Last verified: November 12, 2026 · ROB RUN Steam Early Access (Windows). Gameplay changes during Early Access; check the dated sources below.
Quick answer: Finish the intro quests and speak to Lenny at his Motel. Rent a free car from a Parking Terminal if you do not have an active vehicle, scout Looty Bay while you are a Civilian, and learn where to sell valuables before putting on a mask. For your first robbery, plan an exit, take a manageable haul, sell at the dollar-sign van or Sales Center, and pick the cash up immediately. To protect money, you must open a bank account as a Civilian and later launder cash through a Laundering Desk at your base. These are separate actions. Kefir: intro · car · heists · bank.
Quick Start: How to Play ROB RUN
- Finish the introduction and find Lenny. The official help center directs players to Lenny at his Motel to learn the core systems. Do not assume a specific shortcut or skip button works in every Early Access build.
- Rent a car. When you have no active vehicle, use the nearest Parking Terminal. The basic rental is free; it is not a car you permanently own.
- Explore Looty Bay without a mask. Identify possible stores, the road out, the Looty Bay Bank, and a fence location. Scouting before a heist is Kefir's own advice; the route order here is our beginner recommendation, not a mandatory quest chain.
- Learn your loss rules before turning Criminal. In Looty Bay, wearing a mask enables robberies and exposes you to attacks by police and criminals. Your Criminal status only clears when you leave the city; removing your mask alone is not enough.
- Try one small robbery when ready. Choose a building and a getaway route first. Kefir recommends keeping staff at gunpoint to prevent the alarm and coordinating roles with teammates. Other players may disrupt any plan.
- Sell and collect the money. Find a van marked with a $ on the Looty Bay map, or visit the Sales Center. Sell to the fence and take the cash off the counter before it is stolen or confiscated.
- Move toward protected money. Use Lenny to store cash only while saving for a base. Open a bank account as a Civilian, then use a Laundering Desk at your base to convert cash into protected funds. Bank protection lasts only until the server wipe.
Official sources: intro, car, heists, selling, cash vs goods storage.
Find Looty Bay landmarks on the map
The in-game city map helps identify the bank and a route to the exit before attempting a heist.
Looty Bay map
Your First 10–15 Minutes: Learn the Route, Not a Speedrun
This is an orientation plan, not a timed promise. Travel, other players, intro prompts and server conditions change the pace.
- First: Complete the on-screen intro objectives; speak with Lenny and take a moment to read the menu prompts.
- Next: Locate the Parking Terminal. Use the free rental only if you have no active vehicle.
- Then: Enter Looty Bay as a Civilian. Look for the bank, the $-marked fence van or Sales Center, and a possible way out of town.
- Before any job: Recheck your mask, your equipped items, and what you can afford to lose. The desert and city have different death rules.
Preview a real early heist
This recording illustrates the inside of a building during a looting run. It is an example of the scene, not a guaranteed route or fixed payout.
First robbery: inside a building
The original video walkthroughs and exact timestamps are linked in the sources below.
How to Make Money as a Beginner
Kefir confirms several paths: collect and sell loot, haul cargo, produce goods at a base, serve as a police officer, or collect taxes through territorial control. For a first session, a small loot-and-sale run is easier to understand than trying to maximize income. It is our recommended learning order, not a proven fastest farming method.
- Find items through looting or your chosen activity. Do not assume every building will have available valuables.
- Go to a Looty Bay dollar-sign van or the Sales Center to reach a fence.
- Trade the valuables, then pick up the cash from the counter immediately. That last interaction matters.
- Keep loose cash exposure small. Lenny can store cash, but not stolen merchandise.
- Later, rent a plot in a settlement with an owner and build out a base; store stolen items there while remembering that bases can be raided.
Sell your first loot at a fence van
Find a dollar-sign sale point and collect the cash from the counter after selling.
Selling at the fence van
Confirmed: Selling locations, countertop cash, cash-only motel storage, and the need for a base are in Kefir's selling FAQ, storage FAQ, and plot FAQ. Players' preferred dumpster loops, sale bonuses and individual item prices may change with patches; verify them in-game.
How to Get Weapons, Gear and Vehicles
Free vehicle vs buying your own
If you have no active vehicle, rent a car for free at a Parking Terminal. This is not ownership. Check Kefir's rental instructions. Save permanent vehicle shopping until you understand the cost of a plot and garage; the exact price can change.
Weapons and inventory
Weapons appear as loot in the city and can be purchased on the Black Market, either from Lenny or via the laptop at your base. Do not expect a free pistol every time you respawn: the November 4 launch adjustments made the basic pistol cheaper and expanded starter weapon spawns instead. Keep an early loadout affordable, especially before your first masked job. Kefir: weapons · Kefir's launch update.
Black Market equipment menu
This video still shows the actual in-game equipment screen; available items and prices can change.
Black Market gear menu
Backpack and carried gear
Check your inventory and understand the risk of carrying valuables into a robbery.
Backpack and inventory
How to Avoid Losing Your Money and Progress
Open a bank account, then launder money
Step A — Open your bank account: Visit Looty Bay Bank as a Civilian. The following screens document the bank's actual interface in a video recorded on November 7, 2026. At that time, opening an account cost $5,000; prices may change during Early Access. Opening an account and laundering cash are separate actions.
1. Find the FNB bank in Looty Bay
The exterior and building location appear in a separate city-navigation recording.
Find the FNB building
2. Enter the bank lobby
Walk through the security gates and approach the counter while you are a Civilian.
Enter the bank
3. Talk to the Bank Employee
The interaction menu visibly offers Open Account $5,000.
Talk to the Bank Employee
4. Confirm the account-opening payment
The full-screen Opening a Bank Account dialog contains the Open $5,000 confirmation button.
Confirm the opening fee
5. Verify the new account
When the purchase completes, the teller menu shows Withdraw Cash instead of Open Account.
Verify account activation
Step B — Launder cash at your base: A bank account does not immediately protect cash in your inventory. Use a Laundering Desk at your base, then transfer processed funds. The desk takes time to process money, and protection ends at the next server wipe.
6. Use the Laundering Desk
The desk interface is shown separately in Ditech Gaming's November 8 walkthrough.
Use a Laundering Desk
7. Transfer laundered money
After processing, the game provides a transfer stage for moving funds toward your bank account.
Transfer processed funds
Step C — Access: You can withdraw the laundered funds at any ATM. Do not claim protection lasts through a wipe. Kefir: banking and laundering.
What you lose when you die
| Situation | What Kefir confirms |
|---|---|
| Civilian dies inside Looty Bay | Keeps bag contents and equipped gear. |
| Criminal dies inside Looty Bay | Loses inventory. |
| Criminal surrenders to police | Bag contents confiscated; equipped gear kept. |
| Officer dies on duty | Department-issued gear lost; personal items and gear retained. |
| Any role dies in the desert | All carried loot lost. |
Cornered by police? Surrender can save your equipped gear compared with dying as a Criminal. If you already have money in the bank, you can offer a bribe, but the player-controlled officer must accept it. Kefir: death rules · surrender · bribes.
Surrender when cornered
The Federal Raid: what a seven-day wipe resets
Every seven days per server, a Federal Raid wipes plots, bases, weapons and cash and converts these into jail time and authority. Your cosmetics, player name, tutorial progress, settings and accumulated jail time carry over. The protection on laundered money ends with the wipe. There is no reason to promise that one global wipe clock applies to every server. Kefir: Federal Raid.
Beginner Mistakes to Avoid
- Masking up too early. Scout buildings and exits first; a masked player is a Criminal.
- Forgetting the actual sale payout. Pick up cash from the counter after dealing with the fence.
- Assuming an account instantly protects dirty cash. The Laundering Desk is a separate base step.
- Thinking Lenny stores any item. Kefir says the motel only holds cash, not stolen goods.
- Confusing city and desert death rules. A Civilian's Looty Bay protection does not apply to desert deaths.
- Relying on old starter-pistol advice or static prices. The November 4 patch changed starter weapons and several economics.
- Assuming a bank account defeats the wipe. Banked money has a weekly expiration horizon.
FAQ
What should I do first in ROB RUN?
Finish the intro, visit Lenny's Motel, and rent a free car if you have no active one. Map the city and sales locations as a Civilian before choosing to rob a target.
How do you become a Criminal in Looty Bay?
Put on a mask. To clear Criminal status, leave Looty Bay; do not rely on taking the mask off inside the city. Kefir: heists.
Where do I sell ROB RUN loot?
Use the dollar-sign van shown on the Looty Bay map or the Sales Center. Take the cash from the counter after selling. Kefir: selling.
How do I open a bank account and deposit cash?
Open an account at Looty Bay Bank as a Civilian. A deposit of dirty cash requires a Laundering Desk at your base, and the process takes time. Kefir: banking.
Can I get a free car?
Yes. If you do not have an active vehicle, the nearest Parking Terminal rents one for free. Kefir: vehicle rental.
Does money survive the weekly wipe?
No. Kefir lists cash among the resources removed during the Federal Raid. Kefir: wipe rules.
Original gameplay videos
Show the four original YouTube walkthroughs and timestamp chapters
Authentic gameplay · source videos
Watch the actual ROB RUN steps
These are the original creators’ YouTube players—not recreated gameplay or generated UI. Use the timestamp links to inspect a specific moment. Their strategies are player observations; the written rules above are checked against Kefir.
ROB RUN Beginner Guide: 15 Tips Before Your First Heist
How to Launder Money in ROB RUN (For Beginners)
Gameplay screenshots on this guide are credited to the original creators with direct time links. Permission for reuse has not been independently confirmed.
Sources and editorial method
Official: ROB RUN Steam listing, Kefir ROB RUN Help Center, Kefir Steam news.
Video context (player experience, not official documentation): Smooooth's beginner guide, uploaded November 9 and This is Shran's 15 tips, uploaded November 6. Exact video moments are linked above. Gameplay screenshot credits and original timestamps are displayed with each image. These frames are from creators’ videos, and their reuse rights have not been independently confirmed.
Additional video sources: Ditech bank opening, Ditech laundering, Quick Tips bank location.
Scope: This is a cited learning route, not an account of our own in-game test. Where the official help center describes a mechanic, it is labeled confirmed. Where we recommend an order of actions, it is labeled advice. Specific controls, UI locations, prices, and Early Access balance can change.