Beginner Tips For Schedule I

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 in Schedule I

than 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.

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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 other beginner tips for Schedule I are specific to the gritty world of Hyland Point.

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Vintage Easter Eggs

A More Exciting Time

• Look for references to the heyday of the Drug War and the Nixon presidency.

This is a fun detail that players won’t want to miss, even though it’s not directly related to the actual gameplay. A few details 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, and this is the environment in which the protagonist lives and works. It’s a grim reminder that law enforcement acts as the main adversary, just like in real life.

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Level Up To Access More Product

Better Strains And More Money

• Start with the heavenly herb and work up to the raunchy rock.

Every main character in Schedule I starts 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.

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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.

Don’t Gap Out And Forget

• There are no automatic save points in the game.

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 in Schedule 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.

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Check Your Messages

Hustle For Happy Customers

• Don’t be afraid to say no when time is tight and product supply is low.

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.

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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.

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Cash Or Card

Stores Versus Dealers

• Street deals call for cash, but the shops like plastic.

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 I makes this easy by providing various ATMs around town that can be used to deposit and withdraw money. Sometimes cash is required for 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.

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The Thin Blue Line

Mind The Po’

• Fines and jail time can put a serious chill on business.

Hyland Point is equipped with a vigilant and mobile police force that 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.

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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.

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It’s A Mob World

Be Careful Of Competition

• The inherent dangers of the criminal underworld.

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.

Simulation

Crime

Action

Management

Strategy

Systems

Released

March 24, 2025

Developer(s)

TVGS

Publisher(s)

TVGS