FAQ / Common questions
Crime Simulator FAQ
Why the skill tree will not let you spend a point, what the hideout actually keeps, how the safe dial trick works, and the rest of the questions that come up in the first few hours.
1
Getting started
Q. What is the actual goal?
You leave prison owing money and you have a limited time to clear the debt. Everything else, the tools, the skills, the hideout, exists to make the jobs that pay it off go better. There is a clock, so hoarding credits without spending them works against you.
Q. Is this a slow, punishing stealth game?
No, and going in expecting one leads to disappointment. It is described by its own store page as a fast-paced roguelite built around risk, reward and replayability. Runs that go loud are a normal part of it rather than a sign you played badly.
Q. What is the first thing I should buy?
A lockpick set, at roughly 200 credits. Almost every property has locked doors, locked cabinets and a safe, and those hold the loot worth carrying out. Entering without one restricts you to whatever happens to be lying in the open.
Q. How much content is there?
Three distinct areas hold the targets, each with its own security arrangements, and there are over fifteen skills to unlock plus four special abilities available from a voucher machine.
2
Skills and Skill Leaflets
Q. I have skill points but cannot spend them. Why?
Because points alone are not enough. A skill needs a Skill Leaflet as well, and leaflets are collectible items hidden out in the world rather than something you buy. If the tree is not letting you progress, you are short of leaflets rather than points.
Q. Where do skill points come from?
Levelling. Each level grants one point, which is then used to activate a leaflet you have found. The two halves accumulate independently, so it is worth searching for leaflets even at a level where you cannot use them yet.
Q. Which skills should I take first?
Lockpicking above everything else, because it decides how much of any house is reachable. Basic Electronics, Backpacker for carrying capacity, and the Agility and Strongman movement skills round out a solid opening set.
Q. What are the special abilities from the voucher machine?
There are four, and they include calling off the police and repairing equipment. They sit apart from the skill tree, and knowing they exist changes how salvageable a bad job feels once things have already gone wrong.
3
Locks and safes
Q. My lockpick will not open this door. Is it broken?
Probably not. There are three lock grades and each needs a matching skill level and tool. A simple lock takes Lockpicking level 1 and a simple set, while tumbler and master locks need levels 2 and 3 with a bobby pin. Carrying only the cheap set caps what you can open.
Q. How do I crack a safe without guessing?
Older reports describe a fast-spin/reset method, but the official notices checked here do not verify it in the current build. Follow the in-game dial controls and feedback rather than assuming a reset reveals the correct combination. The lock guide explains this limitation.
Q. I keep failing tumbler locks. What am I doing wrong?
Moving too far per input, most likely. Tumbler and master locks are about locating a narrow sweet spot, and the reliable feedback is audio, with controller vibration alongside it. Slow down enough to hear the difference rather than watching for it.
Q. Is there a way in other than the door?
Yes. A glass knife opens a window quietly, and the reported input sequence for the silent breach is down, right, then down again. Beyond skipping a lock, it puts you into a different room than whoever is watching the entrance expects.
4
Money and selling
Q. What is the fastest way to make money?
Check the quota and the end-of-run breakdown before deciding what to sell or buy. The 1.5 scoring update considers several factors, including stealth and time; there is no verified universal sale-timing trick that guarantees the best result.
Q. Should I save credits or spend them?
Spend, and early. The debt has a deadline, so unspent credits are doing nothing while the clock runs. The lockpick set and the first hideout furnishings pay back across every subsequent job, and the same money spent late buys a fraction of that benefit.
Q. My bag fills up before I find the good stuff. Any fix?
Two of them. Use a scanner to locate the valuables instead of sweeping rooms blind, and raise your carrying capacity through the Backpacker skill and the hideout training equipment. Both attack the same problem from different directions.
5
The hideout
Q. Do hideout upgrades carry over?
The store confirms that hideout furnishings grant bonuses. It does not establish a universal carry-over rule for every failure, reset and item. Check the current save and quota behavior before spending on the assumption that everything persists.
Q. What do the furnishings actually do?
A bed raises health, training equipment raises inventory capacity, and a treadmill raises sprint speed. Between them that is survivability, payout per trip and escape speed, which covers the three ways a job usually goes wrong.
Q. Is preparing before a job worth the time?
Ten minutes in the safehouse before a large score is advice that gets repeated for a reason. Check that you are carrying both picking tools, that your skill levels match the locks you expect, and that the loadout suits the approach you intend. None of that can be sorted out once you are inside.
6
Getting caught
Q. How do I deal with cameras and guards?
Before anything else, not after. A crossbow takes down guards silently and disables cameras, sleeping gas pumped into the air vents can put a whole building out without noise, and zip ties restrain people without escalating to a fight. A drone lets you decide which of those you need before you commit.
Q. Why do I always get caught while picking?
Because picking holds you still and occupied, which is the worst possible state to be in while something is watching. Clear the observation first and the same lock becomes trivial. This is also why the safe should be the last thing you do in a house.
Q. Can I fight my way out?
You can. A baseball bat is in the toolkit and direct confrontation is a supported approach rather than a failure state. It is simply the most expensive option in time and risk, so treat it as the fallback rather than the plan.
7
Co-op and platforms
Q. Can I play with friends?
Yes, up to four players in online co-op. Solo play is fully supported as well, so nothing about progression requires a group.
Q. Who made it and when did it come out?
It is developed by CookieDev and published by Ultimate Games and PlayWay, and it released on 17 June 2025.
Base-game updates, DLC and connection fixes
The 1.5 systems update was free and did not require Ashen Creek. Ashen Creek is a separate neighborhood DLC, with its own map and furnishings. The 1.56 announcement added two jobs, new loot and item requests for that DLC. The three-area description above is the base-store overview, not a complete list of all DLC content.
For multiplayer, update 1.35 added lobbies and a browser in the main menu. Patch 1.57a later fixed a black screen affecting some players. Check the installed version before applying old workarounds, and do not assume every black screen has the same cause or is solved by deleting a save.
Sources: free systems update, DLC update, lobby browser and black-screen fix. Checked 26 October 2026.
Summary
Skills need a point from levelling and a Skill Leaflet found in the world, so a stalled tree usually means you are short of leaflets rather than points. Bring the picking tools your in-game task needs and compare hideout bonuses with your quota; do not assume an unlimited carry-over rule. Deal with cameras and occupants before you start picking anything, because picking leaves you stationary and exposed.
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