First Steps on the Asphalt
Right away, the movement caught my attention. A lot of indie crime simulations feel like you are driving a wet cardboard box across an empty map, but here walking and skating have actual weight. Turning on a skateboard has decent momentum, and stopping does not feel like an ice-skating glitch. You arrive in Hyland Point with empty pockets, no product, and zero reputation, so those early deliveries are strictly done on foot or on your board.
The early pacing is simple. You scramble through alleyways, meet low-level buyers, and try not to draw heat from passing cops. Because the English voice work and interface are clean and easy to follow, the initial setup gets out of your way fast. You learn the streets, hand off bags, and pocket tiny cash stacks to fund your first real batch of supplies.
Throwing Hands in Back Alleys
Eventually you run into trouble with local law enforcement or cartel rivals, and that means fighting. The combat in Schedule I lets you use fists, melee weapons, or firearms. When you swing a melee weapon, the hitboxes connect where they should instead of phantom-whiffing through an enemy jacket. There is genuine hit impact when a pipe or a punch lands. Your swings have clear windup and recovery, so you cannot just spam attack inputs blindly without leaving yourself open.
Gunplay is functional and lethal, but the close-quarters brawling is where the tension sits. Taking on two rival thugs with bare fists demands solid spacing. If you mistime a dodge or swing too early, you eat a counter and lose half your health bar. The animations are not silky big-budget motion capture, yet the active timing windows are crisp enough that skill matters more than raw stats.
Cooking Product and Building Scale
Once you survive your first few street skirmishes, you start putting cash into production. Every drug type has its own setup process, and discovering recipes for new variants keeps the lab work interesting. You buy properties, hire workers, and set up supply lines so you never have to mix every single bag by hand. Running whole properties feels great because you fought for every square foot.
The business side still forces you onto the streets. You hire dealers to take over distribution, but cartels and aggressive cops do not just vanish when you buy real estate. You still have to drive or skate over to fix supply bottlenecks, bail out your operations, and enforce your territory when rival crews try to muscle in on your turf.
Growing the Crew in Early Access
You can play through the entire criminal ladder alone or bring a friend along in co-op multiplayer. Having a second player changes the dynamic in street brawls. One of you can flank with a firearm while the other ties up a cartel enforcer with melee strikes, making turf defense much cleaner. The town feels dangerous, grungy, and hostile enough that having backup actually matters.
At twenty dollars on Steam, the package is already sturdy for Early Access. You can tell TVGS focused on making the street level feel physical before piling on layers of empire spreadsheets. Some transitions and inventory menus are still a bit rough around the edges, but the core loop of fighting, cooking, and expanding holds its ground.
Comments 16
BestNewest★ Best comments
tbh i doubt ull notice frames much if ur just cruising around driving sounds clunky tho
ur hitbox claims r a bit off lol. the punch recovery is like 15 frames not punishing at all
dude i just bought it and played 5 min the brawling is so good rn idk what ppl say about hitboxes
ur hitbox claims r a bit off lol. the punch recovery is like 15 frames not punishing at all
@tampa_tytbh i doubt ull notice frames much if ur just cruising around driving sounds clunky tho
@tampa_tyI went back and checked, the recovery on the heavy punch is definitely slower than the jab. Maybe it's not 15 frames but it felt punishing to me.
a drug empire sim for 20 bucks? hope they dont start charging per baggy lol
@ptg93chat said the price is fair for early access we rly like the skating mechanic looks fun to speedrun
@chimneyproper brilliant that mate, the skating has that proper weight to it, love it
@bucketDo you think they'll add more drug types in future updates? I'm curious about the production chains.
@outofpaperagainnah man they gotta fix the driving first b4 adding new drugs. what's the point of more production chains if i cant even drive my van straight lol
@ptg93tbh 20 bucks is fine for early access lol the skating alone looks worth it
omg the brawling looks so satisfying i need this rn
tbh games like this used to be full price with no menus issues lol still looks decent for the grinders
I appreciate the detailed breakdown of the drug production setups. However, I must ask: do the fuse boxes in the grow houses comply with any recognized building code? I promise you my actual electrical wiring looks far safer than this simulation.
dude i just bought it and played 5 min the brawling is so good rn idk what ppl say about hitboxes
dude the skating looks so smooth i wanna try the brawling right now this looks insane
That brawling does look real satisfying. Dont worry about the hitbox talk Nate, just keep practicing the timing and youll get it down. - John
the skating looks chill yeah (i mean i usually just play tower defense stuff but the way he glides around has my attention) and the brawling seems like a nice change of pace from farming sims