Beginner tips from the first day to Chapter 1

Clean, set tables, pour, and cook. A guest with no chair stalls. Put down more chairs before you debug the quest log. Dirty tables and cobwebs are the complaints players tie to lost guests. One thread says cleanliness adds about 30% to tips. That number is a single player report, so I am not printing it as a rule.

The July 2025 Steam guide tells you to follow the quest and skip upgrades the quest did not name. It also tells you to hold at least $200 for Locke. Spending that float early is how people walk into the Deal with the Devil achievement already stuck, because the deposit has to happen while the quest is active.

Time stops while you confirm an instant pour. Browsing the recipe book does not stop time. Use the confirm screen when the room is loud. Do not expect the book to pause the shift.

The same guide names the cast-iron stove (tier 2) as the early cooking upgrade, with a markup of up to 50 cents a dish. I am dating that to Early Access. I have no 1.0 reprint of the 50 cents, so treat it as a 2025 player note.

Ground-floor furniture, walls, and floors at tier 2 were described as carrying a Wealth+ tag that makes guests more likely to order again. Guest rooms at tier 2 come after Earl opens the first room. Exact reputation gates for later rooms are not in an official table, so they are not on this page. See rooms and furniture.

Chapter movement, in the 8 Nov 2026 hotfix’s own words, is serving drinks and food, then sleeping so reputation updates. If a milestone looks stuck, press T and read Statistics → Act Milestones before you assume the save is dead. Closing is the outdoor sign, left click, and it is blocked while a story task owns the night. Furniture moves happen after you close. Hiring starts at the station board, covered on the employee page.