An official guide into the game, featuring 6 useful advices for new players, and a strategy to eliminate your first gang in no time.
The Rules of a Good Don
Our new Don is inexperienced, so he will need our help. I worked for a previous don and now things won’t go as smoothly as they did. You have to listen closely, as the things that i’ll tell you might save your life.
We’ll start with a few general advices, and then we will go through a general strategy of the streets. You can play your cards however you want though, maybe you’ll find completely new ways that an old dog like me couldn’t even imagine.
General Advices
Read the card’s description.
To some of you, it might seem like an obvious thing, but a lot of people simply start a job without any preparation. From the description you can understand how much money you will gain, the risks, and some bonus effects. For example, the “Get out of jail” card will bring you a new gangster as a reward, in addition to lowering the police attention.
Seriously, this is incredibly helpful. You don’t want to send your boys for a suicide mission, eh?
Don’t like what a hiring card gave you? Just ignore it!
Sometimes you don’t need regular workers, you need professionals. Right people won’t come to you all the time, but nobody said that you have to hire someone you don’t need. Dismiss the window and use the card again. You will see new faces and maybe there will be someone you are looking for.
This is especially helpful in the strategy that I’ll tell you about a bit later.
Watch out for your debts
Eventually, you will yourself in a situation where you owe your workers a little bit of money. Usually, 300-500 in cash is relatively low and you can think “Eh, I’ll pay it sometime later”. But don’t fool yourself: this debt can rise up to tens of thousands in a matter of days. And it will keep going until you won’t be able to pay for anything. In addition, every time you’ll use or discard any card from your hand while holding a debt, you will gain +1 to police attention level.
Once you trespass 1000 owed cash – the police attention will start increasing at a rate of +1 for every 1000 cash in debt.
Don’t be afraid of random events
No, really, some of them are quite harmless. Remember the first advice that I gave you? Some Random Event cards will only take 300 white cash, which can look bad, but if you spend the “Skip Random Event” on something like that, you won’t be able to use it on really dangerous events like “Tax Audit”, which will take 3,000 white cash! Or “Police Raid”, “Lockdown” or “Employee Suddenly Quits”. Now 300 coins don’t look so frightening, right?
See? Not all of them are that dangerous. It is especially important in the center districts.
Be aware of upcoming battles
When you’re capturing a hostile territory (or the opposite), eventually a battle card will appear above your deck. It will be the next card you’ll draw and when you do – the 20-second timer starts, signaling the start of a battle. I found myself so many times in a situation when the hostiles were closing in, but the entirety of my crew was on a mission and there was nobody to fight the enemy. To avoid this, keep your eyes on a notification above your deck about an upcoming fight. Don’t use or discard any cards until you are 100% sure that your crew will be able to dispatch in 20 seconds.
The battle starts when the attacker has reached 50% control over the district. You raise control every time you make a successful operation. The gauge raises when the gangster enters the basement.
Keep your eyes open for any changes
The last, but not least. The streets change every day, so what worked a month ago might not work today. Listen to the latest news in the restaurant, read hotfixes, and look for any big updates.
Now for the real deal
Here is a basic strategy that i often use. Keep in mind that it is not the only one, you are free to experiment.
First things first – Day 1
On your first day, every gang starts only with one home district under their control. This makes them extremely vulnerable and fragile. I usually choose to deal with the Yakuza first, they are the red ones on the map.
On your first day it is critical to hire at least one gangster, so send your boys to work immediately after you start. Ideally, your team should consist of 2 healers and 3 marskmen, but you should be fine even if you have someone else.
Do as much jobs as you can and quickly rush to the Yakuza’s home territory. In the end, the map should look something like this.
As you can see, i already fight on their territory, and this is only day 3!
Yakuza Boss is tough, so you might have to make several attempts to defeat him. But if you have a proper team – you will be victorious in no time.
We just eliminated one of the three rival gangs in just 3 days. Remember, that you won’t be able to repeat this. The last gangs control more territory and kicking them out won’t be as easy. But the overall strategy is still viable.
Hire Marskmen and Healers and rush the criminal jobs. Remember that each fight generates 15 police attention, so you won’t last long unless you have an upgraded restaurant.
Experiment
What i like about young gangsters like you is your unpredictability. You always invent new ways of running a business, adapt to the changes and experiment with your surroundings. You can even make a second edition of “Rules of a Good Don”. I’ll happily read it once i retire.
