On this page 12 sections
TL;DR
- Not sure which side? Go civilian. Start in Port Marlow for fair land, or Havenbrook if you like food businesses.
- Day one: an edge lot plus a Food Cart costs about $4,250 of your $5,000. Then run the in-game Guide: its ten steps pay $3,150.
- Rent waits in each building's register. Collect once a day, then bank everything above your safe (two days of salary).
- Every day: streak, free wheel spin, three contracts, your activities. That's your second salary.
- Land costs the same under a cart as under a deli. Once your six street permits are full, go bigger, not wider.
The plan
Tick these off as you go. The boxes are just for you: nothing is saved.
First hour
First day
First week
Look around, then play as a guest
No account needed to explore. Fly into any city, open any property card, read the live feed, check the GPS and look up who owns what. Nothing costs a thing until you act.
Your first action asks you to sign in to play: create an account, sign in, or pick a side and play as a guest. Guests get 5 free moves. Buying, building, fighting, services, gambling, travel and starting an activity each count as one.
- Guests can only fight bots.
- Your guest lives in this browser for 3 days. Sign up and it becomes your character, cash, lots and all.
- Unclaimed guests are deleted after 3 days and their lots go back on the market.
Pick a side
Everyone starts at level 1 on the same $100,000-a-year salary. What changes is how fast it grows, how hard you hit and what you're allowed to do.
| Criminal | Police | Civilian | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best at | Attacking and looting | Defense and arrests | Wages and rent |
| Wage growth | 4% per level | 7% per level | 10% per level |
| Pay at level 10 | $742/day | $816/day | $890/day |
| Attack / defense | ×1.30 / ×0.90 | ×1.10 / ×1.25 | ×0.80 / ×1.15 |
| Attacks per day | 12 | 8, wanted players only | 5 |
| Property | Costs +10%, earns −10% | Standard | Costs −10%, earns +20% |
| Only you can | Rob registers and properties, hustle, smuggle | Arrest, overtime, cold-case bounties | Grocery shifts at 1.5×; never gains heat |
Pick civilian if
You want the most forgiving start. A civilian's Food Cart pays back in about 10 days instead of 14, and police can never touch you.
Pick criminal if
You want action. Twelve attacks a day and 150% loot, paid for with heat, jail and a 5% bank fee.
Pick police if
You like hunting. You only fight wanted players, but every arrest pays a fine and a bounty.
Pick a starting city
Everyone starts in Port Marlow or Havenbrook. The rest open by level: Sundale at 3, Ironbridge at 5, Neon Bay at 8.
| Port Marlow | Havenbrook | |
|---|---|---|
| Land | Standard | 20% more |
| Earns extra | Warehouses, fish markets, shipyards +25% | Restaurants, delis, bakeries +25%; homes +15–20% |
| Special service | Docks: shifts at 1.8× wage, or smuggling | Auction House: Tommy Gun, Armored Overcoat |
| Best for | Cheapest first lots, a smuggler's or cop's town | A deli as your first non-permit business |
Both protect newcomers: in a starting city, beating someone five or more levels below you pays nothing.
Your first business
You can only buy within 3 blocks of a block that already has a property. Downtown lots near the Golden Ace run about $6,750 in Marlow; edge lots about $2,750. A building earns the same wherever it stands, so buy on the edge.
- Starting cash
- $5,000
- Edge lot
- −$2,750
- Food Cart
- −$1,500
- Guide rewards for streak, lot and build
- +$850
- Left in your pocket
- $1,600
The cart earns $4.50 an hour, $108 a day. The building alone pays back in 14 days; counting the lot, about 39. That's why the next rung matters: a Taco Stand ($3,500, $252 a day) on the same kind of lot pays back the whole $6,250 in about 25 days.
The starter ladder
| Business | Cost | Rent/day | Payback | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food Cart | $1,500 | $108 | 14 days | Permit: 2 max, level 5 max |
| Taco Stand | $3,500 | $252 | 14 days | Permit: 2 max, level 5 max |
| Laundromat | $5,000 | $336 | 15 days | Permit: 2 max, level 5 max |
| Corner Store | $8,000 | $504 | 16 days | No permit, upgrades to 10 |
| Deli | $12,000 | $708 | 17 days | +25% in Havenbrook |
Base rates, before land and your side's multiplier. Civilians pay 10% less and earn 20% more; criminals pay 10% more and earn 10% less. The full ladder up to the $120M Resort is in the property guide.
Registers, the safe and the bank
The world clock pays every hour. Your salary lands in cash on hand. Your rent fills each building's register, up to one day's worth, and waits for you to collect it. A full register stops filling, so a cart nobody visits for a week has earned one day.
- 24 hRegister cap
- $548Safe at level 1
- $5,000Banked tax-free
- 5%Criminal deposit fee
Your safe shelters two days of your salary from muggers; everything above it is fair game. Money in the bank can't be stolen at all. Balances above $5,000 pay a small daily bank tax in brackets (0.2% up to $100K), which is a nudge to put big money into property.
Short on cash for a build? The bank wires the difference for a 1.5% fee. No need to walk around with the whole price in your pocket.
Your second salary: the daily routine
- Daily streak: day n pays $25×n plus $10 per level. Every 7th day pays triple plus first aid kits and energy drinks; every 30th adds a Box of Havanas. Miss a day and you're back to day 1.
- Free wheel spin at the Golden Ace: cash, supplies, energy, or a jackpot worth 50 times the smallest prize.
- Three contracts from your contact: Rook, Commissioner Croft or Bad Penny. Clear all three and the pay plus bonus comes to about a day of salary.
- Activities at every city service. See the activities guide.
The Guide's ten steps
The in-game Guide walks you through ten steps, each with a "Show me" button and a cash reward.
| Step | Reward | The smart way to do it |
|---|---|---|
| Claim your daily reward | $100 | Every day, first thing |
| Buy your first lot | $250 | Edge of town, not downtown |
| Build a business | $500 | Food Cart |
| Hit the gym | $100 | The free bench press counts |
| Bank some cash | $100 | Everything above your safe |
| Play a city activity | $250 | Chess in the park is quick |
| Pick a fight | $250 | A bot with 60%+ odds. It ends your new-player protection, so do it last |
| Visit another city | $100 | Bus to the other starting city, about $54 |
| Join or start a crew | $500 | Joining is free; founding costs $10,000 at level 3 |
| Invite a friend | $1,000 | Real friends only |
Levels and new cities
Every action earns XP. Each level adds +1 strength and +1 defense, refills your health and raises your wage (an extra 15% per level until level 10, so early levels pay off fast). The quickest XP: contracts (30 each), heists (80), fights, building and the bench press.
Level 3 opens Sundale, where land is 40% off. That's the best place for business number three or four.
Common mistakes
- Buying downtown. A $6,750 lot earns exactly what a $2,750 one does.
- Sleeping on cash. Your payroll piles up in your pocket every hour. Bank above the safe.
- Letting registers fill. After 24 hours they stop. A week away earns one day.
- Upgrading carts forever. Street businesses cap at level 5. Put the money into a Corner Store or a Deli.
- Breaking the streak. Day 30 pays far more than day 1. One missed day resets it.
- Fighting hurt. Health scales your power. A sandwich costs $8.
Pro tips
- Cluster. Buy next to your first lot. One crew holding a block earns +5% there, and you'll want your buildings on it.
- Energy is cheap. An Energy Drink is $15 for 25 energy. Don't wait on the regen if a contract needs two more gym sessions.
- Stack your timers. Start every activity that's ready, then go do something else. Cooldowns run per activity, not per city.
- Take the bus early. It costs a fraction of a flight. Save flights for when energy matters.