Early Game Strategy

The game is supposed to be a sandbox, so there are many different ways to make money and dominate the map early on. Below are a few examples.

However, no matter which strategy you choose, below are a few tips that are common to all strategies:


 * Don't hire too many capos at once.
 * Don't bribe city officials unless you really need their help.

You should also keep in mind that different gangs have different advantages, so it's ideal to select the right gang for the right strategy.

THE BANDIT: START WITH A BANG
(ideal for the Blue gang)

This is a popular and straight-forward strategy to make money fast. However, it isn't sustainable (you will not be able to grow by simply robbing), so you should move on to more scalable strategies as soon as possible.


 * 1) Hire Mobsters with high Physical (to succeed in robberies) and high mental (to succeed in escaping). You can also choose to invest in weapons and bikes or vans to improve your odds.
 * 2) Scout for high-revenue businesses (ex. Jewelery Stores, Banks, etc.) and perform raids/robberies. Just be careful not to choose the same spot twice, since the police may be guarding it after a recent attack.
 * 3) It's risky, and you will get caught sooner or later, but you can also let your mobsters go to prison (instead of paying their expensive bails). Just make sure you sell off their weapons and vehicles, or they will be confiscated. It's also wise to keep your Leader busy with "safer" tasks so you don't need to bail them out.
 * 4) Eventually you will want to bribe the Police Captain (will reduce chances of being caught) and even the Chief Judge (will improve your odds in court). This strategy will bring a lot of infamy, so you may also want to bribe the Archbishop to lower it.

THE CONQUEROR: FOCUS ON EXPANSION
(ideal for the Yellow gang)

This is a simple but efficient method of making money by expanding your territory. Depending on the position of your HQ, you can make quite a big of money, but eventually you will want to invest in other endeavours.


 * 1) Hire cheap capos. Skills are not important. However, it is good to hire a few soldiers for each if you'd like to expand fast.
 * 2) Send them to extort across the city. Ideally near your HQ, and ideally big blocks first.
 * 3) Send a mobster with high Social (ideally your leader) to collect protection fees.
 * 4) You will want to try to get other gangs to declare peace with you so they don't step into your territory. Declare peace with them as soon as possible (send a mobster with high Social). This will immediately improve your relationship. Then stay away from their territory and do not attack them. Eventually, they may take a liking with you and declare peace.

THE TYCOON: INVEST IN BUSINESSES
(ideal for the Red gang)

You may need to use other strategies before buying your first business. Business are not very profitable at first, but they are probably the biggest source of income in the late game.


 * 1) Buy a cheap business as soon as you can (cobbler, cafe, etc.).
 * 2) Assign a manager with high Mental (to improve profits). He/she may also have high Physical (will improve protection from rival attacks).
 * 3) Build a racket as soon as possible (ideally something that doesn't require booze, so that you don't need to micromanage).
 * 4) If you have enough money, you may bribe the Mayor (to reduce the cost of purchasing new buildings).
 * 5) If you'd like to reduce competitors, you may choose to simply scout (or spy) around the map and bomb businesses of the same type. This will improve your total profits.

THE BOOTLEGGER: BECOME A TRADER
(ideal for the Green gang)

This takes full advantage of the bootlegging system by using the old tactic of "buy low, sell high".


 * 1) Wait for booze to cost below $5 per unit, then send a mobster to buy as much as you can store.
 * 2) Set booze price so that you have a 70% to 90% demand. This will optimize the price while still being able to sell most of it. You may also choose to increase the price if a lot of your businesses are selling it.
 * 3) Send a mobster with high Social to sell booze (ideally in big blocks and near restaurants).
 * 4) As soon as you can afford it, buy a business with high storage capacity. You should also begin buying business that can accomodate either a distillery (to produce booze for free) or a speakeasy (to sell high volumes of booze).
 * 5) Booze will eventually be produced, stored and sold automatically. Ka-ching!

THE SPY: FAST ESPIONAGE
(any gang is fine)

This is a risky and a tricky strategy, but if you get lucky, it could result in a very fast victory. This will reduce your competition early on, but you will need to get creative when it comes to financing your espionage.


 * 1) Hire capos with high Mental (for Spying). Maybe even buy them a bike.
 * 2) Patrol random areas around the city.
 * 3) Once you've spotted some enemy buildings, do some heavy spying to reveal whether the building is an HQ or not.
 * 4) As soon as you find an HQ, assassinate the manager (if any) and bomb the building.
 * 5) You may also hire capos with high Social and perform some heavy interrogating to extract as much information as possible.

LINKS
Early Strategy Guide video by Captain Monke: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IU06662RVU