From training item to perk
The opening Reading Nook trains Financial Insight. Worm Weights serve muscle training. Buying the item is not the same as earning a perk: use the training activity, reach a skill level, and inspect the tree.
The Junior tutorial says each perk costs one point and some later tiers require better training items. If a node stays locked, read its prerequisite before assuming another level will solve it.
Choose your first perk
| Your next goal | Early demo choice | Check before spending |
|---|---|---|
| Complete an investment task | Stock Market | Can you keep cash aside for the next required purchase? |
| Earn through more complex work | Advanced Spreadsheets | Can you comfortably do arithmetic and two-key shortcuts? |
| Improve earnings while dressed up | Hat-linked income perk | Do you already have a hat equipped? |
A practical default: take the unlock named by your next objective. When there is no urgent unlock, choose Advanced Spreadsheets if work files are already easy; choose Stock Market if you want to learn a separate income system. The hat bonus is conditional, so it is less useful while you are still trying to obtain or equip a hat.
These are choices for the early demo tree, not a ranking of every full-game perk.
When a perk seems to do nothing
- You bought an item: use it to level a skill; an item purchase is not a perk purchase.
- You unlocked a new app: leave the tree and open the relevant work app.
- You picked the hat bonus: check that your worm is wearing a hat.
- A later node is locked: read its path and training-item requirements.
- Your tree looks different: follow the node text in your version instead of this demo table.
The shop guide explains which early items serve training or work.
The 198-perk Senior tree
Tippy’s demo introduction briefly shows a huge Senior Financial Analyst tree, then switches to the much smaller Junior tree. That sequence is a tutorial joke; it is not a usable list of 198 confirmed full-game unlocks.
Use the Junior instructions that follow it. Do not apply the elaborate point formula from the Senior introduction to the one-point Junior perks.
Check the hat bonus in your game
The perk increases income while a hat is worn in the demo. Recordings differ on the percentage, so use the number on your own perk tooltip when comparing it with another purchase. Owning a hat and wearing it are different conditions.
Demo walkthrough: Financial Insight training and Junior perk tutorial.