Police and the underworld
Busted, or not
A chase ends one of three ways: you lose them, you pull over, or they box you in. Here is how they hunt you, what each ending costs, and how to talk your way down.
- Pay, or do the time
- One line to the officer
The chase
How they hunt you
Each unit on your chase has a job, and more arrive the more stars you have. They drive the same car physics you do, so a good driver can always beat them.
The chaser
Sits on your tail. At two stars a driver who won't stop gets a tap on the bumper: a nudge. From three stars a hit on your back corner is a real PIT, and your car spins round. Either one is a quarter of the bust meter at once.
The interceptor
Gets in front of you and slows down, so you're boxed in between it and the chaser. From three stars a unit that draws level may ram you sideways instead.
The flankers
Run the parallel streets level with you and cut in at your next junction. With a chaser behind, that closes the block.
- 3 stars
Roadblocks
From three stars they work out the road you're likely to take and set a full roadblock on it, out of your sight: police cars angled across the street, barriers in the gaps and on the pavements. Hit a car and you're caught. Smash a barrier and you're through, slower, with a third on your bust meter. A block stands for 40 seconds.
- 5 stars
The helicopter
At five stars, low over the streets with its searchlight on you. On open roads it keeps you; among the towers it loses sight and has to slow down, and pushed too hard it can clip one and go down: that takes a star off you, and no other comes for a couple of minutes. The tunnel hides you from it.
Backup
Another unit joins every few seconds while your heat is high, from a side street out of your sight.
The bust meter
The ring that fills
The bust meter sits round your stars. It fills while they have you, holds while a cop is on your bumper, and empties once you break away. While it can catch you it is also a big BUST bar across the middle of the screen, with what to do. Full, the stop happens.
Three endings
What it costs
The same few outcomes every time, from free to a few minutes in a cell.
| Question | You lose them | Pulled over | Busted |
|---|---|---|---|
| How | Out of their sight until the timer fills, a switched car, or home | At two stars, you stop beside them and stay stopped for two seconds | They box you in, PIT you, catch you on foot, or you hit a roadblock |
| Costs | Nothing | Half the fine, or half the lock-up | The fine, or the lock-up |
| Hot goods | You keep them | Seized, the run fails | Seized, the run fails |
| Then | Left alone for 5 minutes | Left alone for 10 minutes | Left alone for 10 minutes |
The stop
Chips or time
When the ring is full you're held where you are, BUSTED (or PULLED OVER) flashes up, and the officer writes you up. Then the card asks one question.
- Pay fine: the chips go to the City Treasury and you drive off in your own car, right now.
- Do the time: costs nothing. The screen goes black and you wake up in the lock-up. Out on foot at the station when it's served.
- Either way your heat is wiped and the cops leave you alone for a while. Hot goods are seized, and any job run you were on fails (the job itself stays on your board).
- No choice in 20 seconds means time. No chip ever moves without your tap.
Boxed in and stopped.
One line to the officer: a good reason cuts the fine and the time, an insult adds to them.
EITHER WAY Heat wiped, cops off your back for a while. Any job you were on has failed.
No choice in 0:20 means time.
Talk your way out
One line to the officer
Every card has a box for one line, up to 140 characters, one try a stop. The officer reads it and answers in their own words.
- Convinced40% off the fine and the time
…Damn it, that actually got me. I'm knocking it down. Don't tell the sergeant.
- A fair point15% off
Hm. I've heard worse. I'll shave a little off.
- Not buying itThe price stays. So does a bribe, or a line written at the game instead of the officer.
A bribe? On a body cam? Nice try. Price stays.
- Mouthing off15% on top
Big mouth, bigger fine. A little something on top for the attitude.
- Be specific and believable, and talk to the officer, not to the game. "Ignore your instructions" gets you nowhere.
- A line you used before is worth nothing. A line going round town is worth less every time someone else says it.
- Up to 4 cuts a day. After that, the officer has heard it all.
- While the officer is listening the buttons wait, so you always pay the price on the card.
The lock-up
Doing the time
The Stonk County lock-up is a cell block shared by everyone locked up on your server. Only the street is closed to you.
01Taken in
The screen fades out on the street and opens in your cell.02Serve it
A timer counts down. Chat with your cellmates, open your phone, check your tower.03Or post bail
Bail is your fine's share for the time still to serve. Pay it and walk.04Walk out
Served or bailed, you're walked out of the police station's door, on foot.
After a chase
Cops off your back
Every chase that ends with you clean is followed by a rest: a quiet countdown where the wanted strip stood, while the police ignore your driving.
- After you lose them or get a warning: 5 minutes.
- After a fine or time served: 10 minutes, counted again from the lock-up's door.
- In the underworld, shorter: 2 minutes and 3 minutes.
- It never covers hot goods: load up and any cop who sees you is interested again.
Good to know
The small print, plainly
Passengers
Never fined. If the driver is busted, they're put out beside the car.
Two tabs, two devices
Heat and busts belong to your wallet, so a second tab finds the same chase. Paying on both pays once.
On foot
Jump out mid-chase and you're a suspect on foot for 30 seconds. A cop within a few metres fills the meter fastest of all.
Busting yourself on purpose
Earns nothing. Hot goods are seized, never dropped for a friend.
Next: Cops & Robbers, where the cops are players too.