A micro-MMORPG in 2008 Brooklyn for you and 31 friends. Hold a job or rob the bank, own the bar or the building, talk to anyone with your voice and watch the city remember it. The news runs your face. You owe Tony $1,500 by Sunday. The city doesn't care how you get it.

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Coming Soon To Early Access

The developers of this game intend to release as a work in progress, developing with the feedback of players.

Note: Games in Early Access are not complete and may or may not change further. If you are not excited to play this game in its current state, then you should wait to see if the game progresses further in development. Learn more

What the developers have to say:

Why Early Access?

“Pipe Dream is a co-op crime sandbox. The parts that make it interesting are
sixteen people loose in one city, a police system that reacts to what they do,
and an economy they can break. Those are the parts I can't finish alone. I need
to watch people play it.

Three things I want out of Early Access:

Balance that comes from real sessions. The systems are built. What I don't know
is what a full lobby does when they decide to do something I didn't anticipate,
and that's most of the game.

Direction on what to build next. I have a list of what the rest of Brooklyn
looks like. Players will tell me which parts of it actually matter, and I'd
rather build around what people do than around what I assumed.

Stability on real hardware and real connections. Multiplayer breaks in ways
single player doesn't, and it breaks on other people's machines before it breaks
on mine.

I'm working on this full time and I intend to finish it. The plan is 12 to 18
months to 1.0, with regular updates and me in the discussions the whole way. If
something slips, I'll say so publicly rather than go quiet.

It's playable now. Early Access is where it gets deeper.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“12 to 18 months. That covers the rest of Brooklyn, more ways to make money,
more trouble to get into, and the balancing that only happens once people are
actually playing. Could shift depending on what comes back.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“Plans for 1.0:

THE CITY
- More neighborhoods, each with its own character
- More interiors, businesses, and places worth going
- NPCs with deeper routines

SYSTEMS
- More ways to earn, legal and otherwise
- Territory, reputation, rival crews
- Property and businesses you can own
- A city government that reacts to what happens in it
- Deeper injuries and consequences

POLISH
- More voice acting, more music
- More languages
- Controller support and Steam Deck
- Accessibility options

The goal is a whole borough that notices what you do.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“CO-OP
- Drop-in online co-op, up to eight in one world
- One debt, one wallet, and seven days to figure it out

THE JOB
- Get hired, work a shift, knock on doors, get tipped or get stiffed
- Or don't. Nobody's making you.

THE CITY
- Hand-built Brooklyn: brownstones, storefronts, a civic strip
- Real interiors — hospital, precinct, firehouse, casino, restaurants that
aren't reskins of each other
- Corner stores, a subway that runs, a 2008 internet, and 21 radio stations
playing around the clock
- Weather and a day cycle. 6am doesn't look like 6pm.

CONSEQUENCE
- Cops drive from the precinct. If nobody saw it, nobody comes.
- Anyone in this city can be killed, and it changes things when they are.

Stable, playable, and the base for the rest of it.”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“Launching in Early Access at a price that matches what's there now. As real
content lands, it may go up. 1.0 will cost more than Early Access, and if you
buy during Early Access you keep it either way.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“I read everything. Bug reports, complaints, ideas — all of it gets looked at, and
some of it makes it into the game. A few things already have.

But I'm not building this by committee. The direction is mine. If an idea fits
what this game is, great. If it doesn't, it doesn't, and I'd rather say that up
front than pretend otherwise.

Best places to reach me are the Steam discussions and the Discord.”
Read more
This game is not yet available on Steam

Planned Release Date: May 4, 2027

This game plans to unlock in approximately 6 months

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About This Game

2008. Brooklyn. You owe Tony $1,500 by Sunday. The city doesn't care how you get it.

A micro-MMORPG for you and 31 friends. One neighborhood, every system talking to every other one, and a city that writes down what you did.

TALK TO THE CITY

  • Every named person in the game has a life, a job, a grudge list and a memory. Call them, visit them, run your mouth. They remember. Some of them never let it go.

  • Talk with your voice. Push to talk on the street, into a payphone, across a bar. NPCs answer in character. Say something ugly to Frank and he'll bring your mother into it.

  • Get famous the hard way. Witnesses describe your clothes, your car and your face. The news runs your picture at six. Your crew gets the grid.

  • The rumor mill is real. What you said at the bar is on the block by morning.

WORK IT STRAIGHT

  • Hold a real job. Deliver pizzas for a boss who hates you, drive a cab, work the register, stand the door at the club. Slots are limited. Frank only needs two guys.

  • Your paycheck has 2008 withholding. Rent is due. Insurance is weekly. The hospital bill is not a rumor.

  • Rent an apartment, then buy one. Then buy the building. Collect from the tenants. Fix the boiler or don't.

  • Open a store in an empty shopfront. Stock it with whatever you've got. NPCs will buy it. Hire a guy to stand there.

  • Run a bar. Hire the bouncer, order the beer, pick the station, book the band. Close it to the public and make it your crew's.

OR WORK THE ANGLES

  • Carjack someone at a red light. Pick a lock on a parked car. Chop it, plate it, or dump it in the river.

  • Rob the bank with your crew. The cops close the streets around you and stack up. Wait too long and SWAT shows up with a truck. Most people get out. Some people wait.

  • Pickpocket, fence, launder. Dirty money doesn't spend at the nice stores. The laundromat on Bay Street takes its time.

  • Witnesses can be bribed, threatened or walked to a payphone. Cops aim like people. The ladder goes all the way up, and your crew is not beating the feds.

  • Get caught and go to court. Hire the lawyer. Or the lawyer is your friend, and he's terrible.

A CITY THAT RUNS WITHOUT YOU

  • Parked cars line every block. People park, lock up and walk off. Some of them come back.

  • Three neighborhoods: Bay Street, a slice of Manhattan, and Canal Street with its own rules and its own crew.

  • A TV that never shuts up. Weather by day, the news at night with a tally of what the city lost yesterday, and a late-night block of cartoons and ads for products that will ruin your life. You can call the number.

  • 20 radio stations on a real schedule. One of them you should not be listening to.

  • A 2008 internet: job boards, a forum, classified scams, a dating pool, a file-sharing app that will brick your computer.

  • Fire spreads and rain puts it out. Blood stays on the street until the sweeper comes. The medical examiner's van is in no hurry.

  • A mall, a bowling alley, an arcade with tickets, a gaming cafe with a LAN shooter, an oddities bazaar on the pier, a church with a priest who notices.

UNDER THE STREET

  • There's a game show in the sewer. Nobody sanctioned it. Pay the buy-in with your friends, survive six rooms of traps that are unfair on purpose, and split the pot. Your friends are the real hazard. The last room shows everyone what you chose.

BRING YOUR CREW

  • Drop-in co-op, up to 32 players.

  • Runs on your machine. No servers to shut down, ever.

  • Name your crew, pick your colors, assign ranks. Sign deals on paper or get scammed face to face. Break an oath and the whole city knows the word for you.

  • Titles over your head you earned, bought, or had forced on you.

  • Grief each other into a police response you all regret.

EARLY ACCESS WITHOUT THE BS

  • Everything on this page exists in the game right now.

  • No DLC. No microtransactions. You buy the game, you get the whole game.

  • $14.99 now, rising as major updates land. Early is the discount.

Tony wants his money by Sunday. Church is also on Sunday. Your call.

AI Generated Content Disclosure

The developers describe how their game uses AI Generated Content like this:

Generative AI was used in a limited, supplementary capacity to assist with the creation of some text, audio, and music content. All such content is reviewed and approved by the developer.

Mature Content Description

The developers describe the content like this:

Pipe Dream is a gritty crime sandbox set in Brooklyn, 2008. Mature audiences only.

Violence: Realistic gun and melee combat, blood, corpses, and player-driven violence against civilians and law enforcement.

Crime: Theft, robbery, assault, drug trafficking, and gang activity are central. These acts carry consequences (heat, pursuit, debt) rather than pure glorification.

Drugs & Alcohol: Tobacco, alcohol, and illegal drugs (cocaine, marijuana, pills, heroin, meth). Players can buy, sell, use, and cultivate cannabis.

Adult Content: An adult video store location with sexual innuendo and dialogue. No explicit sex or nudity.
Gambling: In-game casino (poker, slots, etc.) using only virtual currency.

Language: Frequent strong language and crude, period-accurate New York vernacular.

Themes: Organized crime, corruption, economic hardship, gentrification, and the cost of violence. Some language and cultural depictions may offend.

Player Discretion: Adults only. Those sensitive to violence, drugs, profanity, or mature themes should proceed with caution.

System Requirements

    Minimum:
    • OS: Windows 10 64-bit
    • Processor: Intel Core i3-4000 series / AMD FX-4300 or equivalent
    • Memory: 4 GB RAM
    • Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4000 or equivalent integrated graphics
    • DirectX: Version 11
    • Storage: 4 GB available space
    • Sound Card: Any DirectX compatible
    • Additional Notes: 1280x720 minimum resolution
    Recommended:
    • OS: Windows 10/11 64-bit
    • Processor: Intel Core i5-7000 series / AMD Ryzen 5 or equivalent
    • Memory: 8 GB RAM
    • Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 1050 / AMD RX 560 or equivalent
    • DirectX: Version 11
    • Storage: 6 GB available space
    • Sound Card: Any DirectX compatible
    • Additional Notes: 1920x1080 recommended
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