Probably Stolen Wiki Guide

Probably Stolen is a single-player shopkeeping simulator set in the Lower Levels of a space station. You buy, inspect, make and sell goods while rising rent pushes you toward buying the shop. The fastest way to solve a problem is to identify which system owns it: an item may need appraisal, a machine may need power, a customer may require a story decision, or a sale may be blocked by the condition of the goods.

This wiki overview helps you choose that next step. It covers the released Windows PC game, which launched on October 28, 2026, rather than treating the retired demo as the current version. There are nine starting scenarios and four difficulty levels at launch. The choice of scenario changes your opening resources and direction; it does not remove the need to manage the rest of the shop.

Choose a starting direction by the work it requires

Your starting scenario is a practical entry point into a trade. Pick the kind of decisions you want to make repeatedly, then learn the equipment and risks associated with that trade. A familiar item name does not necessarily imply a simpler business: water needs contamination checks, weapons involve permits and orders, and chemistry needs careful processing.

These directions are not a guarantee of a particular income. A production line still needs supplies and buyers, and selling stock requires attention to what the customer actually wants. Choose a path because you are prepared to learn its bottleneck, rather than because its product sounds expensive.

Rock Bottom deserves special care because it begins without a ready product line. The useful opening question is what you can turn into money before rent, not which elaborate machine chain would eventually be profitable. Keep early spending connected to a sale or a necessary shop function.

Separate cash, stock and the cost of staying open

A valuable inventory is not the same as money available for rent. Goods may need inspection, cleaning, processing or a suitable buyer before their listed value becomes spendable Credits. When you assess whether the shop can afford an upgrade, count the cash you have and the sales you can realistically complete.

Rent is collected on Sundays until you buy the shop. Increasing rent creates pressure even if you spend a day organizing storage or waiting for a machine to finish. That makes the timing of an investment relevant: a useful machine can still be an awkward purchase if it leaves no cash for the next unavoidable payment.

Buying the shop is a central progression goal. It ends rent, but it should not be confused with making all shop systems free or completing every visitor storyline. Equipment, trade stock and other obligations remain separate questions. If you are deciding whether to buy, use the dedicated ownership guidance for the purchase itself and treat this overview as a map of the surrounding systems.

A simple daily review is enough to catch many problems: identify the next bill, identify which goods can sell without more work, and identify which goods are still work in progress. The point is to avoid budgeting the same future sale twice.

Inspect merchandise before you price it

Some objects have a familiar name but a value that depends on condition or authenticity. Appraisal is the step that turns an uncertain purchase into an informed decision. Do it before committing to an offer based only on the seller's description.

Ribwich packaging and Plasma Cartridges are examples of subjects with their own appraisal rules. Their details belong to their individual references because the checks are not interchangeable. A rule used to identify a counterfeit package should not be applied to a worn cartridge merely because both arrive through the same counter.

The practical distinction is between identifying the item and establishing its condition. Knowing what the object is does not mean every copy has the same value. Keep the inspection tool and the relevant reference available, then compare the fields the object actually displays.

Do not use a high resale price as proof that an item is genuine. Equally, a low asking price does not reveal why an item is cheap. Condition, authenticity, legal status and the customer's request can all be relevant to the decision, so inspect the object before deciding which explanation fits.

Read water problems as contamination problems

Water processing is easier to understand when you stop treating every low grade as the same fault. Test the water, identify what remains in it, then choose a treatment that addresses those contaminants. Repeating an unsuitable treatment is not a substitute for diagnosis.

The AquaScan provides a more useful basis for that decision than the name on a container. Physical material, microorganisms, chemicals and heavy metals do not all respond to the same tool. A filter and UV treatment can have different jobs, and a bottle that improves after one step may still need another.

Container handling matters as well. Separate the water being treated from finished stock and keep enough capacity for transfers. When a process seems to have done nothing, check whether you are looking at the treated container and whether you have measured the remaining contaminants rather than relying on the old label.

Specific questions such as removing heavy metals or turning Rustwater into Basewater need their own workflows. Start with the contamination result, then use the page that matches the obstacle. A broad purification recipe is less useful than knowing why your particular batch has stopped improving.

Build production around inputs, power and outputs

Many shop machines work overnight. Their existence in the room does not mean they are running successfully. Each job needs the appropriate inputs, the required equipment configuration and, for powered machines, an available power supply.

Before ending the day, inspect the whole route through the machine. Check the input item or liquid, any chip or installed module that enables the job, the power source, and the output space or collection container. This catches several kinds of failure without guessing that the machine itself is broken.

The 3D Printer illustrates why equipment dependencies matter. Different chips produce different outputs, and advanced printing can require additional modules. An ordinary printing success does not prove that the same setup can manufacture every metal weapon component.

The Evaporator illustrates a different problem: liquid can be separated into residue and distillate, so the player must know which side contains the desired ingredient. A working machine can appear to have failed if you inspect only the wrong container. Chemistry adds still more attention to the substances and sequence used.

Use modules to solve a defined bottleneck

Machine modules alter performance, efficiency, quality or a machine-specific function. Choose them in response to the actual problem. A faster process does not fix the wrong recipe, and an efficiency improvement does not supply a missing input.

The module bay is also a physical arrangement problem. Modules take space, and some machines contain stuck modules that need an extractor before they can be removed. Buying a useful-looking module without checking fit and compatibility can leave it waiting in storage.

Distinguish unlocking a capability from improving an existing capability. A module that enables metal printing has a different purpose from a general speed adjustment. If a desired recipe is unavailable, check its required functionality before spending on general production stats.

Power equipment has a similar distinction. Supplying a machine, charging a cell and improving the amount of energy used are related tasks, but they are not identical. Diagnose the missing link before expanding the entire power setup.

Treat Security and wanted visitors as separate decisions

A wanted face and an illegal item both involve Security, but they do not create the same choice. A wanted visitor can offer an immediate reporting reward while also belonging to a longer storyline. Illegal or stolen stock raises questions about possession, inspection and evidence.

Read the encounter before choosing a response. Reporting a story customer may close the path you were trying to follow. Li Bei Wen, for example, connects a wanted decision with research and a later formula reward. The correct action depends on which outcome you want.

Do not confuse an Aug suspicion with a wanted-poster match. These are different identification problems. A visual cue or an uneasy impression is not a reason to assume every other risk system agrees with your conclusion.

For stock, keep legal status and stolen heat distinct. Hiding something during an inspection concerns where the item is and how the search works; the long-term handling of heat concerns the item's status over time. Use the reference that answers the specific problem rather than treating all risky goods as a single category.

Follow the symptom to the right detailed guide

When a system fails, describe the visible symptom in concrete terms. “The machine is broken” is too broad. “The distillate container is empty after the night” points toward a liquid-processing check. “The buyer rejects this custom gun” points toward required order stats. “Turn In is greyed out” points toward an order or request condition.

Then compare the current state with the requirements of that action. Check names, quantities, purity, installed functionality and destination as appropriate. Fix the first unmet condition before adding more equipment or buying replacement ingredients.

Keep release changes in mind when advice comes from an older run. The released game has already received hotfixes, including water-related adjustments. A method that once produced a particular result in the demo should not override what the current machine, item and order interfaces show.

Progress becomes easier to assess when every upgrade has a job and every unresolved item has a next step. Inspect uncertain goods, test uncertain mixtures, configure machines before sleeping, and make story choices before handing control to an automatic response. That connects the wiki's individual references to the daily decisions that keep the shop moving.