cowboy game Guide: Your first minutes in the game
About
OverviewCowboy Game drops you into a wide open Western map where you hunt animals, rob banks, deliver mail, chop wood, and fight other players. This guide covers how to survive your first few minutes, how to make bux, how to move around the map, and how to handle combat — so you can stop dying broke and start doing something interesting.
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Contents
Your first minutes in the game
Step
You spawn in either Sandtown or Foresttown and must pick one starting firearm from the menu on the left of your screen. Your starter weapon is rusted and only deals 70% of normal damage, so treat it carefully until you can afford a shop-bought replacement. Hunger will drain as you explore, and if you ignore it long enough you will be in serious trouble.
- Choose your weapon pick the single action revolver for close to medium range fights, or the rifle if you want to shoot from a distance.
- Head to the saloon every town has one, and Witches Brew from the bar fills your hunger fast. If you are going into the desert, drink one before you leave, because food is almost impossible to find out there.
- Buy a rucksack pick one up from the store or the Hunter NPC for 5 bux.
- Grab a horse horses spawn in stables and you can take one without getting a bounty.
- Brand your horse use a brand iron on your horse's head so other players cannot steal it and so you can whistle it back to you from anywhere on the map.
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Ways to earn bux
TableBux is the only currency in the game. Your wallet holds up to 10,000 bux, and anything you store in the bank carries over between lives.
| Hunting | raw meat sells to the Hunter for 2 bux, cooked for 3 bux. Wolf hats sell for 10 bux, bear hats for 20 bux, and the alpha wolf hat for 50 bux. |
| Woodcutting | buy an axe from Woody for 5 bux and sell logs for 12 bux each. A rucksack lets you carry four at once. |
| Mining | buy a pickaxe from Rocky for 5 bux. Coal sells for 3 bux, iron for 12 bux, and diamonds for 125 bux per piece. |
| Gold panning | buy a pan from Rocky in Foresttown or Deertown for 10 bux, then press LMB repeatedly in the river. Each gold nugget sells back to Rocky for 350 bux. |
| Vault Heist | talk to Boss John Bongo in the Outlaw Town hotel with 5 meat, collect a Blackpowder crate from the mines, craft Quest Dynamite with Old Man Mckinnel, then blow the bank vault for 700 bux. You receive a 100 bux bounty afterward. |
| Mail delivery | deliver mail to the post office three times in one life without dying to earn the 'you've got mail!' badge. Using a wagon from Sandtown to Snowtown earns around 210 bux per run. |
The four biomes and where to go
Table
The map is divided into four biomes. The table below shows what you can find in each one and what to watch out for.
| Biome | Key resources | Main danger | Towns |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forest | Deer, cows, rabbits, watermelons, logs, gold in the river | Other players — most populated area | Deertown, Foresttown, Porttown |
| Desert | Snakes, Witches Brew in saloons, vault and wagon heists | Cacti deal damage on contact; scarce food outside towns | Sandtown, Outlaw Town |
| Snow | Deer, cows, wolves, bears, coal, iron, diamonds, Netherlandian's cabin | Wolves spawn in packs and bears can one-shot a full-health player | Snowtown |
| Mountain | Stone ore in the quarry and mines | Easy to get lost; almost no animals | None |
Hunting tips for every animal
TipsAfter you kill an animal, hold T to skin it and collect meat or leather. The first time you skin each type of animal you earn a badge.
- Deer give two extra pieces of meat when skinned with a bogey knife instead of bare hands.
- Cows are the slowest animal in the game — punch one to death and it will not flee, making them the easiest source of raw meat.
- Wolves travel in packs of at least two and will howl when they target you. Wait for one to charge, then shoot it in the head.
- Bears can kill a player who has 400 HP in a single hit. Get a bear stuck behind a crate or other object and use a shotgun to finish it safely.
- Rabbits die in one punch, so save your bullets and just run up and hit them.
- Feeding your horse up to ten pieces of uncooked meat raises its speed to double and lets you outrun wolves and bears.
Weapons and when to use them
Summary
You can carry one primary weapon on your back and one secondary in your holster. Starter weapons are rusted and deal only 70% of their normal damage. Shop-bought weapons do full damage. All weapons are lost when you die.
- Single Action Cattleman close to medium range, 6 rounds, can be fanned for faster fire. Needs to be cocked between shots.
- Rifle long range, 5 rounds, higher accuracy than a revolver. Two shots remove a limb. Slower to aim and reload.
- Shotgun 10 bux from any store. 2 rounds, powerful at close range.
- Big Iron 20 bux from stores or looted from bounty hunters and rangers. 6 rounds.
- Dual Single Action 40 bux from stores. 12 rounds total, but has a 0.1-second delay between shots.
- Cooler Single Action 100 bux at the Porttown gunsmith. Buying it earns the 'fashion dont come cheap' badge.
Combat and self-defence
TipsWhether you are duelling, getting ambushed, or escaping a bounty hunter, a few habits will keep you alive longer.
- Your fists never leave your inventory. Hitting an armed opponent while they have a weapon out will knock it out of their hands.
- Aiming a punch at the head knocks the target down and disarms them. Rapidly equipping and unequipping your fists lets you punch faster.
- Use Deadeye — consume Snek Oil or a Choccy Stick, then hold B to remove camera sway and recoil.
- The gunsmith will not sell you extra cartridges if you already have more than 17. Shoot down to exactly 17 first, then top up to reach the maximum of 23.
- When someone on horseback shoots at you, aim for their horse rather than them. Killing the horse sends the rider flying forward and drops their health significantly.
- Always reload your gun before starting a duel so you do not have to perform the load animation mid-fight.
- Running higher FPS lowers camera sway.
Getting around the map
Check
The map is large enough that walking everywhere is impractical. Use these checks before setting out on a long trip.
- Check your horse is branded so it cannot be stolen while you are away from it.
- Note which direction the sun rises it rises in the north toward the snow biome and sets in the south toward the desert.
- Read the signs posted around towns; they point toward other locations including Snowtown.
- Use the edge of the map to find Porttown, which sits at the western edge of the forest biome.
- In the desert, go to Sandtown's saloon for Witches Brew before heading further in there is almost no other food source out there.
- If your horse dies on the way somewhere, go to the nearest stable and take another one without worry it costs no bounty.
Badges worth chasing early
TipsThere are twenty badges in the game. The ones below are realistic targets while you are still learning.
- Skin a rabbit, deer, cow, wolf, bear, and snake to earn six separate hunting badges.
- Buy an axe from Woody for 5 bux to get 'we'll make a lumberjack of you yet'.
- Buy a fence from Woody for 10 bux and place it to earn 'give me a ruler and a saw and a board ill cut it'.
- Plant any seed on a Sack o' Soil for the first time to get 'e i e i o'. The Rancher NPC sells seeds for 3 bux each.
- Visit the barber in any town and accept the haircut — there is a chance it goes wrong and you go bald, earning 'we gotta go bald'.
- Deliver mail to the post office three times in a single life without dying to earn 'you've got mail!'.
Community strategy ideas
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Glossary
Glossary- Bux
- The in-game currency, held up to 10,000 in your wallet and saved indefinitely in the bank.
- Bounty
- A wanted level you earn by killing innocent players, certain NPCs, or completing heists; higher bounties make NPC bounty hunters chase you.
- Skinning
- Holding T over a dead animal to collect meat, leather, or a trophy hat.
- Deadeye
- An ability activated by holding B after consuming Snek Oil or a Choccy Stick that removes camera sway and recoil.
- Rucksack
- A 5-bux item from stores or the Hunter NPC that increases how much you can carry.
- Witches Brew
- A drink sold at every saloon that quickly restores your hunger; held up to a cow it transforms into milk.
- Brand Iron
- A tool you press against your horse's head to mark it as yours, preventing other players from riding it and letting you whistle it to your location.
- Quest Dynamite
- A crafted explosive made from a Blackpowder crate and 5 meat at Old Man Mckinnel's cabin; the only item that can blow open a bank vault.
- Biome
- One of the four terrain zones — desert, forest, snow, and mountain — each with its own animals, resources, and hazards.
Common questions
FAQHow do I start the Vault Heist?
Collect 5 pieces of meat, then travel to the Outlaw Town in the desert and talk to Boss John Bongo inside the hotel. He will send you to the mines in the snow biome for a Blackpowder crate, which you then take to Old Man Mckinnel's cabin west of Deertown to craft Quest Dynamite. Bring the dynamite to the bank vault on the second floor of the bank Bongo named, blow it, and collect 700 bux — but expect a 100 bux bounty immediately after.
Why does my starter gun feel weak?
Every weapon you spawn with is rusted and deals only 70% of its normal damage. Weapons bought from a shop are not rusted and deal full damage.
My horse died. Do I need to buy a new one?
No. Horses in stables are free to take and you receive no bounty for doing so. If you had branded your horse with a brand iron beforehand, your marked horse can be whistled to you from any distance.
How do I get the most ammo from the gunsmith?
The gunsmith will not top you up if you are carrying more than 17 cartridges. Fire your weapon until you are at exactly 17, then visit the gunsmith to reach the maximum of 23.
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