Lawn Mowing Simulator 2 starter guide
Update to QoL Update 1, set your comfort and unit options, finish employee contracts for rank-ups, and keep collecting your own contract rewards for RP.
Quality of Life Update 1: start here (October 29)
The update is available on Steam, PlayStation and Xbox. It changes management as well as camera comfort:
- Complete contracts with your employees. Employees now rank up when they finish contracts. Check their rank after completion before treating a lack of progression in an older build as the intended rule. This does not replace collecting your own contract reward for RP.
- Choose your view settings before a long job. The menu now includes First Person Dot, Field of View, sensitivity and Run by Default. Set these to suit you; there is no single required FOV value.
- Set grass density and units in the menu. Speed can use KMpH/MPH, distance metres/feet, mass KG/LBS and volume L/GAL. Check the selected units before comparing a machine's figures.
- Recheck a finished objective after updating. This patch fixes fulfilled objectives failing to display as complete. That is separate from Steam achievements: further achievement fixes were still being investigated in the announcement.
The update also fixes crashes after prolonged weed trimming, camera settings failing to persist between scenes and a mower respawning in the wrong direction on its trailer. Keep the existing pause-menu Respawn option for a trapped machine; do not start a new career just to receive these fixes. The patch notes separate these changes from earlier save and handling fixes.
First hour, in order
Starting the full game without the demo? Do these first — in this order:
| # | Step | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Open Settings and try the comfort options before your first long contract | The mower can feel fast and set off motion sickness for some players — dial movement and camera down early (more at the bottom of this page) |
| 2 | Check your save folder once: C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\LocalLow\Skyhook Games\LMS2 | Save Anytime is the launch build's headline fix; know where the files live before you need them |
| 3 | Take one small contract end to end — mow, trim the edges, clear up | The loop is the same on every plot, and small sites are the cheap classroom |
| 4 | Collect the reward the moment the contract ends | Rewards are what grant RP; skipping them keeps you on the same locations (the developer's explanation is below) |
| 5 | Rank up before you judge the location variety | New locations enter the mix as your reputation grows |
| 6 | If anything looks stale, restart the game client and install the latest update | Patch 1 (25 Sep) made contract selection more varied; Patch 2 (29 Sep) added the pause-menu Respawn |
Learn the loop first
The demo used to be the cheapest way to test the routine. Skyhook temporarily took it down on 25 Sep 2026 (Patch 1 notes) while they investigate a save-data issue that may be linked to it. Skyhook's 28 Sep update ties it to broken demo-linked save files — fixed in Hotfix 02. When it returns it is still Steam app 4787720. Until then, the same loop is the full game — career mode only adds management on top.
The contract loop
Every job in Lawn Mowing Simulator follows the same shape:
- Take a contract. Jobs range from small suburban plots to larger commercial and municipal sites — bigger sites take longer.
- Get to the site and size it up. Walk the plot, note the edges, obstacles and where the clippings will go.
- Mow it. Cut the lawn to the line — precision is the whole point of the sim, not speed.
- Detail the edges. String trimmers handle the borders, fence lines and places the mower can't reach.
- Clean up. Leaves go with the leaf blower (the demo's headline new tool); collect them on the tarp, and use the rake for tight corners the blower can't clear.
- Get paid, take the next one. In the full game this rolls up into the career: your HQ, your business.
The six task types (documented by the achievement list)
Contracts are built from named task types, and each one carries its own award from the game's achievement list:
| Task type | Award | Earn it by |
|---|---|---|
| Mowing | Mowing mastery | 100% progress on a mowing task |
| Clearance | Clever clearance | 100% progress on a clearance task |
| Disposal | Diligent disposal | 100% progress on a disposal task |
| Weed control | Watchful weeding | 100% progress on a weed control task |
| Blowing | Creative grafter | Finishing a blowing task without using the blower |
| Ground check | Can't touch this | Finishing a ground check without touching the objects |
Bigger contracts chain up to four tasks, and an optional on-screen helper called ProView can be toggled off for the muscle-memory challenge — Muscle memory and Perfectionist are the achievements attached. You'll also service your mower and test equipment before it misbehaves — both have achievements too.
Collect the reward or you stay on the same lawns
Developer daan_hugo (24 Sep 2026) spelled this out after players refunded because "the 4th and 5th jobs were the same location": pick up your rewards after each contract. That is what grants RP (Reputation Points). Rank up, and further locations enter the mix. Skipping the reward pickup is a flow bug they called a "minor flaw," not a missing map pack.
How the loop pays you, step by step:
| Step | What you get | If you skip it |
|---|---|---|
| Finish the contract | The plot is complete | — |
| Collect the reward | RP (Reputation Points) | The same locations can come back around — the exact complaint that drove refunds |
| Rank up | A higher reputation tier | Further locations stay locked |
| Keep ranking | A more varied location pool | Patch 1 (25 Sep) already widened selection, and Skyhook says they are still working on the system |
Patch 1 (25 Sep) then changed contract generation so you get a more varied selection of locations. Skyhook says they feel it helped and will keep working on that system.
Save anytime — check this first
The Steam page lists Save Anytime. PC saves: C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\LocalLow\Skyhook Games\LMS2 (hidden folder; *.json = save, steam_autocloud.vdf = Cloud). If you're mid-contract when real life intervenes, the launch build is advertised as letting you stop.
Launch-week snags worth knowing
Patch 1 shipped 25 Sep 2026: ZTA 26s collision no longer floats the mower, ProView is better at leftover leaves, contract generation is more varied, and consoles (especially Xbox Series loading/lighting) got a visual pass. Restart Steam if you do not see the build.
Patch 2 (29 Sep 2026) is that Steam hotfix shipped: fixes for the demo-linked save issue (black screen / stuck handheld-equipment purchases), a Respawn option in the pause menu — the escape hatch for getting trapped or falling through the floor while the root causes get fixed — and a loading update that improves memory use. Hotfix 03 then landed on 30 Sep across all platforms (console Respawn, the PS5 save fix, console performance and the screen-tearing fix), with D-Pad menu navigation everywhere; Steam also got hotfix build 1.0.1.1297391.5416 that day. On 8 Oct an earlier update arrived: build 1.0.1.1310564.5536, with the tarpaulin on the truck at clearance contracts, a reworked contract assignment screen, Lionbridge Lane kerb collisions and easier flowerbed borders, broader contract generation, loading screens that no longer need a button press, no camera bounce on mowers, fixed hidden achievements, and respawning that also works on a mower. The 15 Oct hotfix then fixed mower sliding — the biggest handling complaint — closed an exploit that let the same equipment be sold repeatedly, and tweaked vehicle repair costs. Slope handling remains under investigation, and there is no word yet on the Steam demo's return.
Player-reported, not on the official list yet:
- Career can stick on "buy a trimmer / blower" if those tools are already hanging on the shop rack. Several players unstuck it by starting a new career.
- Black screen after naming the company / customising the character.
Bug reports: Skyhook's feedback form (linked from their Technical FAQ). Known-issues page is still marked TBD.
Comfort settings before long sessions
Demo players reported two things worth checking before you settle in: the mower can feel fast (one thread even blamed a "bad transaxle" jokingly), and at speed it can trigger motion-sickness for some. Open the settings first session, look at movement/driving options and camera behaviour, and dial them down before you commit to a long contract.
