Steam store screenshot. Midnight Workshop / Lilith Games.
The preparation phase is a logistics puzzle with a clock. You are not “surviving” yet. You are converting time + cash + free loot into four systems: transport, power, defense, food. If a purchase does not serve one of those, skip it.
Numbers below are community-reported for August 2026 patches (notably 13 / 15 / 20 Aug). Starting cash changes with difficulty. Treat prices as a shopping order, not a speedrun TAS.
Opening wallet
On a standard opening, players consistently report:
| Source | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Starting cash | $1,000 on easier setups; $700 on the harshest community “zero-rebirth” route | Confirm on your difficulty card |
| Wallet on the table | $70 | Grab before you leave |
| Small loan | $500 | Take it. Interest is cheaper than a slow walk |
| Neighbor at the discount supermarket | $100 | Talk to her; you may not have this in hand on trip one |
| Return a flowerpot | $10 | Tiny, but it also frees a furniture grid |
Theoretical top-end on the generous opening is about $1,680. Plan purchases as if the neighbor’s $100 arrives late.
Harder difficulties start closer to $1,370 total (JadeChest’s hoarding-difficulty notes: 700 + 500 + 70 + 100). Cut the second freezer and the “nice” oven first.
Buy order (the one that pays rent)
Steam store screenshot. Midnight Workshop / Lilith Games.
1. Strip the house, then move
Dismantle the sofa / beanbag, newspaper piles, and the wood stack west of the workbench. Park scrap in cabinets. Install the house plant if it is sitting on a tile you need for appliances. Grid space is a resource.
2. Car dealership — buy the $500 car
This is the most argued purchase and the one still worth making. Community timing (comment on the hoarding-difficulty guide, 20 Aug):
| Mode | Example loop time |
|---|---|
| Walk | ~210 minutes for a long circuit |
| Bike | ~193 |
| Car | ~155 |
The car also acts as a rolling chest. Buy the middle cheap sedan. Some players refund it after prep; even then, the hours you saved are the real item.
Loot the lot for electronics and fuel before you leave. Those two piles are rarer than canned food.
3. Renovation company — house kit
Sell furniture you will not keep (bed and toilet stay). Then buy systems, not décor.
| Item | Why it exists | Skip if broke |
|---|---|---|
| Titanium / alloy door | Wave HP. First-wave “2000 durability” comments assume a real door | Never |
| Bulletproof window | Wave two hits glass | Never |
| Air conditioner | Cold snap ~day 35 on many runs | Never |
| Home battery | Holds solar / generator overflow | Rarely |
| Fuel generator (medium if you can) | Overcast / later weather makes solar unreliable | Buy small if needed |
| Microwave or electric oven | You need one powered cooker | Microwave is the budget cooker |
| Juicer | Flagged mandatory after the 13 Aug patch — juice is trade bait | Do not skip |
| Large fridge | Student runs often want two | Second fridge is the first cut |
| Solar panel | Craftable later on some characters | Optional if cash is ugly |
Do not buy books for morale. Neighbor gifts cover that loop. Do not buy large storage racks if your character can craft them.
Install two pieces on the first home drop (AC + door is a strong pair) because stamina is free during prep.
4. Tool shop — fragments, not toys
Buy a small stack of broken glass, iron, plastic (about six each shows up in several lists). After 13 Aug, more glass can be traded from the base once the holdout starts — so this is a starter pack, not a lifetime supply. Grab diesel if the shelf has it. An energy drink ($50 in one English route) buys a sleepless night one for furniture assembly.
5. Farmers’ market — food that keeps paying
| Buy | Role |
|---|---|
| Full-spectrum hydroponic station | Core calories |
| Grow box / plant light if cash allows | Extra slots |
| Seeds that do not need perfect light: mushrooms, then tomatoes / strawberries / watermelon depending on patch | Strawberries and tomatoes got a farming talent bump around 15 Aug |
Skip ordinary flowerpots if you can craft them. Skip “pretty” furniture.
6. Discount supermarket — cash, rice, then the riot
Talk to the female neighbor for $100. Do not blow the prep budget on food if hydroponics is already in the car. Rice is the exception: one bag cooks into multiple meals (community: eight portions). Cheap ham / cola shows up as efficient because cola returns glass.
Last ~3 hours: news reports that people have lost it. Re-enter shops for the riot / zero-price window. Renovation company, discount supermarket, and (as of 20 Aug reports) the farmers’ market all get a free-grab pass. Ground loot includes stacks of 90-ration biscuits. Time the last loop so you are not walking home when the clock hits zero.
Two-trip skeleton (if you own the car)
- Car lot → renovation → tools → home. Unload, install door/AC.
- Farmers’ market → convenience store → home.
- Riot hour: discount supermarket → renovation (oven or extra solar) → farmers’ market → optional second supermarket if ~33 minutes remain.
Convenience store is a short spur (about 11 minutes each way by car in one timing comment). Use it as a shortcut home when you are bleeding minutes.
What not to buy
- Extra beds, vanity storage, solar-if-you-can-craft-it, morale books, meds (hospital loot after the city opens is described as plentiful), electric fences (low damage, high power).
- A second character’s entire kit. Shop for the origin you actually selected — see characters.
Hand-off to day 1
When the countdown dies, you should have: a car or a refunded car’s worth of time, a real door and window, AC, a cooker, a juicer, power, and a hydroponic that can be assembled tonight. Research farming and cooking before you sleep — unless you are burning the energy drink to assemble in the dark.
Next: the 100 days walkthrough for what those systems have to survive.