Rent, customers & your shop

The goal

Earn enough to buy the shop outright. Until then you pay rent, and rent rises over time however well your week went.

In demo 049-Rev3-L, the Lease Agreement is placed in the starting Dossier before the scenario-specific equipment is added. This applies to all four supported starts; it is an initial document, not a shop purchase.

The death spiral

Fall behind on rent and your store loses attractiveness. Fewer customers walk in, revenue drops, and the gap grows. Climbing out usually means taking riskier deals just to keep cash flowing. Plan purchases so that one confiscated or unsold item can’t sink you.

Store attractiveness

The attractiveness meter controls how many customers show up. Known ways to raise it:

• Display case: show off stock. It is disabled on day one when the tutorial is on.
• Neon signs: advertise what you are buying.
• Mirage Projector: adds an attractiveness bonus.

Balancing supply and demand means attracting the customers who want what you stock.

Inventory

Stock lives in a grid inventory that fills up quickly. Recent builds added moving several items at once and sorting. Tools can be bound to number keys through the toolbox.

Theft and upkeep

• Thieves can hit your shop at night, and contraband makes you a likelier target.
• Insurance and a security alarm service can be bought.
• The Cleaner Robot cleans at night and also has a manual mode.
• A janitorial service is available; at −40 reputation with the Black Market it costs double.

Other ways to earn

• Appraisal commissions: get paid to assess customers’ items.
• Scratcher tickets: according to the developer, playtesters have had a lot of fun gambling.
• Tips: some people sell confidential information about upcoming price changes.
• Scavenging: trips to the Dumping Grounds bring back salvage to sell.

Ownership document

The Deed represents ownership of the shop. The demo’s buyout ending describes signing it and being free of rent; see The Landlord. Receiving or using it as a separate inventory item is not yet verified.

Cassette Player

The Cassette Player is part of the shop’s initial setup. Its playback controls and cassette compatibility in the demo are not yet verified.

Sources: Steam store page, patch notes 48.3.10 and 48.3.12, the Playtest Ledger announcement, Wand Report preview. Item and Mechanic game tables and extracted initial-shop fixtures, demo 049-Rev3-L.