FIRST WEEK WALKTHROUGH — DAY BY DAY

Japanese Ramen Simulator First Week Walkthrough (2026)

Steam Early Access live (v0.1.50.17746). Hour-by-hour first week: prep, 10:00 open, rush, beer, 21:00 close, casino, sleep—plus 10-day milestones from creator preview runs (release build may differ). Day 1 official changes in the card below.

A frothy draft beer and a finished ramen bowl with a pink fish-cake topping side by side on the steel kitchen pass in Japanese Ramen Simulator, a finished ticket waiting to be carried to the counter — 📸 *The pass, seconds before service: a beer and a bowl waiting side by side — the whole day loop in one frame.*▶ Watch this moment in the preview run: 56:50

After Day 1: official changes to know

OFFICIAL

Day 1 patch v0.1.48.17626. Full notes: Steam Day 1 patch notes, /changelog.

OFFICIALTutorial: actions finished before the on-screen prompt now count (drain noodles, pour beer, cut ingredients, dishwasher, shop expansion). Day-one softlock (nori bowl / second customer eating) fixed. New cutting-board lock tutorial; beer tutorial no longer requires a completely full mug.
OFFICIALDifficulty payouts (same order & rating): Easy ×1.4 (+40%), Normal ×1.2 (+20%), Hard / Very Hard unchanged.
OFFICIALCutting boards can be locked in place (right-click placed board). Carry up to five tare bottles at once (one in hand when pouring).
OFFICIALHandcart handling improved (range, turn/accel, reverse, customer collision, slopes). Fridge and sample-cabinet food no longer vanish overnight. New dish-clearing staff for plates, trays, and empty drink bottles.
OFFICIALOnline: connection failures now show cause, suggested fixes, and error codes; several join/sync and voice-chat fixes shipped.

→ /guides/tutorial-stuck-guide · /guides/handcart-guide · /guides/multiplayer-troubleshooting · /guides/player-faq

Unofficial fan wiki — not affiliated with Wild Dog or Steam.

The First Week at a GlanceOBSERVED

Early Access is live since 2026-10-09 (v0.1.50.17746). Hour-by-hour flow and first-week numbers come from two pre-release creator preview runs: ホワイト (days 1–5) and Kanzalone solo Normal (days 1–10, level 12). Treat them as pre-release preview observations — the release build may differ, especially after Day 1 payout and tutorial fixes. Cross-check /changelog.

One in-game day10:00 → 21:00OBSERVED

Shop hours on the in-game clock in both preview runs; prep before 10:00, cleanup, casino and sleep after 21:00

Rush hour12:00, dailyOBSERVED

Both runs get a “rush hour has begun” notification at noon — the day’s customer wave and patience test

Sleep settlement2 × 500OBSERVED

Serving speed and ramen quality each grade out of 500 (1,000 total); the runs show 450, a perfect 500, and a 924/1,000 A rank

First-week paceLevel 12 by day 10OBSERVED

One solo Normal creator run went level 1→12 in about three hours; whether the ladder stops there is unknown

Money curve$500 → $2,000+OBSERVED

$500 starting cash, first bowl $18, roughly $829 by day 2 and past $2,000 by mid-week; tickets climb $18→$48

After closeCasino diceOBSERVED

Even-or-odd Cho-han dice in the back-room casino; withdraw cash from the register first

Sources & Videos

How we label data

This is an unofficial fan wiki. Each claim carries a source label so you can tell what the developer confirmed from what we estimated.

OFFICIALFrom the Steam store page, official announcements or patch notes.
OBSERVEDSeen in gameplay footage or hands-on builds; the release build may differ.
PLAYER REPORTReported by players on Steam; we have not reproduced it.
SITE MODELA calculation or estimate built by this site — not an in-game value.

Images and hour-by-hour notes come from the linked pre-release creator preview runs. “Day X unlock” lines are personal-run observations, not an official schedule. Prefer /changelog and /guides/level-unlocks-guide on the live build.

Times, money and level milestones below are pre-release creator preview observations; the live build may already include Day 1 payout and balance tweaks.

One Day, Hour by Hour: From Open to Lights-OutOBSERVED

Japanese Ramen Simulator morning prep at 10:02 on day 2: a pork-bone broth pot simmering over a blue flame on a portable burner, its broth panel reading 53 percent remaining, a red noren curtain behind

PHASE 01

Step 1: Morning — Order Supplies and Get the Broth On (before 10:00)

The day starts before the doors do. The supply terminal takes your order — noodles, pork bones, sauce, plus whatever the “today’s ramen” banner announces (bean sprouts and chopped onion one day, bamboo shoots the next) — and the preview runs even caught big orders arriving by drone. Then the longest job first: pork bones, leek and water into the stockpot, burner lit, and the tonkotsu panel starts tracking the broth while you chop toppings and pre-fill water glasses — one creator lined up five every morning. Anything with the cold mark went into the fridge the night before.

▶ Watch this moment in the preview run: 37:30

📸 10:02 — the broth panel tracks the simmer: mornings start with the longest job.

Japanese Ramen Simulator at 10:00 before opening: the long empty wooden counter set only with a No. 002 table-number sign while the water-cup placement UI waits open

PHASE 02

Step 2: 10:00 — Flip the Sign and Set the Counter

Both preview runs open shop at 10:00 on the in-game clock. The last minutes are counter work: table-number signs out, water glasses placed — the game even asks you to fill a cup at the dispenser for the seat — then flip the sign to open. Day 1 in the runs is a guided tutorial: draw your shop sign, the first supply order is free, and your first bowl earns $18 from a patient first customer.

▶ Watch this moment in the preview run: 28:00

📸 10:00 — a quiet counter with a table sign and a water cup: seconds before the sign flips.

Japanese Ramen Simulator late-morning service on day 1 at 11:36: a customer in a black jacket pays $50 at the vintage cash register as the lunch rush builds toward noon

PHASE 03

Step 3: 12:00 — “Rush Hour Has Begun”

At noon both runs get the same notification, and the street starts delivering customers in bunches. This is the day’s pressure peak: orders stack, patience meters drain, and toppings quietly start coming in twos (“they want more than just one” became a run-long catchphrase). The register fills fast — one lunch customer paid $50 in the solo Normal run — and one creator who forgot to give anybody water on day 1 heard about it all stream.

▶ Watch this moment in the preview run: 29:00

📸 11:36 — the lunch wave has not fully landed, and the register is already rolling.

Japanese Ramen Simulator at 14:13 on day 6: two finished noodle bowls and a mug of beer staged on the steel prep counter between sauce bottles, ready for the next order

PHASE 04

Step 4: Afternoon — Cook Ahead, Wash Ahead

After the lunch wave, the floor thins and the afternoon becomes your window. In the runs this is when two finished bowls got staged on the prep counter at once, broth got topped back up toward that 87–100 percent mark, dishes got washed in batches, and tomorrow’s shopping list took shape. Fall behind here and the evening spirals — the creator who pre-cooked noodles cruised; the one who didn’t, drowned.

▶ Watch this moment in the preview run: 65:25

📸 14:13 — two bowls and a beer standing by: afternoon staging decides the evening.

Japanese Ramen Simulator draft pour at 11:54 on day 6: the beer server’s keg gauge reading 85 percent as a frothy mug fills under the tap, with a beer-foam tutorial hint in the corner

PHASE 05

Step 5: Evening — Beer Orders Begin

Around mid-week the beer line unlocks (level 5 in one run, a day-4 tutorial in the other): beer dispenser, keg, mugs, serving trays. Tickets start reading “ramen and a beer” and the pour becomes the week’s newest skill — fill the mug, then build the foam head; both creators call it the hardest new job in the shop. The keg gauge drains as you pour, and a beer added about $6 to a ticket in the Normal run.

▶ Watch this moment in the preview run: 64:50

📸 The foam crown is part of the order: watch the keg gauge, pour slow.

Japanese Ramen Simulator at 20:53 on day 5: a tall stack of empty bowls under a green pickup arrow on the prep table, the night’s last customer still at the counter, the clean-the-counter task on screen

PHASE 06

Step 6: 21:00 — Last Call and the Cleanup Pile

The clock runs to 21:00 and the last tickets land — sometimes a straggler wanders in after hours and gets served anyway (“Sir, what is your problem? Go home,” one creator told his). Then the flip side of service: a tower of empty bowls with a green pickup arrow, the counter-wipe task, trash out, and leftovers into the fridge — broth keeps overnight, and both preview runs reused it the next morning. Since the Day 1 patch, food inside the fridge and sample cabinet no longer despawns overnight (official — see card above); dish-clearing staff can haul plates too.

▶ Watch this moment in the preview run: 59:00

📸 20:53 — the night’s last customer, and a tower of bowls waiting under the green arrow.

Japanese Ramen Simulator back-room casino at night: the lit 丁半 Cho-han even-or-odd signboard standing between paper lanterns beside a waving maneki-neko cat

PHASE 07

Step 7: After Close — the Casino Detour

With the shop dark, the town is yours, and both creators kept walking to the same place: the back-room casino, where the lit Cho-han (丁半) board runs even-or-odd dice. Withdraw cash from the register first — one creator turned an evening into a net win, the other donated it back a few bets at a time. It’s optional, it’s dangerous, and it happens night after night if you let it.

▶ Watch this moment in the preview run: 47:00

📸 The Cho-han board at night — even or odd? The register’s cash is calling.

Japanese Ramen Simulator result screen for day 5: serving speed graded 452/500 and ramen quality 462/500 for a 924/1,000 total, plus 80 experience and an A rank above the next-day button

PHASE 08

Step 8: Sleep — the Score Screen Pays Out

Sleep ends the day on the result screen: serving speed and ramen quality, each graded out of 500 for a 1,000 total — the runs show a 450/500 day, a perfect 500/500 day, and a 924/1,000 A rank — plus experience and the unlocks you just earned. Level-ups land here: garlic, cabbage and menma on day 2, the staff noodle boiler around day 3, the beer line around day 4–5, critics from level 7 — in one creator’s flow, not an official schedule.

▶ Watch this moment in the preview run: 62:00

📸 Day 5 result — 924/1,000 for an A rank: the day settles before you sleep.

Japanese Ramen Simulator at 10:00 on day 2: the shopkeeper stands arms crossed beside the wooden register as the staff-assignment menu highlights the register station in green

PHASE 09

Step 9: Days 2–4 — First Staff and the $2,000 Mark

The first week’s real unlock is help. Day 2 in the runs puts a part-timer on the register — right-click the register, assign staff, $5 an hour — and around day 3 a staff noodle boiler takes over noodle duty with soft, normal and firm presets. Money compounds quietly underneath: $500 to start, roughly $829 by day 2, past $2,000 by mid-week, while ingredients stay so cheap one creator called them “super cheap compared to the money we make.”

▶ Watch this moment in the preview run: 36:10

📸 Day 2, 10:00 — the assignment menu lights up the register: the first $5-an-hour job starts here.

Japanese Ramen Simulator critic day at 15:30 on day 7: a stern bald critic in dark clothes studies a large nori-topped ramen bowl at counter seat No. 004 while the ramen-critic banner tracks aroma, flavor and color

PHASE 10

Step 10: Days 5–7 — Critic Day

Around level 7, a critic day lands: only critics visit, and the banner asks for ramen with rich umami, aroma and color. One creator’s tonkotsu fell short at 7/8 umami; another rebuilt the broth around flavor and aroma, passed, and unlocked miso and grated garlic for it. By day 10 the solo Normal run sat at level 12 with the shop-expansion page open — step-by-step layout photos in /guides/shop-expansion-guide — a whole first-week arc, from a $500 till to a two-broth menu with a side of gyoza.

▶ Watch this moment in the preview run: 69:30

📸 Day 7, 15:30 — the critic is studying the bowl: the level-7 test sits right here.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1.How long is a day in Japanese Ramen Simulator?

The in-game clock gives you one working day: both pre-release creator preview runs (release build may differ) open at 10:00 and wind down around 21:00, with prep before and cleanup, casino and sleep after. Uncut, a full day took roughly 15–20 real minutes early on, and it stretches as your menu grows. Ticket prices and timings may differ after Day 1 — see /changelog and /guides/level-unlocks-guide.

Q2.When is rush hour?

Noon. Both preview runs get a “rush hour has begun” notification at 12:00 and the counter fills for the lunch wave. Pre-pour the water glasses, keep the broth hot and the noodles batched before it hits.

Q3.What time does the shop close?

21:00 on the in-game clock in the preview runs. Closing is manual — you flip the sign when you’re done — and guests can still walk in around and after close; one run served a determined after-hours regular.

Q4.How many days until max level?

Nobody knows the cap. One creator preview run went level 1 to 12 across 10 in-game days — about three hours of solo Normal play — unlocking staff tools, beer, critics and the shop-expansion page along the way. Whether 12 is the ceiling is unknown.

Q5.What happens when you sleep?

The day settles on a result screen: serving speed and ramen quality, each scored out of 500 (a 1,000 total), plus experience and your new unlocks. The preview footage shows a 450/500 day, a perfect 500/500 day and a 924/1,000 A rank. The next morning loads a fresh checklist and that day’s featured toppings.

Q6.Can you visit the casino every night?

In the preview runs, nothing stopped it: both creators hit the back-room casino on multiple nights — withdraw cash at the register, bet even or odd on the dice. Any hidden limit isn’t shown in the footage; the runs simply kept going back.

Q7.Did Day 1 change the first-week pace?

v0.1.50.17746 adjusted Easy ×1.4 / Normal ×1.2 payouts, tutorials, handcart handling, overnight fridge food, dish staff, and more. The hour-by-hour flow here still helps, but ticket prices and unlock levels may differ — see /changelog and /guides/level-unlocks-guide.

Related Guides & Tools

📋 ChangelogOfficial changes since Day 1 v0.1.48.17626 ❓ Player FAQPurchase, settings, common issues 🧭 Beginner’s GuideDay-one loop from open to first bowl 🔓 Level Unlock ReferenceIncludes Day 1 level tweaks ⚠️ Beginner MistakesFirst-week traps, and the fixes 🧑‍🍳 Staff Hiring GuideRegister and noodle-boiler part-timers ⚙️ Staff Settings ($5 register)Hire Staff / Staff Settings clicks 💰 Money & Pricing GuideThe $500-to-$2,000 curve, priced 🎲 Casino GuideCho-han dice rules and payouts 🍜 Rush Hour Kitchen FlowSurviving the 12:00 wave 🚒 Crisis ManagementFires, thieves and angry critics 📖 Tutorial stuck?Day 1 fixes and workarounds 💰 Is It Worth It?Early Access purchase guide