Crime Simulator: Beginner's Guide — Best Skills, Tools & Hideout Upgrades

Crime Simulator throws you into the shoes of a recently released convict who must repay a mysterious debt by pulling off increasingly daring nighttime heists. Whether you're playing solo or teaming up with friends in 4-player co-op, the first few hours can be brutal — tight quotas, limited tools, and guards who seem to spot you through walls. This beginner's guide covers everything you need to survive the early game and build a foundation for late-game success, including the best skills to unlock first, which tools to prioritize, and the hideout upgrades that give your crew the biggest advantage.

What is Crime Simulator? A Quick Overview

Crime Simulator is a fast-paced roguelite heist game developed by CookieDev and published by Ultimate Games S.A., available on Steam for $19.99. Unlike traditional slow-burn stealth games, this crime simulator game blends strategic planning with intense time pressure — you pick a target house, breach it at night, loot valuables, and sell everything before the clock runs out.

The game has earned Very Positive reviews on Steam (82% positive) and supports up to 4-player cooperative multiplayer. Fans of heist and crime simulation games like Thief Simulator and Payday will feel at home, though Crime Simulator's roguelite structure — with permadeath-style quotas and escalating difficulty — gives it a distinct identity closer to Lethal Company than a traditional crime scene simulator.

Crime Simulator is currently available on PC (Steam). For players wondering about Crime Simulator PS5 or Crime Simulator Xbox availability — there's no official console announcement yet. The developers are active on the Crime Simulator Discord community, so keep an eye on their channels for future platform news.

Best Skills to Unlock First

Crime Simulator features 15 unique skills that you level up by collecting skill leaflets hidden inside the houses you rob. Choosing where to invest early makes a massive difference in your survival rate. Here's the priority order based on 200+ hours of testing across solo and co-op runs.

Tier 1 — Unlock These Immediately

1. Lockpicking (Max Priority)

Lockpicking is the single most important skill in Crime Simulator. Nearly every house has locked doors, cabinets, and safes that contain the highest-value loot. Leveling this skill speeds up the lockpicking minigame and lets you open tougher lock grades earlier, which directly translates to more income per heist.

• Level 1–3: Faster lockpick speed on basic and intermediate locks
• Level 4–5: Access to advanced locks; reduced lockpick breakage rate
• Level 6+: Master-tier locks become viable; near-instant opening on low-tier locks

2. Electronics

The Electronics skill lets you hack electronic locks, alarm panels, and security devices. The game-changer is the auto-unlock perk at higher tiers, which lets you bypass electronic security without a minigame. In a crime simulator game where time is your scarcest resource, skipping a 15-second hack animation adds up fast.

• Level 1–3: Basic device hacking; slightly faster interaction
• Level 4–5: Auto-unlock on simple electronic devices
• Level 6+: Auto-unlock on advanced systems; massive time savings

3. Stealth

Stealth reduces your footstep noise and makes you harder to detect in close quarters. At higher levels, you become nearly invisible when crouched in shadows — essential for bypassing guards without wasting sleeping gas or risking a combat alert. Players coming from other crime simulation games will appreciate how much the detection system rewards high Stealth investment.

Tier 2 — Invest After Your Core Three

4. Agility

Agility boosts your movement speed, sprint duration, stamina regeneration, and fence-climbing speed. In a game with strict time limits, moving 20% faster between rooms compounds into significantly more loot per run.

5. Strongman / Inventory

Strongman increases your carrying capacity and melee damage. The extra inventory slot alone is worth prioritizing — carrying one more painting or laptop per trip to the van means meeting quotas more comfortably. The melee boost also helps when stealth breaks down and you need to deal with a guard quickly.

6. Perception

Perception widens your detection radius for NPCs, cameras, and alarm systems. The early-warning system it provides prevents accidental walk-ins that end runs. It's especially valuable in Crime Simulator's more complex late-game houses with multiple floors and overlapping guard patrols.

Tier 3 — Situational Skills

7. Driving

Improves vehicle handling for getaway sequences. Not critical in the early game when maps are small, but becomes valuable later when escape routes get longer and police response times shrink.

8. Fitness

Increases overall health and stamina pool. Useful as a safety net for newer players who take hits, but experienced players who rely on stealth can delay this.

Essential Tools — What to Buy First

Tools in Crime Simulator have durability and cost money to replace, so choosing wisely in the early game is critical. Here's what to spend your limited credits on before each heist.

Must-Have Tools (Buy Every Run)

High-Value Tools (Buy When Budget Allows)

Skip in Early Game

Drones and Scanners — powerful but expensive. Their value increases dramatically in mid-to-late game houses with complex layouts, but in the first 10–15 heists, your money is better spent on consumables and hideout upgrades.

Hideout Upgrades — Permanent Boosts for Your Crew

Your hideout in Crime Simulator functions as a persistent base between heists. Furniture purchases here provide permanent team-wide buffs that stack across all future runs. This is where smart early investment pays the biggest dividends.

Priority Upgrade Order

1. Hackerman's Table — 2,000 Credits (Buy First)

This is the single most impactful hideout upgrade in the game. It grants free electronic device unlocking, which means electronics you loot (phones, tablets, laptops) keep their full resale value instead of being locked and worthless. In practice, this boosts your income by 5–10x on electronics-heavy houses. If you buy nothing else, buy this.

2. Repair Workbench — 5,000 Credits (Buy Second)

The Repair Workbench lets you restore damaged tools and loot items to max condition for free. Damaged items sell for pennies; repaired items sell at full price. This upgrade essentially doubles the value of everything you bring home. It's expensive at 5,000 credits, but it pays for itself within 3–4 heists.

3. Powerlifting Bench — 1,000 Credits

Grants +1 inventory slot to every team member permanently. In a game where each slot represents potential profit, this is an immediate and significant income boost. Cheap, impactful, and benefits the entire crew.

4. Bookstand — 1,000 Credits

Provides a permanent +20% XP bonus for all crew members. This accelerates skill progression, which compounds over time. Buy it early and every subsequent heist benefits from faster leveling.

5. Workout Equipment — 1,500 Credits

Increases base stamina for the crew. Running out of stamina during a getaway is a common way to fail heists, especially in larger maps. This provides a comfortable safety margin.

6. Planning Board — 2,500 Credits

Unlocks additional intel about target houses before you select them — guard count, loot density, and security level. Information is power; this upgrade lets you pick profitable targets more consistently.

Early Game Strategy — Your First 10 Heists

The opening hours of Crime Simulator are the toughest. Here's a step-by-step strategy to survive and build momentum.

Heists 1–3: Learn the Mechanics

1. Start with the smallest houses. One-story, low-security targets. Your goal isn't profit — it's learning the lockpicking minigame, understanding guard sight lines, and getting comfortable with the time pressure.
2. Use Ghost Mode to practice. Ghost Mode lets you focus on stealth and clean execution without quota pressure. Use it to learn patrol patterns and develop muscle memory for the controls.
3. Collect every skill leaflet you find. These are your primary source of skill points. Check bookshelves, desks, and bedside tables — leaflets spawn in predictable furniture locations.

Heists 4–7: Build Your Economy

1. Focus on meeting quotas. Every heist has a minimum earning target. Failing a quota means losing progress. Don't get greedy trying to loot every room — grab the high-value items and get out.
2. Use payphones for bonus cash. Payphones scattered around maps offer side objectives with extra credit rewards. They're easy money that helps fund hideout upgrades.
3. Buy Powerlifting Bench and Bookstand. These two 1,000-credit upgrades provide immediate crew-wide benefits that accelerate everything else.

Heists 8–10: Scale Up

1. Invest in Hackerman's Table. By now you should have enough savings. This single upgrade transforms your income.
2. Attempt medium-security houses. With your skills at level 3–4 and the Hackerman's Table active, two-story houses become profitable targets.
3. Look for Golden Cards. These rare collectibles provide significant cash bonuses. They spawn randomly in drawers and hidden compartments — Perception skill helps you spot them.

Co-op Tips — Making Multiplayer Work

Crime Simulator's 4-player co-op transforms the experience from a tense solo challenge into a chaotic, rewarding team operation. Here's how to make the most of it.

Role Assignment

Don't have everyone do the same thing. Assign clear roles before entering a house:

• Breacher: Handles entry points — doors, windows, fences. Prioritize Lockpicking and Strongman.
• Looter: Grabs valuables and fills the van. Prioritize Agility and Inventory skills.
• Lookout: Monitors guard positions and warns the team. Prioritize Perception and Stealth.
• Cleaner: Handles guards with sleeping gas and manages alarms. Prioritize Electronics and Stealth.

Communication Essentials

Use the Crime Simulator Discord or in-game voice chat for real-time coordination. The three most important callouts are:

1. "Guard moving [direction]" — keeps everyone aware of patrol changes
2. "High value in [room]" — directs the looter to priority targets
3. "Going loud" — warns the team that stealth has been broken so everyone can adapt

Loot Splitting Strategy

In co-op, credits are shared. Focus on efficiency over individual greed — one player looting a room completely is faster than two players tripping over each other. Assign floors or wings of the house to specific players.

Advanced Tips for Experienced Players

Maximizing Income Per Heist

• Electronics first. With the Hackerman's Table unlocked, electronics are your highest-value loot per inventory slot. Prioritize laptops, tablets, and phones over bulky items like paintings.
• Repair before selling. Always use the Repair Workbench on damaged items. A damaged laptop might sell for 50 credits; a repaired one sells for 500+.
• Chain heists efficiently. Don't buy unnecessary tools between runs. If your lockpick set still has durability, skip the replacement and save the credits.

Dealing with Guards

• Sleeping gas is a last resort, not a primary tool. It's expensive and consumable. Learn guard patrol timing instead — most guards have a 30–45 second patrol loop with predictable blind spots.
• Noise is your enemy. Breaking windows, sprinting on hard floors, and opening creaky doors all generate sound that alerts guards. Crouch-walk everywhere inside the house.
• If spotted, run — don't fight. Combat alerts escalate quickly and can fail the heist. Sprint to an exit, lose line of sight, and wait for the alert to drop.

The Crime Simulator Soundtrack Trick

Here's a detail many players miss: the Crime Simulator game soundtrack dynamically shifts when guards change alert states. If you notice the music intensifying, a guard is becoming suspicious — even if you can't see them. Use the audio cues as an early warning system alongside Perception skill alerts.

Frequently Asked Questions