Quick Answer

In the first session, learn the trash loop, keep every new card or collectible, check duplicate cards for Level Up before selling them, recycle ordinary bags, buy one practical upgrade, and start tracking money, cereal boxes and achievement counters before the yard becomes hard to audit.

New Player Quick Answers

Sell only obvious surplus after checking cards, collectibles, cereal boxes and Level Up candidates. Keep first-time cards, all collectibles, cereal boxes until you can record outcomes, and any three same-card same-Quality duplicate stack. Buy Bag or Energy first if you keep running out of space or stamina, use Speed when travel time becomes the bottleneck, and export tracker progress before risky testing.

First 30 Minutes Checklist

Turn on the radio, recycle early garbage bags, collect and mark your first card, keep any collectible, repair damaged card pieces before judging value, check duplicate cards for Level Up candidates before selling, buy one practical upgrade, and record money or cereal-box progress before opening a new trash pile.

First 10 Minutes

Turn on the radio, recycle the first easy garbage bags, pick up your first card, and do not sell unusual finds until you know whether they count for cards, collectibles, Level Up or achievements. The early goal is to create a clean baseline.

Before Selling Cards

Check the All Cards List for whether the card is new, part of a color set, rare, foil or special. If you have three copies of the same card at the same Quality, check the binder before selling them. The August 27 update makes eligible Level Up stacks easier to spot with a yellow border, upward arrow and green Level Up button.

First $1,000

Money matters quickly because savings achievements start at $1,000 and later jump to $10,000, $50,000 and $100,000. Treat early cash as progress toward upgrades and achievement routing, not just spending money.

Core Gameplay Loop

The official Steam page frames the game around sifting through garbage, finding cards and hidden treasures, mending or swapping damaged cards, and upgrading yourself to clear trash more efficiently. Use that loop as your first-hour structure: clear, check, repair, track, upgrade.

Finding Cards

Cards can be found while searching the dump-site loop. Color sets matter because the Steam achievements include Water-walker, Airbender, Firestarter and The Dark Master for full Blue, White, Red and Purple sets.

How Card Level Up Works

Level Up is separate from repairing torn pieces. You need three duplicate copies of the same card at the same Quality, then the collection UI can exchange them for one higher-Quality copy. The August 27 notes say the result can even be foil, but this wiki still avoids publishing a fixed foil rate.

Card Repair vs Card Level Up

Repair is for torn or damaged pieces. Level Up is for duplicate finished cards of matching Quality. Check both paths before deciding a duplicate is safe to sell.

Card Sets

Use the four set pages to avoid mixing up collection goals. Each color currently has 10 community-documented entries. Kotalion is tracked separately as a special card because reviewed evidence does not support inventing extra special slots.

Repairing Cards

Damaged and torn cards are part of the official loop. If pieces will not connect, slow down and recheck edge alignment before assuming the table is broken.

Best Early Upgrades

Buy one upgrade for My Better Self!, then prioritize the stat that removes your current bottleneck. Bag helps when you are leaving items behind, Energy helps longer cleanup sessions, and Speed helps when route time becomes the problem.

Collectibles

Figurines, audiotapes and cosplay outfits each map to Steam achievement thresholds. Pick them up before generating a new trash pile or moving too much nearby clutter, then mark the tracker while the location context is still fresh.

Cereal Boxes

The August 22 update says Nyanchi Crunchi boxes are much more common in trash and Jenny sells a cereal box for $10,000 after every stat is maxed. Open boxes only when you are ready to count them toward Gacha Addiction and record foil results.

Early Achievements

Expect early unlocks from turning on the radio, recycling garbage bags, collecting a first card, buying an upgrade and finding your first figurine or audiotape.

Common Mistakes

Do not sell duplicate cards until you check whether three copies of the same Quality can be Levelled Up, do not ignore cereal boxes after the August 27 store fix, do not generate a new pile while valuable items are visible, and do not mix base-card set completion with foil completion.

First-Hour Checklist

Collect one card, recycle at least 7 bags, find one collectible if possible, buy one useful upgrade, open one cereal box only when you are ready to track it, and export tracker progress after a productive run. Then move to the Money Guide or 100% Guide when the basics feel stable.