Roll Out is incredibly tough when you play it for the first few times because of its rogue-like nature. Different calamities can throw different events at you and your starting crew can affect your decisions. Here are some tips to help you get started;

• The pause button is your friend. Use it frequently.
  
  
• Spend the first stop gathering as much as possible and only build resource collecting buildings such as the lumber yard and quarry to maximize your gathering.
  
  
• Tile sets such as forest, plains and desert are great starting locations.
  
  
  • Desert will have less tress but allow you to gather water from cacti.
    
    
  • Forests and Snow are the only maps with mushrooms, so make sure to grab as many as you
    can when you’re stopped there
    
    
  • The Plains is the only location where you can find cotton and the location is the safest from
    hostile creatures (in calamities that do not add hostiles).
  
  
• Make sure to research Depth Digging ASAP as it is the easiest, most reliable source of water in the game. Generally by the time Depth Digging is researched it’s not worth spending the resources on a well so save them for stop 2 and let the crew take some damage the first roll out. Each new stop, make constructing at least 2 wells a priority and water should never be an issue.
  
  
• Take some time to familiarize yourself with the research tree. You should always have a plan of where you want to go in the tree.
  
  
• Most of the Construction research is extremely helpful and should be researched within the first 3-5 stops if possible. While cloth and rubber may not seem important at first, they end up becoming necessary once you need more bullets or a spare tire!
  
  
• Stone is very important for buildings as well as research but it is heavy and will fill the Road Train faster than most other resources. Make sure to balance how much you are collecting with what you are planning to build on your current stop and the next.
  
  
• Use militants to handle hostiles because they do more damage, have a longer range and more health. Watch your bullets though, they run out fast! Once hostiles aren’t a concern, use militants to gather as they are the fastest crew type in the game. If your starting crew does not have a militant consider restarting.
  
  
• Try to avoid tough, hostile adding calamities such as Zombies, Demons and World War 3 Aftermath until you have the hang of the game. Extra hostiles = extra stress.

Don’t be discouraged if you don’t win on your first try. It is meant to be difficult. Just make sure that you learn from the attempt so you can be better prepared for next time.

Source: Beta Tester for Roll Out