Probably Stolen Demo: What You Can and Cannot Do

Demo checked October 19, 2026 · Probably Stolen Demo, Steam build 25382790

Yes, the Probably Stolen demo is out: it has been free on Steam since September 14, 2026, as its own app, Probably Stolen Demo. It opens four starting scenarios and has no day limit, but the landlord never offers to sell you the shop, so a demo run can only end in a loss.

Probably Stolen demo: the short answer

For what the game is and every guide we publish, start at the Probably Stolen guide hub.

Starts you can play: Apprentice, Water Merchant, Rat Wrangler and Rock Bottom, the hard-mode start.
Buying the shop: not possible in the demo. The landlord only takes rent.
How long you can play: as long as you like; players run saves past day 100.
Locked content: anything marked "Unavailable In Demo Version", including 14 of Joe Wild's 34 network favors.
Saves and launch day: the full game arrives October 28, 2026; what happens to demo saves is on our release date page.

The Probably Stolen demo at a glance

The Probably Stolen demo at a glance
Field	Value
Price and access	Free, as a separate Steam app, out since September 14, 2026. Source: Steam store listing.
Starts you can play	Apprentice, Water Merchant, Rat Wrangler and Rock Bottom. Source: The demo's game code; official Steam announcements.
Locked starts	Nine more, from Junker to Gunsmith. Source: In-game text; the demo's game code.
Modes	Hard Mode and Endless Mode can both be switched on. Source: In-game text; the demo's game code.
Day limit	None. Source: The lead developer, May 2026; player reports.
Buying the shop	Not possible: the landlord only offers to collect rent. Source: The demo's game code; player reports.
Endings	Losing endings only; no buyout ending. Source: In-game text; player reports.
Joe Wild's favors	14 of 34 locked. Source: In-game text; the demo's game code.
Saves at launch	Covered on our release date page. Source: Official Discord.

What's in the Probably Stolen demo: starts and modes

The Steam listing sums the demo up as "Demo Content: 3 starting scenarios + hardcore mode". In practice you get four starts. The demo's game code lets you begin a run as the Apprentice, the Water Merchant or the Rat Wrangler, plus Rock Bottom, which the developers describe as the hard-mode start. Water Merchant is the demo's new start; the other three came from the earlier Playtest.

The demo's files describe 13 starting scenarios in all. The other nine are Junker, Fence, Moonshiner, Chemist, Organ Dealer, Pharmacist, Street Food Vendor, Hydroponic Farmer and Gunsmith. They are on the new-game screen, but the demo will not start a run with any of them. Which of them the full game ships with will show at launch.

Hard Mode and Endless Mode. The new-game screen also has a Hard Mode switch and an Endless Mode switch, and the demo's code applies no demo restriction to either. The store's "hardcore mode" could mean the Rock Bottom start or the Hard Mode switch; the listing does not say which, so treat them as two separate choices.

If you want rats, the Rat Wrangler starts with an Animal Cage, rats and food; our guide to getting your first rats covers that start and the other ways in.

What the demo added. The September 14, 2026 Update 049 notes list what came with the demo over the Playtest: the Water Merchant start with its water testing and purification kit, a new early machine, the Toolbox, the fridge, upgrades for the Bottle Printer and the Cleaner Robot (the notes call it the Vacuum Robot), and two starting perks built for challenge runs.

Can you buy the shop in the Probably Stolen demo?

No. In the demo, the landlord only ever offers to collect rent. When he visits, the demo's code gives you two choices, "Pay Rent" and "Don't pay the rent", and nothing else, however many Credits you hold.

The buyout is written into the game. The demo's text files include a landlord option, "Buyout the store", and his reply ("How did you save up all those credits? … Well, the store is yours."), and the game has a Buyout ending. The demo's code never shows that option, so the ending cannot be reached that way.

Why it looks possible. At the end of the tutorial the Mentor tells you: "Once you have more Credits, you can either find someone to offer you a mortgage, or buy out the store directly, if you got enough." That is the line that sends players saving up, and it is why the same question keeps coming back on Steam, Reddit and Discord.

What players report. Since the demo came out in September, players report saving well past what the shop is worth, some by day 90 and some far later, and still seeing only the rent options on rent day. The official Discord's FAQ gave the same answer for the Playtest in August 2026: the shop could not be bought there either.

The mortgage route. The game's code still contains the other half of the Mentor's advice: a lender who can turn up on rent day with a mortgage offer, and an ending for paying it off. We found no player report of anyone reaching it in the demo, so don't plan a demo run around it.

The full game launches on October 28, 2026; this page will add how buying the shop works there once it is out.

Does the Probably Stolen demo end? Days and endings

There is no day limit. Before the demo came out, the lead developer said in the official Discord on May 10, 2026: "Unless there's any changes, the new demo will be open ended with limited starting scenarios and some upgrade and mechanic are not available but you will be able to play as much as day as you want." Players have done exactly that, with runs past day 100 and challenge series carried on in the demo until launch.

A run only ends badly. The demo's files hold 13 ending reasons, from "You Defaulted On Your Rent", "Arrested" and "Executed" to "Sentinel Collapse" and "Augmented". Two of them are the winning ones: buying the store outright and paying off a mortgage. Because the landlord never offers a buyout, the endings demo players report are the losing ones: falling behind on rent, being arrested or executed, being killed after a faction turned against them, an Aug takeover and Sentinel Collapse. If you avoid all of those, the run simply keeps going.

Endless Mode. Endless Mode is a separate switch on the new-game screen, and it is not the same thing as the demo having no day limit: the demo runs on with or without it.

"Thanks For Playing The Demo!" is not the end. That screen, with its request to wishlist the game and fill in a feedback survey, opens the first time you quit to the menu from the in-game Esc menu, and then never again. Your run is still there when you load it.

What "Unavailable In Demo Version" locks

"Unavailable In Demo Version" is the game's own label for content the demo holds back. You see it in two places.

On the new-game screen, the nine starts listed above cannot be started.

In Wild's Network, Joe Wild's list of favors and contacts, 14 of the 34 entries are locked in the demo's game data and show the label when you click them:

Lower Levels Chemist
Upper Level Pharmacist
Criminal Networking
Showcase Expansion II
Ruined Machine Scrapping
Retired Farmer
Retired Gunsmith
Firearm Permit I
Firearm Permit II
Firearm Permit III
Retired Chemist
Marketplace Requests
Jackson Investment II
Store Renovation III

The other 20 are open, among them Ranching, which brings a weekly rat seller, and Water Trading.

If a favor you want carries the label, it is not a bug: the demo holds it back, and players who ran into it in September and October report the same. We will recheck the list against the full release.

Getting the demo, and what happens at launch

The demo is free on its own Probably Stolen Demo page on Steam; you do not need to own the full game. The hub links every official channel.

Two launch questions belong to our release date page, which tracks them with dates: whether a demo save will carry over to the full game, and whether the demo stays on Steam after October 28. In short, the lead developer said in May 2026 that demo saves would transfer to the full game, with a caveat, and the studio has not said more about it since the demo launched. Read the details in the demo section of the release date page.

Version notes and limits

This page describes the demo before the update the developers announced for October 19, 2026, which they called "not something huge". Its contents were not public when we checked. The developers have said nothing about why the demo leaves out the buyout, so that section rests on the demo's game code and player reports.

The October 19 update triggers a recheck of the starts, the locked favors, the landlord's options and the endings on this page. The full release on October 28 triggers a recheck of everything, and a changed rule is added with the date it was checked. After launch, this page stays up while the demo does and turns into a short guide to how the demo differs from the full game; if the demo is withdrawn, its key points move to the release date page.

Probably Stolen demo FAQ

Is the Probably Stolen demo free?

Yes. It is a free, separate app on Steam, and it has been available since September 14, 2026.

Can you buy the shop in the Probably Stolen demo?

No. The landlord only offers to collect rent, even if you have far more than the shop is worth. The buyout option exists in the game's text but the demo never shows it.

Is there a day limit in the demo?

No. The lead developer said before the demo came out that it would be open ended, and players run saves past day 100.

Does the Probably Stolen demo have an ending?

Only losing ones, such as defaulting on rent, being arrested or Sentinel Collapse. The winning endings need the shop to be bought, which the demo does not allow.

Which starts can you play in the demo?

Apprentice, Water Merchant, Rat Wrangler and Rock Bottom. The other nine starting scenarios are locked.

What does "Unavailable In Demo Version" mean?

It marks content the demo holds back: nine of the starts and 14 of Joe Wild's network favors, such as Criminal Networking and the Firearm Permits.

Can you play Hard Mode or Endless Mode in the demo?

Yes. Both switches are on the new-game screen, and the demo does not restrict them.

Is "Thanks For Playing The Demo!" the end of the demo?

No. It appears once, the first time you quit to the menu, and asks you to wishlist the game. Your run carries on.

Will my demo save carry over to the full game?

The lead developer said in May 2026 that it would, with a caveat. The demo section of our release date page tracks it.

Sources and version history for this guide: Probably Stolen sources and versions.

Spot an error or a post-patch change? See how we label evidence and handle corrections in the Editorial Policy.