Your first week in Noob City: what to do and in what order
You start with $100, a cardboard box and a ledger of small jobs from Vera at the pawn shop. Here's how a first week plays, from your first gym pass to moving out of the box.
You arrive in Noob City with $100, a cardboard box to sleep in, and not much else. Here's how a first week usually goes.
The ledger
The $100 came from pawning a pocket watch at Corner Pawn on your way into town. Vera, who runs the shop, has a ledger of small jobs for your first week, and each one pays when you bring the ticket back. They're a decent order to do things in:
- Read Vera's letter in your mailbox.
- Buy a gym pass.
- Pull your first crime.
- Start a course at the Local School.
- Take a job.
- Move out of the cardboard box.
You don't have to follow it. Nobody checks. But it covers the basics, and it pays you for learning them.
Day one
Your bars start small: 12 energy, 5 brave, 100 will and 100 health. They grow with every level.
The standard gym pass costs $100, which is your whole starting stake, so it's the first job on Vera's list. Each gym rep costs 1 energy and builds your fighting stats. Spend your energy there.
Then pull a crime. The list starts with Search For Cash: the streets, the water fountains, the mall. A crime costs brave, and the brave is spent whether it works or not. A success pays cash and experience. A miss pays nothing and can land you in the County Lockup, where a timer counts down. You can wait it out or pay bail.
Take the job at McDaniels and sign up for a course at the Local School while you're there.
Day two and after
A job pays once a day at 5:00 PM New York time, so check back after that. Every night a day comes off your school course, and when it's done its stats land on your character. The bars have been refilling the whole time you were away, so spend them again.
When the experience bar fills, an [Up] link shows up next to your level. Press it, and each level adds to your maximum energy, brave and health and gives you a merit to spend. Levelling up is always your choice. It never happens on its own.
Check The Criminal Times while you're waiting. It's a good way to see what the rest of the city has been doing.
What to watch for
- New accounts get a few nights of protection. Nobody can attack you while you find your feet. It runs out, so don't count on it.
- Fights cost half your energy bar. Win one and you can mug the other player, put them in the hospital or leave them, which is the choice that pays experience.
- A better home counts. It raises your will bar and your rank. It also sends you a bill every night, so check the price before you move.
By the end of the week the ledger should have you out of the box. After that it's yours to work out. Some people go for the gym and the fights, some save for a gang, and some just like pulling crimes and reading the paper.
For a longer walk through the first week, the how to play guide has it all in one place, and the browser crime game page has screenshots. If you haven't signed up yet, here's where. The game is in alpha, so things change every week, and the FAQ has the answers to the common questions.
Marc
