Can you play Rusty’s Retirement while at work and still get work done?

Let’s find out

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Mister Morris Games

I’m playing Rusty’s Retirement as I type this article. This cute farming sim runs at the bottom of your screen as you go about your working day. You can plant crops, hire watering robots, harvest blueberry bushes, raise pigs, all while validating the spreadsheets from Paula in accounts. Paula! Where are the running totals!? I can’t find the running t- oh, they’re under the turnips. Sorry, Paula. My bad.

But can you actually play “idle games” like this while getting your work day done? Aren’t they distracting and obstructive? These are important questions. I plan to find the answers by playing Rusty’s Retirement while simultaneously - and dutifully - completing days of work. Let’s go!

Wednesday

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Mister Morris Games

Like I say, these games are often called “idlers”. The name is half accurate. They’re designed to keep you clicking but also to partially automate said clicking so your imaginary income increases even as you step away. But you will always step back. They are the dream of “passive income” made fleetingly real. The raw psychology of game design stripped of illusion and reduced, like so much balsamic, to a simple-minded accumulation of numbers. Mere trickery, beneath those of us with refined tastes.

I plant some wheat and am immediately addicted.

I sow a field while piecing together a news story about a troupe of Fallout 76 actors . I unlock cabbages between copy-pasting quotes into what seems like the right place, and buy farmer Rusty a water bot to do the hard job of sprinkling crops. He is very slow. Which makes sense, as he is retired. I am not yet retired and must work towards this goal by making sure all the hyperlinks in my article function and do not bring our readers to weird places .

I do lots more work today. I swear. I just don’t remember what it was.

Thursday

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Mister Morris Games

I start my day by buying a bench for Rusty to sit on. But I have an important assignment in real life. I must review the early access roguelike Hades 2 in time for its planned release, sometime in the next few days. Deadlines are important in this business and the pressure is always on. However, I must also ensure Rusty is harvesting his leaks and carrots. I cannot neglect the farm.

This will be a challenge. Neuroscientific research shows that effective multitasking is basically a myth, and that the human organism can barely count to twenty while doing other tasks . I can corroborate this fact. Six paragraphs deep into my article on the god-bashing sequel and I finally notice that Rusty is sitting on his bench doing sweet nothing.

I plant many new crops: corn, onions, lettuce. I buy more plots of land to exploit. I install biofuel generators and build a stall for a mouse-like being who sells cosmetics. I purchase a sunflower in a panicked state of anxiety, knowing that I need to make the screenshots of this game look presentable.

As the work day marches on I constantly flip-flop between Rusty, a Hades 2 document, the roguelike itself, and the notes for the feature you are reading right now. I also do a news post about studios being closed down and discover you can move Rusty’s buildings around with a special tool. 20 minutes of the work day vanishes in nit-picky rearranging of robot stations. I must work! Did you know you can play Rusty’s Retirement literally on top of playing other games?

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Mister Morris Games

My head hurts.

Friday

My top tip for progressing in Rusty’s Retirement is to turn the music off at once.

During the morning meeting, in which the RPS staff discuss daily plans while looking at one another’s real, flesh-and-blood faces, I distractedly remark on the tasks I have to do today. Planting tomatoes and investing in a fertilizing robot is not something I bring to the table, but it is on my mind. Deputy editor Alice B reminds me that I have a Final Fantasy top ten article to update, which I have entirely forgotten about amid the rows of onion and celery. I promise to get it done.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Mister Morris Games

I play Rusty’s Retirement while refusing to think too deeply about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth , a game which I bought, played, and sold quicker than a wheat stalk ripens in Rusty’s Retirement. I draft a news story about Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite , with one bazillion tabs open. Rusty and his helpers harvest the green peas and pinto beans I have unlocked as I struggle to write full sentences about shaders. I plant blueberry bushes and desperately flail between SEO documents and watering bots. My heart is pounding. This is hell.

After buying some breathing room by submitting the news post to our thorough editing procedure, I find I have enough money in Rusty’s to buy a house for a character called “Splunk”, who will plant crops for me. It is a revelation. I no longer need to play the game at all. Splunk will do all the work, forever managing a full third of my computer screen, until I quit the game, or I die, whichever comes first.

I continue my quest to update the top ten Final Fantasy list and thanks to Splunk I feel far less need to check the farm. But this may have more to do with finally turning off the “Always on top” option and hiding Rusty’s Retirement beneath my work. In this heightened state of consciousness, I get entire paragraphs done, entire HTML tags prepped, and I only once, twice, perhaps seven times, check in on the aubergines and pumpkins.

Verdict: can you really work while playing Rusty’s Retirement?

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Mister Morris Games

I am a video game journalist. Which means I can easily work while playing Rusty’s Retirement, because it is my job to play and write about Rusty’s Retirement. I can play Rusty’s Retirement while working on an article about whether you can work on articles while playing Rusty’s Retirement. It is that simple. Does the idle farming game (Rusty’s Retirement) cause stressful overthinking and a magpie-like habit of flopping from one task to another, never truly finishing a thought or formulating a—

One moment, just have to delete a few tabs.

—formulating a coherent working routine? I leave that question to the neuroscientists. Personally, I feel my productivity may have improved. After all, I got this piece written while simultaneously writing other (more important) pieces. It is not one of our best farming games . But it does scratch a certain itch. And I only got scolded for being late to meetings once (I’ve got a lot on, Graham ) Anyway, at the end of this experiment I can draw two conclusions.

1. You can press the down arrow key to make the farm’s window thinner in Rusty’s Retirement, which leaves more room for real work while also revealing extra land to grow more crops. I discovered this on my last day of farming.

And…

2. If you want to feel truly productive about your work, get some freak called “Splunk” to do it for you.

Rusty’s Retirement

Video Game

Rock Paper Shotgun is better when you sign in

Sign in and join us on our journey to discover strange and compelling PC games.

All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

Rock Paper Shotgun is better when you sign in

Sign in and join us on our journey to discover strange and compelling PC games.