13 Days to Escape Prison Jobs: Pay, Tasks and How to Complete Them
Three prison jobs in 13 Days to Escape — library books, lunch potatoes and yard litter — with where each happens, how to finish it and what it pays.
Quick answer
Three paid prison jobs come up in the routine: library book sorting (10 cash per book), potato peeling at lunch, and yard litter pickup (20 cash).
13 Days to Escape ties its paid prison work to the daily schedule: the job available to you depends on the room and time slot shown on the HUD, and each job has its own task and payout. The game's official description puts the loop plainly: "Work prison jobs, earn cash, and buy tools from OJ's Deals," under the tagline "Act normal by day. Plan your escape by night."
Prison jobs and what they pay
Data table
| Job | When and where | What you do | Pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Library books | Library segment of the schedule, shown on the HUD as DAY 01 LIBRARY 01:42 | Take the requested book numbers from the desk guard, find each numbered book on the shelves, press E to pick it up and deliver it to the desk | 10 cash per book delivered |
| Peel potatoes | Lunch segment, at the potato station in the cafeteria | Complete the 'Peel potatoes 5/5' task with a drag gesture | Pay per completed task |
| Pick up litter | Daytime yard access (YARD TIME) | Pick up litter in the yard until 'Pick up litter 8/8' completes | 20 cash |
Library books: deliver the requested numbers
The library job comes after roll call and before lunch. The day counter reads DAY 01 LIBRARY 01:42 during the segment, so the room name and clock are your cue that the job window is open. At the desk, the guard displays the numbers the library wants; the first round asked for #106, #032 and #140. Those numbers are the whole instruction: find each matching book on the shelves, press E to pick it up, and deliver it to the desk. Each delivered book pays 10 cash, so a three-book list works out to 30 cash at that rate.
The list changes between rounds. On the following day, roll call led into the same book-sorting loop with different requests, including #043. So the library job returns as part of the daily schedule, and the requested numbers are what change.
Lunch: peel potatoes at the station
Lunch moves the routine to the cafeteria, where the potato station is the job. Interact with the station to start the "Peel potatoes 5/5" task; each peel uses a drag gesture, and the pay is tied to completing the task. The cash counter is the payout readout: it had reached 187 after a later round of peeling potatoes. That 187 is the running cash total, not the price of one task.
Yard time: clear eight pieces of litter
The yard job runs during daytime yard access, labelled YARD TIME on the HUD. Pick up litter around the yard until the task reads "Pick up litter 8/8"; finishing the set pays 20 cash. The 20 cash is attached to the full 8/8 cleanup, so the piece count is what you track while you work.
What the cash buys at OJ's Deals
Job cash has a specific destination: OJ, the orange-jumpsuit NPC at cell 13. Press E to browse OJ's Deals. In the recorded session the player bought a Saw for 110 cash and a Screwdriver for 25 cash. The saw purchase came during YARD TIME and the screwdriver during RECREATION TIME, so those are the windows where the shop was used. At the library's 10 cash per book, the 110-cash saw is eleven delivered books' worth of pay.
OJ's stock also respects your balance. On one attempt the player did not have enough cash and could not buy, so the loop is: work a scheduled job, watch the cash counter in the bottom-left of the HUD, and spend the total at OJ when it covers the price. For the full cash picture, see the money guide; for the shop itself, the OJ's Deals page; and for the tools you can buy, the tools guide.
The kill bounty is separate from the job list
Not every cash payout comes from a scheduled job. Between the library segment and the LUNCH alert, a kill-bounty pop-up appeared near a female inmate standing with her back turned; it showed KILL, 35 cash and a countdown. The player attacked from a corner, looted the dropped cash, and the alert then changed to LUNCH. That is a separate event, not one of the room-based tasks above.
How the HUD shows job timing and progress
The HUD is how you tell that a job window is open and how far the task has gone. What each element shows and where it sits:
Data table
- HUD element
- Day counter
- Where it sits and what it shows
- Top centre; combines the day, room and clock — readings include DAY 01 LIBRARY 01:42, DAY 01 LOCKDOWN 03:11 and DAY 02 YARD TIME 00:04
- HUD element
- Objective panel
- Where it sits and what it shows
- Top right; leads with "Don't get suspicious" and then the current task
- HUD element
- Cash counter
- Where it sits and what it shows
- Bottom left; your running cash total
- HUD element
- Suspicion meter
- Where it sits and what it shows
- Bottom centre; your suspicion level
- HUD element
- Hotbar
- Where it sits and what it shows
- Four slots showing item durability values
For a job, the task string is the progress line — "Peel potatoes 5/5" and "Pick up litter 8/8" fill as you work, and the cash counter reflects the pay: per book for the library, on completion for the potato and litter tasks. The suspicion meter sits alongside them because the objective panel's standing instruction is to stay unsuspicious while you work; the suspicion guide covers that system, and the day and night cycle explains the clock the HUD is showing.
Jobs return with the schedule
The daily loop is what turns the library job into repeatable income. After the first day, a "Day 2" title screen led into roll call and then the book-sorting loop again, with new numbers such as #043, and the potato station came back into use later. Each job is tied to a room and a segment — library, lunch in the cafeteria, daytime yard — so the routine itself is the schedule: when the HUD moves you into the right segment, the corresponding task is available.
The prison routine guide lays out that day structure, and the full walkthrough covers the sequence around these tasks.
Related Guides
Earning Cash Fast
Every cash source in the prison and the smartest purchase order for your escape tools.
Daily Prison Routine
Every scheduled block from wake-up to lights out, what each alert means, and what you must do in it.
OJ's Deals Shop
Where OJ sells tools, what each item costs, and how buying changes your current objective.