SYNDICATE:
STREET CODE
Your dirty money is useless until somebody else launders it. And they will not, if the officer auditing them right now is a player too.
Three sides live off the same economy, and none of them can earn without letting the other two earn.
This is not a game about clicking. Every coin in this city has an owner, and to get anything you either strike a deal or take it from somebody.
Five rules I never break
Every coin has an owner
Money is not conjured from nothing. It moves between players: protection, laundering, services, the market, ransom.
Time is not for sale
The clock is the same for everyone. No refills, no paying to skip a wait. Not once.
Losing opens content
An arrest drops you into a prison that has a game of its own. A lost fight earns you the right to strike back.
Crime has a price
Nothing you do goes unnoticed. The more you earn by cutting corners, the harder it gets to stay hidden.
Nothing is lost forever
Not an item, not a business, not an account. You can lose your position, you cannot lose what you built.
Fair by design
I sell looks and convenience, never an advantage. Two players with the same time in the game have the same strength, whatever their wallet says.
Five sides. One city.
For the first three days you are nobody and you simply play. Only then do you pick a side, because in the first minute nobody knows what they want to be.
Civilians
TRADE / BUSINESSThey live off legal trade and rent. Without them nobody buys a plot or trains into something more.
Criminals
STREET / TURFThey earn fastest and dirtiest. Dirty money buys almost nothing, so they need the rest of the city.
Police
INVESTIGATION / RAIDThey get leads, not a target list. A case has to be built before somebody covers their tracks.
Prison service
ORDER BEHIND THE GATEA choice for people who already know how the prison works. It cannot be picked at the start.
Inmates
THEIR OWN GAME, THEIR OWN RULESYou usually end up here rather than choosing it. Behind the gate there is another currency and another hierarchy.
What you actually do
Businesses and plots
A district holds a finite number of spots. Once they run out, you buy a plot from another player.
A player-to-player market
Some supplies cannot be bought from anyone but a living person. That is not decoration, it is the base of the economy.
Crew heists
Three phases, five roles, the split agreed before the start and binding. Without a driver there is no getaway.
District wars
Holding turf means tribute, access and an edge. Losing a district gives you a bonus to taking it back.
Laundering
Dirty money is easy to get and buys almost nothing. Somebody has to clean it for you, for a cut.
Investigations and cases
Suspicion fades on its own, evidence does not. Somebody has to find it, or somebody has to destroy it.
The prison
Its own day, its own currency and its own hierarchy. You can serve the term, post bail or run.
Organisations
A gang, a precinct or a consortium. Every move in the treasury is visible to every member.
The game fits around your day
Weekend content must never give an edge you cannot catch up on in short weekday sessions. If you have no weekends, you still play on equal terms.
On the bus
Collect the takings, check whether somebody hit you, start a long job and leave.
Evening after work
The market, the case against you, payback, a word with the gang and decisions that cost something.
Weekend
A heist with a full crew, a district war, a server-wide event. Content you have to arrange with people.
Work is on hold
The city, jobs, combat, prison and the factions already stand - businesses, the market and the story were next. While Backhaul is in production I am setting this game aside and not developing it further. I never raised money or sold early access, and I am not promising a date for when work resumes.
Establish connection
Messenger is the fastest way to reach me. For formal matters, write an email. I answer to the point, without twenty-page offers.
Message me on Facebookkontakt@rowienski-interactive.plThinking about an app of your own? Need a fast website? Or a powerful machine to work on? I am at your disposal.