It looks like one of those typical management-type sim games with little to distinguish it from the various other offerings in the genre, but there’s a lot more going on inSchedule Ithan at first meets the eye. Once the game sucks players into its smokey chamber, it doesn’t let go easily, and new players might feel lost in a sea of hazy green.
The game is deceptively simple to pick up and enjoy for hours, much like the substances that inspire the gameplay, and it’s a tense and dangerous life between selling, buying, growing, and evading the law. Some of the best hints to give new players are just common sense, but otherbeginner tips forSchedule Iare specific to the gritty world of Hyland Point.
7Vintage Easter Eggs
A More Exciting Time
This is a fun detail that players won’t want to miss, even though it’s not directly related to the actual gameplay. A fewdetails are distinctly modern, like the ATMs, smartphones, and debit cards, but the aesthetic feels more like a 1970s setting because of the atmosphere.
The old Winnebago camper the main character uses to escape and the bobblehead statue of Richard Nixon in the hotel room are just two examples of this vintage feel. This president is the one who put so much effort into ramping up the Drug War in America, andthis is the environmentin which the protagonist lives and works. It’s a grim reminder that law enforcement acts as the main adversary, just like in real life.
6Level Up To Access More Product
Better Strains And More Money
Every main character inSchedule Istarts with the same title at the very beginning—Street Rat. As the main character builds a client list and starts making some real money, they move up through five levels of Street Rat until they reach the next level, Hoodlum. This goes through a total of eleven levels before finally reaching the max level, Kingpin.
Every time the player gains a rank, they get access to new products, not only the drugs themselves, but also better means to grow and manufacture them. That includes items like better soil and fertilizers, along with new and exotic seed strains, which are important since cannabis is the first drug the player grows and is crucial during the startup phase.
5Use The Hotel Intercom For Game Saves
Don’t Gap Out And Forget
In every domicile the main character owns or rents,no matter how humble, there will be a save game feature included with the intercom, and this is how to save the game. This is easily found by the door or light switch. Unlike other games, there are no automatic saves at important story points or when the character levels up inSchedule I.
It’s an easy detail to miss, and it would be a major bummer to lose days of work, money, and materials. It is possible to die in the game at the hands of an angry junkie or rival dealer, and save scumming isn’t exactly a crime, so save early and save often.
4Check Your Messages
Hustle For Happy Customers
In keeping with the immersion and realism, despite the rather abstract graphics, players should prepare to get a lot of calls from prospective customers. Get used to the smartphone and its related apps, like the map and the journal, which are essential in the early part of the game. Later, the apps will also include ways to connect to and recruit new dealers as the player acquires more customers.
Players won’t always have product to sell, especially when they’re working with just a couple of stringy plants in a motel room, so don’t be afraid to say no to clients or renegotiate their initial request. It’s also possible to put off a deal until the following day if the player just needs more time.
3Cash Or Card
Stores Versus Dealers
When it’s time to visit a shop and buy materials for growing and producing materials for sale, it’s not possible to use the cash earned from dealing, no matter how much of it there is. Most of the legitimate materials required, like soil, can only be purchased from hardware or gardening stores with a debit card.
Schedule Imakes this easy by providing various ATMs around town that can be used to deposit and withdraw money.Sometimes cash is requiredfor the drop boxes, and the withdrawal option is handy in case there’s not enough on hand. ATMs are available 24 hours a day in case players are stuck out after curfew, but that’s a situation that’s better to avoid most of the time.
2The Thin Blue Line
Mind The Po'
Hyland Point is equipped with avigilant and mobile police forcethat patrols the city on foot and in cars and trucks. If they see anything suspicious going down, no matter what time of day, they can detain and search the player and their customer. Not only does this mean a loss of product, but can also result in a fine and perhaps incarceration.
The city also has a curfew from 9 pm to 5 am, and anyone caught on the street during that time will also feel the long arm of the law. Being caught out after curfew is an expensive misdemeanor that requires the player to pay a $100 fine, which is more expensive than being caught with product in some cases.
1It’s A Mob World
Be Careful Of Competition
This is an element that is introduced early in the game because it’s so consistent. If it’s not law enforcement harassing the protagonist, it’s a rival gang vying for territory or looking for the money they’re owed. Uncle Nelson is friends with unsavory people, and who knows if they were associated with the raid that prompted the main character to find some new turf, but it’s a likely connection.
Although the hero manages to escape to nearby Hyland Point in their Winnebago with their basic setup intact, they run afoul of the local crime family in doing so. This results in the camper going up in a fiery blaze on the very first day, which is why the game begins with the protagonist starting from scratch. This sets up further conflict with the Benzies clan as the main character becomes a more powerful drug dealer.
