Probably Stolen after hours: Dumping Ground scavenging, Dr. Jackson, wholesale and the Metallurgy Manual

You get one trip a night: after we came back, the door said it was too late to go anywhere. Every morning after a trip, the Nightly Report said we opened late and missed one customer. The Short Sleeper perk says it removes that loss.

Short Sleeper and other perks

1. Serve or dismiss the queue, then click Close the Store. The door says you can't leave until the day is over.
2. Clear the counter. The game warns you to keep it clear so there's room for everything you bring back.
3. Click the door. Pick a backpack (ours offered a Fanny Pack, or going without one).
4. Choose a destination on the Station Rapid Transit map and click Travel.

Each visit shows Attempts Remaining and a minor and a major wound chance. Click Scavenge to search; finds land on the Ground grid. A wound stops the visit with "Can't scavenge while wounded!"

Our first visit started at 5.00% minor and 1.00% major, and the first search wounded us. The next night we had 5 attempts again, starting at 6.25% and 1.25%. We haven't established why the starting odds were higher. The table shows how they climbed within that second visit. After a wound you can still drag finds into your bags and click Return.

Drag finds from the Ground into your pockets or backpack before clicking Return. The game warns that items left on the ground are left behind and lost. Our Fanny Pack took the Metal Screws, but we couldn't place the Wire in it (the grid showed red), so it stayed on the Ground with the Junk.

At home the backpack appears on your counter with its contents: our Fanny Pack's value went from 50 to 64 with the 14-credit screws inside. That's why the game asks you to clear the counter first. Dr. Jackson sells a Satchel (Small) for 150; we didn't compare its size with the Fanny Pack. Junk is worth 3, Wire 16 and Metal Screws 14 by their tooltips.

Wounds didn't show on the Status tab. By the next night we could scavenge again. Perks change this: Proficient Scavenger adds up to 2 searches, Careful Scavenger removes 2 but prevents injury, and Maimed removes the Dumping Ground.

Hover anything on his wall to see its price and use. Double-clicking a document opens a free preview; double-clicking a machine put it on his counter with the buy panel, where the price includes his supplier markup. On Mark Up that was +15%: the Auto Butcher's 400 base became 460. Close the panel to leave without buying.

How the Recharger performed in our test

Dr. Jackson's Metallurgy Manual (25 credits, free to preview) says Metal Ingots are smelted in a Furnace from two pieces of either Scrap Metal or Metal Ore. Ore gives higher purity than scrap, and higher purity is worth more. Adding Flux Agent improves purity and uses it up. The Furnace needs power and smelts overnight.

Metal Ore came from a Miner customer in our run at 15 each. Ingots matter beyond selling: the Animal Cage's tooltip says Metal Ingots expand it. We couldn't test smelting: no Furnace was on Dr. Jackson's wall in our visit, and the Junker start that comes with one can't be selected.

Some sellers show "Offering Wholesale X% Discount". The tooltip says sellers sometimes discount if you buy all their items, and you can still inspect each one. The panel shows both totals and an Accept Wholesale button.

We saw 25%, 19% and 23% offers. We took the Miner's 19%: four Metal Ore at 15 each would be 60, and wholesale cost 49 (funds 600 to 551). Only accept when you want everything on the counter; the discount doesn't help if half of it won't sell.

With Skip Intro, our first End of Day screen listed three services. Power Service (5) keeps the store lit and grid devices running. Insurance Service (6) says items stolen during the night come back the next morning. Janitorial Service (3) empties the trash and cleans the storefront; its tooltip warns that an unclean storefront for several days lowers Store Attractiveness, and that cleaning costs more after vandalism.

The morning reports counted down a grace period: "Burglars leave a new shop alone for now" with 3, then 2, then 1 night left. We stopped before it ran out, so we haven't seen a burglary. Vigilant says you're never robbed at night; Insurance returns what's taken.

Store Attractiveness thresholds

Recorded in the user's purchased retail copy on November 9, 2026: Windows / Steam build 26525552 (100-REV13), Rat Wrangler, Mark Up (Normal), no perks, Skip Intro, days 1–3. AI-operated through computer use and AI-edited; no gameplay was generated. The 3:39 video is silent at normal speed, with cuts; its captions are in the text file below.

Two Dumping Ground visits, one Dr. Jackson visit with nothing bought, and one wholesale purchase. Smelting, the Commissary and burglaries weren't tested. Odds and prices are from this run and difficulty.

Video text (WebVTT)

Test record and source timestamps (JSON)