Getting Started
New to CONTRABAND? This guide covers the first 30 minutes of the game without spoiling the story.
What you're playing
You are an independent pilot in an unspecified sci-fi future. You make decisions. The game remembers them. You can undo them. That is the core loop. Everything else — combat, trading, exploration — exists to serve that central mechanic.
The first 10 minutes
The game opens at Verge Station, Gate 17. A dispatcher offers you a cargo run that doesn't feel right. You have three options — take it, peek inside the crate, or walk away. All three are valid. None is "right." The game will unfold differently based on what you do.
Whatever you pick, you will eventually end up in Chapter 1 at a place called Keros-4, where a woman named Vex is waiting for you. Your first major encounter happens here.
Key controls
- Click any choice to make a decision
- ☰ Menu in the top right opens all game systems: Galaxy, Missions, Shipyard, Crew, Achievements, Save/Load
- Rift branches (via menu) lets you visualize every decision you've made and revisit to any past point
- Galaxy Map lets you jump between star systems (requires fuel)
Things that confuse new players
"Nothing happens when I wait." — The game is not a simulation. Time doesn't pass unless you're making decisions or jumping. If you want events to happen, trigger them.
"My ship got destroyed." — You don't die permanently. The Game Over screen gives you the option to revisit your last decision, which undoes the fight. This is not a penalty — it's the intended mechanic.
"I can't afford anything." — Starting credits are low on purpose. Take missions from the Mission Board, complete cargo runs, or accept favors from NPCs to build up. Don't buy a new ship in Chapter 1. Wait.
"I revisited and my state reset." — Correct. Revisiting the branch revisits game state. The version you were living still exists as a ghost branch. You can always go back forward.
Mistakes worth making
The game is designed to reward experimentation. Some of the best content is behind "bad" decisions. Killing a character, betraying a faction, or refusing a critical quest opens alternate scenes you wouldn't see otherwise. Make a mistake on purpose. See what happens. Revisit if you regret it.
The game has 4 endings. You are meant to see more than one.
Recommended first-run strategy
- Save the child in the prologue (biggest unlock in the game)
- Listen to Vex in Chapter 1 rather than attacking
- Accept the Guardian mission in Chapter 2
- Hire at least one crew member before Chapter 3
- Pick Chapter 3 Lead B (the Oracle) for the cleanest path
- Prune the tree in Chapter 4 for a satisfying first ending
Once you've seen that playthrough, experiment with the other endings.
Managing credits in Chapter 1
New players often run out of credits by the middle of Chapter 1 because they buy too many upgrades too early. The starter Scout MK-I is sufficient for every Chapter 1 encounter, including the Vex combat path if you approach it tactically. Credits earned during Chapter 1 should be banked for the Chapter 2 shipyard, where a single Rare-tier ship purchase unlocks several quality-of-life improvements and makes the rest of the game significantly smoother.
The most reliable Chapter 1 income sources are: cargo runs from Verge Station dispatcher (500–1,200cr each), refined ore arbitrage between Keros-3 and Verge-2 (about 3,000cr per full cargo hold), and the Missing Pilot side quest (yields a legendary relic that can be sold for 15,000cr to the right buyer, or kept for narrative use).
Saving and loading
CONTRABAND has three manual save slots plus an autosave that updates every time a major decision is made. Manual saves are useful for marking specific branch points you want to return to without triggering the Rift branches revisit system. Autosaves are sufficient for most play; the game is designed around revisiting rather than reloading.
If you sign in with a Firebase account (optional but recommended), saves sync across devices. You can start a session on your laptop and continue on your phone. Firestore is the authoritative store; local storage is used as cache. Saves include purchased epilogues and cosmetics if you have made any.
When to revisit and when to push through
Revisiting is free mechanically — the game does not limit how many times you can use it. But it has a narrative cost in later chapters: the Black Fleet AI tracks revisits and sends reinforcements to their origin. In Chapter 1, feel free to revisit anything you don't like. By Chapter 3, learn to push through discomfort because revisiting is no longer consequence-free.
A good rule of thumb: revisit if a decision changes your faction reputation by more than 25 points in a direction you didn't intend. Don't revisit to farm for better drops or to redo trades for a few extra credits — the opportunity cost in later-chapter reinforcements outweighs the gain.
Desktop vs phone browsers
The supported browser build is /play/ with keyboard, mouse, and pointer lock. The old /play-mobile/ path now redirects to /play/; there is no separate touch control layer. Small screens may load the site, but gameplay is not tuned for phones.
On slower desktops, the classic 2D variant (/play-classic/) preserves narrative content with lighter rendering.