farm.
Tip: The game allows you to have multiple save files so do not worry about starting new Farms as your old Farms will not be affected.
This is it for this guide, I hope it was of help! If you are interested in getting all the achievements that are offered by the game then I suggest you check this out: Rusty’s Retirement: Complete Achievements Guide (100%). It has every achievement neatly explained, give it a read!
