/start/first-deal
The in-game tutorial walks you through the buttons. This page is about the numbers behind them — what to actually pay attention to once you start playing.
What you are actually doing
A deal is simple in shape. Pick an area, buy a drug while it is cheap, travel to somewhere it sells higher, and unload it for cash. Cash compounds into bigger trades, and reputation grows on the side. The whole game is built on top of that one loop. Everything else — PVP, the shop, rank progression — sits on the assumption that you can read prices and move at the right time.
Drug prices vary by area and shift over time. The dealer who notices the spread first keeps the margin.
Reading the result
When a PVE deal resolves, the chat log writes back what changed:
- Cash moves first — the price you paid or were paid, after the deal landed. It is rarely the price the menu quoted, because negotiation can go either way.
- Stash updates with the drug and quantity you actually walked away with. On a buy, that is what entered your inventory. On a sell, what left it.
- Reputation (REP) ticks up when a deal goes well. It is your standing in the family and gates rank progression.
- Heat ticks up by one. Every action — buy, sell, or PVP — adds exactly one heat, win or lose. Heat caps at 5.
Read every line. The first few sessions are about learning how big those swings can get.
Heat equals risk
Heat is the second most important number on your sheet. Every action adds one. Clear Heat is the explicit action that pulls it back down, and it costs cash. Every time you act, the game rolls for arrest at heat × 0.7% — so heat 1 is a 0.7% jail chance per action, heat 5 is 3.5%. There is no automatic jail threshold; it is a roll on every action. See /the-game/jail for what jail looks like and how to get out.
Good dealers do not avoid heat — they price it in. Every action carries a small jail tax. Plan around it.
When you are ready for the full mechanics, head to /the-game/overview.