ROB RUN Beginner Guide: Your First Hour in Looty Bay

ROB RUN's opening hour is a single loop: break out of prison, meet Lenny at his motel, drive to Looty Bay, mask up, steal something valuable, sell it to the Fence and get back to the motel to finish the tutorial. Everything the rest of the game builds on comes from that loop — steal, sell, get out alive. This beginner guide walks through each step in order, then covers the three roles and the mistakes that end most early Criminal runs.

Version and platform details are not independently confirmed in the available material, so treat the specifics below as the current community-documented tutorial flow.

Your first run, step by step

The tutorial is linear. If you follow the eight steps below in order, you will have completed the core loop once and unlocked the rest of the game's progression.

1. Break out of prison. You begin behind bars. Talk to the Tattoo Artist, then use an escape point to leave the prison.
2. Meet Lenny. You arrive at Lenny's Motel, the game's hub. Talk to Lenny to pick up your next objectives.
3. Rent a car. If you do not own a vehicle yet, rent one at the motel and get in. You cannot reach Looty Bay on foot.
4. Drive to Looty Bay. Leave the motel area. Crossing the edge of a location opens the global map, where you choose your destination.
5. Put on your mask. Find somewhere quiet and mask up. This is what switches you into Criminal mode — you are not a Criminal until you do it.
6. Steal something valuable. Any building in town can hold loot. The Looty Bay map marks every robbable building, safe and cash register, so use it to pick a target.
7. Sell it to the Fence. Take the stolen item to the Fence and collect your cash.
8. Get back to the motel. Return to Lenny to finish the tutorial.

The order matters more than it looks. Masking up before you have a target means you are exposed as a Criminal while you are still deciding what to rob, and selling before you leave the city is the only way your loot becomes real money.

Pick your role

Looty Bay has three roles, and the biggest difference between them is what happens when you die.

Two rules follow from that table. First, Criminal is the only role with a real death penalty, so it is the only role where survival planning matters. Second, you only become a Criminal when you put on a mask — and leaving the city switches Criminal mode off again. That means you can explore Looty Bay as a Civilian first, learn the layout, and only mask up when you are ready to rob.

Tips for staying alive as a Criminal

These are the habits that separate a payout from a lost inventory.

Getting out is the job. Your loot only counts once you leave Looty Bay alive. A full bag is worth nothing if you die in the street, so plan your exit before you start breaking in.

Surrender if it goes wrong. If you give yourself up to the Police, you lose only what is in your bag. You keep the gear you are wearing. A bad run costs you the score, not your kit — so do not fight a losing chase to protect one haul.

Watch the staff. Shop workers will try to call the Police. Aiming at them stops that. If you ignore the staff, you are effectively calling the cops on yourself.

Mind the alarms. Breaking glass can trip an alarm, but picking a lock does not. If you can pick instead of smash, do it. Break security cameras before they spot you — a camera that sees you is as good as an alarm.

The motel is a safe zone. No weapons are allowed at Lenny's Motel, which makes it the place to regroup, stash your plans and find a crew. It is also where the tutorial ends, so returning there is a natural reset point.

Violence has a cost. Attacking Civilians puts a bounty on you and shows your position to everyone on the map. For a beginner, that is the fastest way to turn a quiet robbery into a server-wide manhunt.

Common beginner mistakes

• Masking up too early. You become a Criminal the moment you put the mask on. Do your scouting as a Civilian, then mask up near your target.
• Smashing glass when you could pick a lock. The alarm risk is not worth the speed.
• Leaving the Fence for later. Sell before you leave the city; that is the step that converts loot into cash.
• Fighting the Police instead of surrendering. Surrendering costs you your bag, not your equipped gear.
• Ignoring cameras and staff. Both of them bring the Police to you faster than anything else in the early game.

Where to go next

Once the tutorial loop is done, the natural next steps are learning how money-making scales beyond a single Fence sale, tracking down safe keys and room keys, upgrading your vehicle, and switching servers when a lobby turns hostile. The Looty Bay interactive map and item database are the tools to bookmark for all of it.

For the full walkthrough this guide is based on, see the ROB RUN beginner's guide on MetaForge.

FAQ

Do I have to become a Criminal to play ROB RUN? No. Civilian and Police are both valid roles, and neither loses inventory on death. Criminal mode only starts when you put on a mask.

What happens to my loot if I die as a Criminal? You lose your whole inventory. Loot only counts once you leave Looty Bay alive.

Can I keep my gear if the Police catch me? Yes, if you surrender. You lose only what is in your bag and keep the gear you are wearing.

Where do I sell stolen items? At the Fence in Looty Bay. Selling is step seven of the tutorial and must happen before you head back to the motel.