Trash Day beginner guide — the first hour
The first hour is learn-the-wagon hour: push and steer together, knock over every trash can, stack loot physically, and bank it at checkpoints before the risky stretches.
What you are actually doing
You are a raccoon. Your friends are raccoons. You have escaped Animal Control, you have stolen a wagon, and the plan is to load it with the finest trash you can find and haul it to Raccoon Paradise.
The loop is short and the execution is long: scavenge, load, escort, repeat. Everything in between — steep hills, traffic, guard animals — is designed to wreck the plan and make you laugh about it.
The first hour, step by step
- Learn the wagon before you learn anything else. Push and steer it together with your squad. It tips, it loses wheels, it can be flipped. Putting a wheel back on and flipping it back is part of the job, not a failure state.
- Break into trash. Knock over cans, dig through dumpsters, and search everything you pass. Items are physics objects — toss them in the wagon, stack them so they do not fall out.
- Test an obstacle instead of avoiding it. Planks, bungee cords and the jumps you can build with them are the whole comedy engine of the game. Go over the thing. If it goes wrong, that is data.
- Bank your loot at checkpoints. Scavenged trash is deposited at checkpoints and converted into money for tools, wagon repairs and cosmetics. Hauling without banking is how you lose an hour of hauling.
- Pick silly objectives with your friends. A frisbee, a trumpet, a synchronized patty-cake — the game hands you side activities on purpose.
Before your first run
- Run the free demo first if you have not. It teaches the wagon by doing. The full game's first area is the demo's area — you enter launch already knowing the physics.
- Bring at least one friend. The store page says you technically can play solo "but the wagon is a lot for one raccoon." The demo was balanced for co-op.
- Check your settings once. Full controller support is listed, and the options include separate volume controls (useful, since the game rewards shouting at each other). Report bugs with F11 as the demo's onboarding note says — the game sends the report directly.
What "done" looks like in the full game
Six areas sit between Animal Control and Raccoon Paradise, with new obstacles in each. The demo gives you one of them, so the launching-off-a-seesaw humor you already know only gets more machinery behind it. Route details live on the areas page.
Sources
- Steam store page description, checked October 6, 2026.
- "The TRASH DAY Demo is LIVE for Steam Next Fest!" — June 16, 2026, Steam news hub.
- Developer FAQ thread — Steam discussion.
All guides12
StartTrash Day release date, price and platforms
StartTrash Day demo vs full game
WagonTrash Day wagon physics and hauling guide
LootTrash Day trash and values guide
Co-opTrash Day co-op guide — bring a crew
SetupTrash Day controls and settings
WorldTrash Day areas and route guide
WorldTrash Day animals and hazards guide
ExtrasTrash Day hats, skins and cosmetics
UpdatesTrash Day demo updates and patch notes
PlansTrash Day roadmap and dev plans
FAQ