Letterman: Basketball Life

Four years of high school. Forty days a year. One way out, and more than one way to lose it. Letterman is a life sim about a high-school hooper with two jobs. By day you work the block. By night you play. Neither one waits for the other, and the scouts are only watching one of them. THE HUSTLE The Plug's price moves every day, and the relationship you build with him earns a discount. The Corner pays the street price, which rises with your fame and falls when there are sirens on the block. The corner's median price sits BELOW what the plug charges — careless flipping loses money. The profit is in reading the daily swing. Get busted and it escalates: half your roll, then juvie, then the state writes your ending for you. THE BLACKTOP Play pickup against a live defender any day of the week — beat him off the dribble for open looks, and he reaches about once a second, so handles matter. On game nights it's the school game: seven regular season games, the rivalry on day 20, a semifinal on day 38 if you win four, and the championship on day 40. Playoff wins pay double and triple recruiter interest. SCHOOL STILL COUNTS Attendance holds your GPA. Skip and it drifts. Under 60 and you're suspended from games, though a coach who trusts you will vouch down to 55. Let it hit zero and you're expelled, and that's the career. THE SCOUT TRACK Recruiter interest decides four of the eight endings, and it bleeds every single week — harder every year. Scouts judge what you are doing right now, so it has to be fed: win games, or buy your way up the showcase circuit, five rungs from a local open run to an elite camp. Buying the whole ladder costs more than a good hustling career clears. That is the whole game: secure the bag, or get the scholarship. Pick. SIX PEOPLE WHO CHANGE THE RUN Coach bends the eligibility rules. Mom decides how well you sleep. The Plug sets your prices. Your best friend stands lookout and cuts your bust odds. Your rival raises the stakes. The Scout multiplies everything. 36 scheduled story beats and 73 random events move all of it — and five beats come in pairs, gated on where a relationship stands. Spend four years on Mom and you meet a different scene than a run that ignored her. BUILD THE PLAYER Shooting, Handles, Defense and Stamina all train at the Corner Store and all pull real weight on the court. Kicks multiply court rep. Tutoring saves your GPA. Energy drinks buy you time you don't have. EIGHT ENDINGS Collected in the title-screen gallery. Four of them are decided by the scouts. The other four are decided by everything else. Your career auto-saves every night. No account, no login. Free to play with ads.

• The ending screen now takes a tap, and Back takes you to the title screen. • Saves are safer: a backup is kept if the app closes mid-save. • Leaving a match early now counts as a forfeit, and the game tells you. • Event choices you can't afford now show their price. • Settings has a crash report switch and privacy options. • Small fixes and polish.