Another year, another indie simulation game has burst into the scene and very quickly gained traction. Schedule 1 is a game that lets you emulate the likes of Walter White by putting you in the shoes of a low level dealer who has to build the family business back up from scratch. It’s like the more unhinged cousin of TCG Card Shop Simulator, but with a lot more depth right off the rip.
The game starts off hilariously slow, but it does nudge you in the right direction every now and then. If you need some more help getting your feet off the ground, here are a few starter tips to get you through the early game after the prologue!
This guide lets you work through things at your own pace. If you want a more guided approach, check out my fast apartment unlock/quick starting money guide first and then come back to this afterwards. Every bit of advice here will still be useful.
Tip #1 – Every Penny Matters!
The unfortunate series of events following the prologue will leave you with almost nothing to your name but a bit of cash from your uncle, which will get you a tight motel room and some very basic equipment to work with.
Cleaning Up the City
Make sure to pick up trash and dump them in the “Cash for Trash” disposal bins you’ll find all around the city. There’s no limit to how much you can use it, and bits of junk spawn on the ground at all times. Damn city’s just that polluted.
Try to buy a trash grabber from the hardware store as soon as you can! This thing lets you pick up a ton of junk at once, and then you can dump it all on a Cash for Trash bin by holding the left mouse button. There’s no specific number of things it can hold, but know that larger objects fill it up faster.
Whenever you’re headed to your next customer or just waiting for one to reach out to you, pick up trash and dump them in the nearest bin. This can make you upwards to $40 in between business-related actions, and this will let you buy seeds without having any debt to worry about.
Filled trash bags from the garbage bin in your motel room (or any property you own) can also be dumped in a Cash for Trash bin!
Making & Selling “Meds”
Obviously, the best way to make money is going to be actually selling “the stuff”. The game railroads you through the process of finding customers and selling to them, so you won’t need help in that matter.
What you do need to know is that you are allowed to decline requests. If you have buyers asking you for “goods”, just say no if you don’t have any. Take your time and build up a stack of bagged “herbs” before you start making deals.
You’re going to want a surplus of bags to work with at all times, because you’ll need to give out free samples to increase your customer base while also keeping some on hand for anyone looking to buy. And again, keep picking up trash whenever you see any while you’re running around.
Tip #2 – Screw the Curfew
There’s a curfew every night, and cops will start patrolling the city until the morning. Because of this, you might be thinking that night time is when you’re supposed to work in your makeshift lab or just head straight to bed for the time skip.
However, selling products during curfew gives you a small cash bonus. If you’re feeling pretty brazen, take on deals at late night. You’ll find that the cops are actually hilariously easy to hide from, so don’t be afraid to schedule stuff at these hours.
Since every penny matters early in the game, the extra tens of dollars you’ll get with each late night deal will add up over time, just like the money you earn from keeping the city clean.
Tip #3 – Don’t Bother With Mixes (Yet)
At some point in the early game, you’re going to unlock the first mixing station. This will come at around the time where you already have the sweatshop, so you have a ton of space to work with already.
However, mixing is going to be inefficient at this point. Not only is the process a huge hassle, but you’ll also find that the price of your products won’t even go up by too much. It’s just not worth the effort this early in the game, even though you’re presented with the option.
In my opinion, this really only becomes worth it once you can start hiring people to do some of the dull labor for you. This early in the game, you’re doing almost everything manually on your own, which eats up a lot of time.
Instead, spend the money on more grow tents and storage. Don’t go overboard with it, though. Just get enough that you can still keep buying and planting seeds in them consistently. Sprinklers might sound convenient too, but note that you’ll need one for each grow tent.
Tip #4 – Get a Skateboard Early!
Despite being able to drive a vehicle in the prologue, it’ll take you a long while before you can afford a decent one when the game actually starts. Luckily, you can get yourself a skateboard!
Head just a bit northeast of the motel and you’ll find the Shred Shack, which always opens at day time. There, you can get a cheap skateboard for under a hundred bucks. To use it, hold the left mouse button while you have it in your hands.
This is slightly better than sprinting all around the place, and it’s so cheap that you may as well get it if you have some extra cash. The other skateboards seem to be a bit faster than the cheapest one, but you’re better off saving the money for more important things.
Tip #5 – Don’t Try to Sweat It Too Much
The game’s still in early access and there’s always a chance that stuff will significantly change after a couple of weeks. It’s the same deal with other games worked on by a small team or a single dev, such as the aforementioned TCG Card Shop Simulator.
Chill out and just mess around with the game’s mechanics at your own pace. A lot of stuff is still prone to bugs, as I’ve seen certain time-gated NPCs spawn in wrong places and workers just refusing to do their jobs for… some reason.
Expect a bunch of significant quality of life changes, new features, fixes, and more over time. The developer has a roadmap on Trello, which will give you a glimpse of what’s to come. There’s a lot listed on there, but it isn’t too detailed.
Some Closing Words
Hopefully these tips can help you get started, as it covers mostly the bare basics that you might have missed or just not thought of at all. Most of the game’s mechanics are extensively covered through the main story objectives, so it’ll be pretty hard to get lost.
If you’re looking to mod the game, I have a guide on how to install them too. I also have two very different lists if you need recommendations, so check those out if you’re not sure which ones to install for your needs!
I’m probably not going to update this months down the line, as I’m unlikely to revisit the game too much when it updates. I highly doubt things will change to the point where these bits of advice will become irrelevant.
As I’m writing this, I already have a lot on my plate, including a couple of pending Marvel Rivals hero guides that I’m not even sure I can finish for varying reasons. I’ll be moving on to the other games on my list while also clearing out my backlog (I’m still going through Assassin’s Creed Shadows).
