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Starting out in Citizen Sleeper is a pretty overwhelming experience. There's a lot to learn right at the start, as the game has several branching quests, and it's impossible to complete everything based on the limited dice players will get per cycle. However, there are some constant demands that must be taken care of no matter which parts of the story the player uncovers, and one of those is the need for money.

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Players will need cryo (or chits) for a few reasons, but the main one to start with is food. Eating is essential to top up energy levels but comes at a cost. Once the player reaches a certain point, they'll receive an unexpected visitor, and without spoiling too much, the need for cryo will ramp up swiftly from that point on. So it's a good idea to start banking chits early if possible. It's worth noting here that choosing the right class makes a difference from a cryo point of view; go for the Operator to get a small amount of cryo for each "Interface" action.

Work For Dragos

Dragos's Shipyard Citizen Sleeper

Dragos is the character that discovers the player at the start of the game. He's willing to help out by giving the player an old shipping container to sleep in, as well as offering them some work at his shipyard. This gives the player a chance to earn some cash, as well as further the plot with Dragos. He's a guarded character, but kind enough to give the player a place to stay, and it's worth using some dice here to gain cryo in the early stages by completing some fairly low-risk activities.

Initially, the player can choose between "Hull Dissection," which can give up to +15 cryo, or "Manual Salvage," which will give up to +10 cryo. This is enough to buy food, which is important for replenishing energy. After the player has completed the "Back in Business" clock, a few new options will pop up, which gives the player more options in terms of earning cash from Dragos. It's worth noting that filling the "A Debt Called In" or "Winter Light" clocks will lock the player out from helping Dragos, which means they won't be able to get cryo from him anymore.

Visit The Ort Exchange

The Ort Exchange in Citizen Sleeper

There are a couple of ways to make money at the Ort Exchange, but one is significantly riskier than the other. First, players must complete the "Local Knowledge" clock, but this isn't too difficult. Once they've done this, they can choose to play the exchange, which is a great way to get money if players have a decent dice roll to use (5 or 6 would be ideal here). A positive outcome will get the player +19 cryo, which is a decent amount for the beginning of the game. However, a negative outcome will lose them -11 cryo, so it's a bit of a risk.

The other option at the Ort Exchange is to sell scrap components, which players can get from Dragos's yard at the start of the game. This is less risky and will leave the player with +12 cryo. Visiting the Ort Exchange will gradually unlock the Ort Fabricator, which is important for later in the game.

Unload Containers

The Scrap Freighter in Citizen Sleeper

Every few cycles, freighters will arrive at the two docks near the player's "home" (or shipping container). One of these is the Scrap Freighter, which presents a good opportunity to earn some cryo. Unloading cargo here is a risky job, but it can pay well. A positive outcome will earn the player +15 cryo and +2 energy, while a neutral result will give +15 cryo.

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The downside is that the negative result will still earn the player +15 cryo, but it will also give them -1 condition, which is a pretty big blow if they haven't got any stabilizer to spare. The lower the players' condition becomes, the fewer dice they'll have to work with. It's a good idea to try this if the player has a 5 or 6 die to use.

Deliver Noodles

The Min-Gi Express Noodle Bar in Citizen Sleeper

Slightly further into the game, the player can explore the Lowend by paying 60 cryo. While this is a big chunk of money to spend, it opens up a lot of new locations, some of which offer the opportunity to earn that money back. The Min-Gi Express noodle bar is an excellent place to go for food, but players can also take on work delivering noodles. This is a fairly low-risk activity, so it's a good one to try if players have lower dice rolls to work with.

Getting a positive result will gain +13 cryo. A negative result will gain +4 cryo, which is still an okay return for a bad result. This is also an excellent location for restoring energy: Min-Gi will pay the player in food in exchange for noodle manufacture. This can gain the player up to +3 energy, without having to spend any cash.

Play Tavla

The Tavla Room in the Lowend, Citizen Sleeper

In the Lowend, players can gamble their chits with a game of Tavla. This is obviously risky. Initially, players can only earn a small amount of cryo from Tavla (+3 for a positive result, -3 for a neutral result, and -3 for a negative result), but playing the game will fill the "Lowender" clock, which will go toward unlocking the Tavla Room.

The Tavla Room has some higher risks. Players can gain +24 cryo for a positive result but could stand to lose -13 cryo for a negative result. Still, if the player has some strong dice, they can use this to their advantage to make chunks of cash slightly later in the game, so it's worth opening up the Tavla Room if they want to take the risk.

Act As A Spy

Finding Havenage Data in Citizen Sleeper

Pretty early in the game, players will learn a little about the conflict between Yatagan, a shady crime syndicate, and Havenage, a complicated organization that used to act as a worker's union. Both sides have some dark stuff going on, and the player can utilize this by digging around for data.

Havenage data can be sold to the Yatagan for +15 cryo a time. Meanwhile, Yatagan data can be handed over to Havenage for +10 cryo. If players have spare dice and they're not sure how to use them, this is a good way to make a little extra cash. They'll need Havenage data in the early days to advance the storyline with Feng, but Havenage data will still appear in subsequent cycles.

Citizen Sleeper is currently available on PC, macOS, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch.

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