Trenchrun is designed as a hybrid progression experience combining story-driven survival RPG systems, open-world exploration, economic simulation, side hustles, criminal/legal risk systems, idle management, social advancement, PvE/PvP progression, and NFT-based endgame ownership.
You do not begin powerful. You build power through survival.
Survival & ascent
Players must survive increasingly hostile environments while balancing food, rent, bills, equipment, faction threats, police pressure, physical survival, resource scarcity, and reputation growth.
- ●Mandatory day jobs · Industrial labor · Factory shifts · Courier work · Warehouse operations
- ●Underground contracts · Scavenging · Side hustles · Black market flips · Resource gathering
- ●Crafting · Combat · Exploration · Mining rigs · Intelligence gathering
To progress, players must manage housing costs, utilities, operational expenses, law enforcement heat, health, fatigue, and market volatility. The game creates constant tension between immediate survival vs long-term advancement.
Day jobs provide baseline income, survival continuity, faction access, local intelligence, skill development, and side mission opportunities.
Side hustles & idle systems
Side hustles are where real advancement begins. These systems create flexibility, risk, and player expression.
- Mining rigs · Black market trading · Contraband logistics · Data flipping · Crypto arbitrage
- Underground courier jobs · Guild contracts · Crafting rare items · Salvage operations
- Intelligence gathering · Club networking · Venue deals
Epoch II · Crank City only
Urban illicit side hustles
These hustle types are gated to the city epoch — not available in the trench or on the shore arc.
- Grow plants, cook product, and spin up whatever grey-market illegal hustle fits your build — labs, kitchens, and contraband chemistry with escalating heat.
- Loan sharking — street lending, vig collection, and defaults that draw cops and rivals.
- More illicit lanes unlock as reputation, turf, and faction tolerance rise.
Mining rig system
A major idle system allows players to build and operate in-game mining infrastructure. Features include GPU upgrades, power management, cooling systems, location risk, police raids, maintenance costs, bill pressure, passive token/resource generation, security upgrades, and expansion tiers.
Mining rigs become one of the first major wealth multipliers. However: electricity bills increase, law enforcement may investigate, theft becomes possible, and rival factions may sabotage operations. This creates meaningful idle gameplay instead of passive inflation.
These systems reward precision, repetition, pattern recognition, timing, and knowledge.
