First run
Wage Slave. He is the only one unlocked, with $1000, Crafting 2 and Scavenging 1. His story reaches 6 endings.
Want food that compounds
Student, once unlocked: Meet her in the Wage Slave's story, or clear any of his endings. She starts with $1500 and Farming 2, and trades 10 Max Stamina for 10 more Max Morale.
Want to leave the house
Warehouse Manager, once unlocked: Meet him in the Student's story, or clear any of her endings. Scavenging 2 raises carrying capacity and clears obstacles, so every trip returns more. He starts with no Cooking or Farming, so food has to be found.
Chasing every ending
All 3 playable characters, in turn. No story reaches more than 6 of the 9 endings, and 5 belong to one story each. Start with Wage Slave because the other two unlock through the stories.
3 of the 4 on the select screen can be played; Veteran is announced rather than finished. This page lists what each one begins with, what those starting levels unlock, and how each is unlocked.
Figures are for the Standard Survival difficulty preset. The Starting Funds setting scales every starting-funds number below.
Open the characters list Every character with each stat's start, ceiling, drain per day and hours to zero, the endings their story reaches, and the six difficulty settings with all four levels.
What you are choosing between
| Character | Funds | Cooking | Farming | Trapping | Crafting | Scavenging |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wage Slave | $1000 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Student | $1500 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Warehouse Manager | $1200 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Veteran (not playable yet) | $1000 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Read those columns as head starts, not ceilings. Every skill levels up during a run. A starting level saves the days it would have taken to reach it, which matters most where the payoff is early.
The characters
Wage Slave
Tinkers with electronics. Knows his home's structure and wiring layout like the back of his hand.He starts with $1000 and the only Crafting 2 in the game, which is Skilled Craftsman: Perfect Crafting Chance +10% His Scavenging 1 adds Max Exposure +100
Neither is dramatic on day one. What makes him the right first run is that he has no weak spot to work around while you are still learning the schedule, and his stat caps are the baseline the other three are measured against, 100 across all five.
Student
Overseas student who keeps her apartment filled with plants, including a miniature kitchen garden.She starts with the most money at $1500, $500 more than Wage Slave. Her Farming 2 is Apprentice Gardener: Unlocks planting overview in the main interface. Crop Anomaly (Pests/Weeds/Drought) Chance -20% Perfect Planting Chance +10%
She is also the only character whose stat caps differ: Morale 110 against 100, Stamina 90 against 100. That trade is the shape of her run, more Morale headroom and a food supply that compounds over weeks, against less Stamina for the travel and work of the early days.
Unlock: Meet her in the Wage Slave's story, or clear any of his endings.
Warehouse Manager
Middle-aged man who works in logistics and knows the city's supply chains like the back of his hand.He starts with $1200 and Scavenging 2, City Wanderer: Improves carrying capacity and allows you to remove minor obstacles.
Both halves of that matter. Carrying capacity is the limit on every trip you make, and the obstacle clearance opens routes the others cannot take yet. He begins with no Cooking or Farming, so his food has to be found rather than grown.
Unlock: Meet him in the Student's story, or clear any of her endings.
Veteran
Security expert with years of service overseas. Prefers clever defensive tactics over open confrontation.He starts with $1000 and the broadest spread of any character, 5 skills above the floor. His Trapping 2 is Apprentice Trapper: Unlocks home trap cards in the main interface. Rare Prey Weighting +2
Trapping produces food without daylight, water or a working power supply, which would make him the least dependent on the house holding together, but there is no run to test that in yet. He has no scenes to start in and no story of his own, so nothing on the select screen unlocks him into a playable character.
Unlock: Meet him in the Warehouse Manager's story.
What every starting level actually gives you
| Character | Skill | Rank | What it unlocks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wage Slave | Trapping 1 | Trainee Hunter | Failed Hunt Chance -10% |
| Wage Slave | Crafting 2 | Skilled Craftsman | Perfect Crafting Chance +10% |
| Wage Slave | Scavenging 1 | Apprentice Explorer | Max Exposure +100 |
| Student | Cooking 1 | Novice Chef | Unlocks basic recipes. Minimum Food Quality 10 |
| Student | Farming 2 | Apprentice Gardener | Unlocks planting overview in the main interface. Crop Anomaly (Pests/Weeds/Drought) Chance -20% Perfect Planting Chance +10% |
| Student | Trapping 1 | Trainee Hunter | Failed Hunt Chance -10% |
| Student | Crafting 1 | Apprentice Craftsman | Crafting Stamina Consumption -10% |
| Student | Scavenging 1 | Apprentice Explorer | Max Exposure +100 |
| Warehouse Manager | Trapping 1 | Trainee Hunter | Failed Hunt Chance -10% |
| Warehouse Manager | Crafting 1 | Apprentice Craftsman | Crafting Stamina Consumption -10% |
| Warehouse Manager | Scavenging 2 | City Wanderer | Improves carrying capacity and allows you to remove minor obstacles. |
| Veteran | Cooking 1 | Novice Chef | Unlocks basic recipes. Minimum Food Quality 10 |
| Veteran | Farming 1 | Novice Gardener | Continue planting to accumulate experience. |
| Veteran | Trapping 2 | Apprentice Trapper | Unlocks home trap cards in the main interface. Rare Prey Weighting +2 |
| Veteran | Crafting 1 | Apprentice Craftsman | Crafting Stamina Consumption -10% |
| Veteran | Scavenging 1 | Apprentice Explorer | Max Exposure +100 |
Nothing on that list is a combat advantage, and none of it is exclusive. Every character can reach every level. Choosing is about which system you want working sooner.
The endings are the other half of the choice
Starting levels change how quickly a plan comes together. The character also decides which endings the run can reach at all, and that part cannot be worked around.
| Character | Endings it can reach |
|---|---|
| Wage Slave | 6 |
| Student | 6 |
| Warehouse Manager | 4 |
5 of the endings belong to a single story: Companionship to the Student, Doomsday Greenhouse to the Student, Girl Next Door to the Wage Slave, Iron Barrel Hub to the Warehouse Manager, Stranger to the Wage Slave. The rest are shared. No one character reaches more than 6 of the 9, so the collection needs all 3. Every ending and how the game picks yours has the full table and what each one asks for.
What to do
- First run: Wage Slave. He is the only one unlocked, and he has no gap to plan around while you are still learning the day schedule.
- Want the run to get easier over time: Student. Farming 2 and $500 more to spend buy a food supply that keeps producing. Accept 90 Max Stamina against 100.
- Want to leave the house: Warehouse Manager. Scavenging 2 raises carrying capacity and clears obstacles, so every trip returns more.
- Veteran is listed but not yet playable. He appears on the select screen as a silhouette with no story behind him: no scenes to start a run in, and no endings of his own. Trapping 2 is what he is advertised with, and that is all there is so far.
Whoever you take, the starting money is spent in the same ten hours. Sort the supplies list by Satiety per dollar to see what $1500 actually buys before you commit to a character.
Quick reference
- Playable characters: 3 of 4 listed.
- Available on a new save: Wage Slave only.
- Most starting money: Student at $1500.
- Only character with different stat caps: Student, Morale 110, Stamina 90.
- Highest in each skill: Crafting 2 (Wage Slave), Farming 2 (Student), Scavenging 2 (Warehouse Manager), Trapping 2 (Veteran).
- Unlocks chain through the stories rather than a separate currency.