What the Buck gameplay: beginner guide

What the Buck gameplay is simple to start: swipe the credit card through the ATM, steer the breaker over the bills that land on the table, and every bill you destroy pays out. confirmed Your boss, Mr. Buck, wants $1 sextillion destroyed and pays you for every dollar of it. confirmed This guide takes you through the first shift, roughly the first 15 minutes, and the choices that make the second shift fast.

How to play What the Buck: the controls

• Swipe: click the card at the ATM to withdraw bills. Later the Auto Swiper does it for you.
• Break: move the mouse; the breaker ring follows it and hits whatever is under it. You do not click to hit.
• Phone calls: Mr. Buck calls with tips. A click, Space or Enter shows the whole line at once. confirmed
• Controller: full controller support; touch and mouse-only play are listed on the store page. confirmed

Minutes 0–5: panels and overlap

You start with a few dollars and $1 bills. After your first dollars Mr. Buck calls and the upgrade panels open. confirmed The fresh-save prices are low: Damage $27, Bundled Bills $25, Amount $33, Radius $48. confirmed

Buy Amount several times first. More bills per swipe means they overlap, and one hit on an overlapping pile destroys several at once. confirmed Then buy Damage until one hit destroys a bill. The pre-release player put it simply: it is probably more efficient to spam bills and then destroy them, because then more overlap. reported

Minutes 5–10: the skill tree

Mr. Buck calls again to open the skill tree. The unlock is free, and the first node adds +$3 income to every $1 bill, which roughly quadruples your early money. confirmed Work down the $1 branch: +40% income, then prestige coins (2% chance per bundle) and Electric Bills (lightning hits 9 random bills). confirmed

Prestige coins matter more than they look. They fill the prestige bar much faster than bills, and that bar is your Prestige Points for the next shift. confirmed

Minutes 10–15: the first $100K

Keep buying Bundled Bills and Damage so your breaker one-shots bundles, and pick up the $2 bill chance node. When you hold $100K, Mr. Buck calls: “Good news, you can afford to end your shift now. Bad news, it costs all of it.” confirmed

Do not end the shift at the first possible second. The release-day player waited for his 20th PP before ending; one more round of prestige-progress nodes before the end pays off. confirmed

Ending the first shift

Click End Shift. You lose your cash and shift upgrades, keep your PP and see a summary: time worked, money destroyed, bills shredded, biggest payout. confirmed On release day the first shift took about 15 minutes and gave about 20 PP. confirmed

In the prestige tree, buy in this order: confirmed

1. End Shift Shortcut (free) puts the end button on the main screen.
2. Auto Swiper: the card swipes itself.
3. Prestige progress nodes, so the next shift earns more PP.
4. Petty Cash, +$2K at the start of every shift.

Then press Start Shift. The second shift ends at $10M.

Beginner mistakes

• Clearing every last bill. Near the end of a clear the remaining bills are spread out; swipe again instead of chasing singles. reported
• Buying Crit Chance early. It is luck-based and expensive at the start.
• Ending a shift without buying prestige-progress nodes first.
• Removing $1 bills from the ATM before the $2 branch pays more.

Where to go next

• Breaker and Withdrawal upgrades for every panel upgrade and its cap.
• Shifts and Prestige Points for every shift price.
• Prestige tree for what to buy with PP.