Buy the deed in cash
- You pay
- Full price, once
- Paid to
- The Landlord
- Offered on
- A rent day
- Main risk
- The price keeps rising
Best once your cash outruns the daily rise. Rent stops the moment you sign.
The way out
How to Buy the Store
You win Probably Stolen by owning the store, and there are two ways to do it. Pay the Landlord the full deed price in cash on a rent day, or sign a Loan Shark mortgage and clear every weekly payment. The deed starts at 12,000 Credits on Price Gouge and Mark Up and climbs a little each day, so the real race is between your savings and that price.
12,000Credits: starting deed price on Price Gouge and Mark Up
36,000Credits: starting deed price on Red Ink
200Credits: opening rent, due every 7 days
2 of 17endings are wins, and both are Buyouts
Two routes to the deed
Cash is cheaper and final. The mortgage gets you the shop sooner but adds a weekly bill that can end the run.
Sign a Loan Shark mortgage
- You pay
- Deposit, then weekly
- Paid to
- The Loan Shark
- Offered on
- A rent day
- Main risk
- Repossession
Best when you need the shop before you can raise the full price and your weekly income is steady.
Buying the deed in cash
Read the price on the Calendar
The Calendar shows the property's current value, and on Mark Up it reads 12,000 Credits on Day 1. The figure rises a little every day, so buying earlier always costs less.
Hold the whole price in cash on a rent day
The Landlord only offers the deed during a rent visit, and only when the cash is already in hand. Sell stock before that day rather than after it.
Pick the Buyout choice
With enough cash, a third answer appears beside Pay Rent. It names the price, such as Buyout the store (12000 Credits) on Mark Up.
Sign, then decide whether to keep playing
The BUYOUT ending plays and unlocks Keys to the Kingdom. Press Continue on the summary to go back to the store, now with no rent countdown on the wall.
- Owning the deed before day 50 also earns Prodigious.
Price sheet
Deed and permit by difficulty
Starting figures in Credits. The deed climbs from here, and the permit is a fixed bill on top of it.
| Difficulty | Deed | Permit |
|---|---|---|
| Price Gouge | 12,000 | 500 |
| Mark Up | 12,000 | 1,500 |
| Thin Margins | 24,000 | 2,000 |
| Red Ink | 36,000 | 3,000 |
Budget for the permit as well
Saving for the deed does not excuse the Business Permit. With none by Day 24 the Mentor warns you, permits go on sale two weeks later and enforcement follows a week after that. No permit ends the run.
Running a Loan Shark mortgage
Meet the Loan Shark
An introduction is not an offer. The first visit only sets up the contact, and it checks that you own no deed yet and hold the current down payment.
Bring twice the down payment on a rent day
The offer needs that earlier introduction, an unpaid property, no current mortgage, no recorded decline and cash of at least twice the down payment. The down payment follows the shop's current price and your difficulty, in 500-Credit steps with a 500 minimum.
- A recorded decline blocks the repeat offer, so do not refuse just to think about it.
Sign, and keep working cash
Taking the offer deducts the down payment and fixes the remaining principal, rate, term and weekly payment for that contract. Leave enough behind for stock and power.
Pay every week in cash
Each payment lowers your cash and the weeks remaining, and it resets the next rent counter to 7 days.
Finish the last conversation
With one week left, the final-payment reply completes the mortgage, a later line puts the deed on the counter and the end of the dialogue triggers the Buyout ending. Be ready for an ending before you pay.
Worked example
One recorded offer
Your numbers will differ, so read the offer in front of you. This one shows the shape of the deal.
| Detail | Amount |
|---|---|
| Cash required | 5,000 Credits |
| Down payment | 2,000 Credits |
| Weekly payment | 1,153 Credits |
| Term | 12 weeks |
| Annual interest | 50% |
| Total paid | 15,836 Credits |
That total tops the starting deed
Twelve weeks at 1,153 plus the deposit comes to 15,836 Credits, against a 12,000 starting deed. You are paying for speed, so do the sum against the Calendar first.
Rent keeps climbing while you save
- Rent opens at 200 Credits, falls due every 7 days and rises however good your week was. Fence and Gunsmith starts add 50 Credits to the bill; Hydroponic Farmer and Aquafarmer add 40.
- The reminder names the amount and the day, and after a covered miss it shows the new rent plus the week you skipped.
- A missed payment hurts twice: store attractiveness drops, fewer customers walk in and the gap gets harder to close.
- Refuse rent with no grace left and the Landlord evicts you on the spot.
- Joe Wild sells Rent Grace for 100 Credits. It covers one missed week and can be bought again once used.
Rent terms by difficulty
| Difficulty | Rent rise | Starting grace |
|---|---|---|
| Price Gouge | 2% | One refusal forgiven |
| Mark Up | 5% | One refusal forgiven |
| Thin Margins | 10% | None |
| Red Ink | Not known | None |
Raise the money faster
Rent is paid by foot traffic, so spend on the shop front before anything else, then add side income.
Bring more customers in
Display case
Shows off stock, and also holds neon signs and certificates. It is disabled on day one with the tutorial on.
Neon signs
Advertise what you are buying and pull in the sellers who carry it.
Mirage Projector
Adds an attractiveness bonus to the store.
Mirage Projector →Earn beyond the counter
Appraisal commissions
Get paid to value customers' items once you join the board.
Appraisal commissions →Scavenging
Trips to the Dumping Grounds bring back salvage to sell.
Scavenging →Price tips
Some customers sell confidential information about coming price changes.
Scratcher tickets
A gamble rather than a plan, so treat any win as a bonus.
When the collector calls
Keep the weekly payment in cash. The collector's menu looks at two different totals, and a shop full of machines can fail both.
Cash option
Appears only when your cash covers the weekly payment. The value of your stock does not make it appear.
Goods option
Checks whether eligible stock adds up to the payment. Miss a week and the Loan Shark takes items worth up to that amount and leaves a Repo Slip.
Nothing left to take
When your goods fall short the store is seized and the run ends in Repossession.
Goods that do not count toward the payment
DocumentsImportant itemsContainersStuck modulesMachinesZero-value goodsSmuggler's Bay contentsLocked items
How the shop story can end
All 17 endings →| Ending | Result | What causes it |
|---|---|---|
| Buyout (deed) | Win | You buy the deed from the Landlord in cash. |
| Buyout (mortgage) | Win | You pay off every Loan Shark installment. |
| You Defaulted On Your Rent | Loss | You refuse rent with no grace left. |
| Repossession | Loss | You miss a mortgage payment with too little stock to cover it, or refuse at the final conversation. |
Mistakes that cost the shop
Saving for last week's price
The deed rises daily. Look at the Calendar on the day you plan to buy, not the day you started saving.
Counting stock as cash
Neither the Buyout choice nor the collector's cash option cares what your shelves are worth. Sell before the visit.
Expecting rent to build ownership
Rent never buys any share of the store. Only the deed or a finished mortgage marks it as yours.
Emptying the till for the deposit
A mortgage with no working cash leaves you short on stock and power in the very week the first payment lands.
Refusing the last installment
It is no harmless delay. One reply starts repossession during the conversation and another ends the run outright.