So you've picked up Dustbowl (either through one of the seemingly bi-weekly Steam sales or perhaps in a humble bundle) and you've dove in and begun to realize that everything you can do isn't quite as well documented as you had hoped.

The good news is, you're not alone...

the bad news is, you'll still have to put your time in to unlock all the secrets...

the ugly news is, I'll try to give you some pointers (also refer to Lt. Don Drapers' guide that you've either already looked at or are about to - it's an excellent guide to getting started and it details the game mechanics).

I also recommend doing a little digging around the interwebs and Steam for technical or quest-related help, although other than dealing with some interesting (possible) bugs, really all you need to complete Dustbowl is some patience, a grunch of savegames (save early, save often - that's "old school") and a wandering mouse cursor.

This is the single, non-negotiable, unbreakable rule that will frustrate you if you aren't ready for it. Observe the screenshot below:



That weight limit at the bottom of the screen? Obey it. Believe in it. Live it. Know it. Love it. Send it cash on the holidays because it will always be with you. It will always limit what you can carry, it will prohibit you from moving at all and it will even limit what you can reach or interact with. Don't believe me? In that screenshot above I could not even click on the footlocker (the player storage) that was less than a foot away, because I had hit the carry limit of 35kg.

Why make such a big deal of it? Because if / when you're out in the field or you get a reward or you find some awesome / cool / unique named weapon , if you pick something up and go over that weight limit, you are stuck until you get yourself under it. You cannot set things down to come back to them. You cannot store things in a cabinet or chest or locker (other than the one you have at your various bases). You will have to consume food, medicine or drink or, even worse, dispose of perfectly good components to make room so that you can move.

Don't get blind-sided by this.

Trade is absolutely essential to your success in Dustbowl. My hat is off to anyone who makes it through the game without trading, because I cannot see how that would be possible. Having said that, you'll definitely be skimping and saving early game and, as you might expect, you'll be flush with money towards the end game.

Here's a quick list of "don't need" items that you can always sell:

• Crow mutagen - (animal specific drop)
  
• Crow feet - (animal specific drop)
  
• Crow feather - (guess where it comes from!)
  
• Empty pack of cigarettes
  
• Empty glass bottle (best value, usually sells at 4 per unit)

But the not-so-secret trick to big bucks is...



In this screenshot I'm selling 22 caliber ammo. Notice that it is selling for 5 dollars a round. That's 5 dollars PER round of .22! By the late mid-game you will find yourself with copious amounts of ball-bearings and .22 rounds...and this is possible because ammo requires zero weight (a nice accomodation by the devs). Make use of this fact! Once you begin wearing armor (mid-game) you will realize how expensive or time-consuming repairing that armor can be. Selling your ammunition is a great way to keep your cash reserves in the comfortable range.

Note that by late game (you'll know when you get there!) you will start having around 2000 cash without trying very hard. This isn't game-breaking or over-powered - it's just a signal to you that you need to wrap the game up.

This screen represents ALL of the crafting options you have in Dustbowl. There is no unlock or skill required to make these, they are limited only by the amount of materials you have on hand (items must be in your inventory to be crafted).

Blood packs are perhaps the most rare...I've only found 4, maybe 5 in my playthrough. Not having met anyone who might, er, need the blood packs for anything, my only options were to use them for crafting the basic (red-colored) medkit. The military grade medkit (blue-colored) heals more but can only be bought at a store / looted / obtained as a reward.

The second most rare of these items is bleach. Never sell any bleach you find. As to which is the more useful crafted item that uses bleach, I recommend repair kits over tin grenades. A tin grenade does 50 damage against a foe...a concussion grenade (store bought, but there are some presented as rewards in game) does 60 damage.

Generally speaking, in the early game you should craft everything you can. Even bandages can be a signficant help when healing between battles. As you get into the mid and late game you will want to shift your crafting priorities to more useful items. For example: in the early game bandages (alcohol and rags) are an essential (if clumsy) way to rebuild your health after a rough and tumble. As you get to the mid game you'll want to shift to making med hypos (dirty syringe and alcohol) over bandages.

Multitools are an excellent way to open lockers and cabinets that (usually) contain valuable loot. In some instances you may even find named or unique weapons that will deal additional damage over their mundane counterparts! Having said that, there's definitely a limit to how many multitools you'll need in a playthrough of Dustbowl (pro-tip: look at the achievement regarding multitools for a good starting guess).

To camp in the wastelands of Dustbowl you need to find/buy a One Man Tent. Also be aware that at 3 kg of weight, this will be a significant decision (max carry weight seems to be 35kg, and is unaffected by anything in game).

However, being able to camp has some advantages. Here is what your camp will look like:



Note that the campfire is an excellent way to cook any raw food you're carrying around (eggs, mystery meat, crow legs, mutant ribs, etc.)

On occasion you will randomly encounter someone else's campsite. You'll notice that NPC tents are green and can be searched, but you will neither be able to rest at the NPC campsite nor will you be able to cook your food at its campfire.




Dustbowl is populated with all sorts of bad guys, traders, critters, locations and passersby that you will run into as you travel the wastes. A brief (but not inclusive) list of encounters is:

• Trader w/ guard
  
• NPC Campsite
  
• Mutant
  
• Gravesite / Fridge / Abandoned Car
  
• Critter (beetle, crow)
  
• Specials (I could tell you, but it's better if you find out for yourself)

A (Slight) Spoiler....

There is one random encounter you should ALWAYS take advantage of...here's what it looks like:



It'll come in handy, trust me.

What can I say. There's one fight in Dustbowl that will kick you in the tacklebox if you're not ready for it. I won't spoil it too much, because the build up to this fight and the sequence around it is very interesting...but here are a couple of pointers that might help you out, when the time comes.

• Keep a BFG handy for the BAMF - there are a few special type weapons floating around, keep and use one for the end game.
  
• You can REPAIR your armor AND use an item at the same time in a combat round - this is essential. Remember that your armor stands in place of your person for damage...the bad guy has to chip all your armor off before he hits your pink, irradiated hide.
  
• At end game you should re-purpose your inventory for combat, medical and consumables (and need I mention armor repair?). Do this to the exclusion of salvage and crafting. As I've said before, you'll know when it's time.

Dustbowl is a post-apocalyptic game that apparently slipped through the cracks in 2015. That's unfortunate, because it is an "old-school" gem of an adventure game that squeezes every drop of utility out of the Adventure Game Studio engine it utilizes. I enjoyed my time with Dustbowl, even though I felt like there was a lot more potential content that the game left on the table. Specifically, there are many interesting locations that are simply not able to be interacted with - this is a shame, because wandering around is a big chunk of the fun of Dustbowl. It's also a shame because the "character," or set dressing, of many of the locations is quite well done and is seldom repetitive.

All in all I have to give the development team a lot of credit. It may not be as sweeping a game as it could have been, but what is there is entertaining (if occasionally redundant), intriguing (if a bit under-developed) and poignant (if a bit terse). Is that damning with faint praise? I don't intend it to be. For a handful of people working on a game, I think what's been produced is quite excellent. It's teeming with potential, and that speaks well of the people who created it.

Am I interested to see what else these developers create? Absolutely.

Will I purchase the next project they develop? Yes I will.

Thanks for your time. I hope this guide was able to help you with your journey in Dustbowl, and I hope that if you find something interesting or novel about Dustbowl that you'll make a guide or start a discussion to share that with others.

Remember, the Molemen are out there, somewhere.