While on the surfacePromise Mascot Agencylooks to be a business simulation game, there is quite a lot of drama packed into its story. In addition to recruiting Mascots and building a business from the ground-up, players will need to make enough money to keep their family safe.

As part of the game’s narrative, players have an enormous debt of 12,000,000,000 Yen that needs to be paid torival Yakuza clans. Given the significant amount hanging over the matriarch’s head, many players may be wonderingif you need to pay Shimazu’s debt inPromise Mascot Agencyand what the consequences are of neglecting your responsibilities to your family.

A player’s truck with Pinky on the back and Shimazu’s threat level showing in Promise Mascot Agency

The following article contains minor spoilers to the story ofPromise Mascot Agency.

Should You Pay Shimazu’s Debt in Promise Mascot Agency?

In short,yes, you need to pay Shimazu the money owed to the rival Yakuza clans, but you do not need to pay all 12,000,000,000 Yen. As part of the story progression, you will need to contribute 1,000,000 Yen to the family’s funding, but outside that you’ll just need to ensure the threat level doesn’t become problematic.

Given money can be scarce at times throughout the game, players don’t need to prioritize sending funds to Shimazu, so the focus can be kept on maintaining the Mascots you recruit,restoring the dying town, and purchasing boosting items like Hero Cards. In saying that, there are some benefits to contributing to the debt. On three separate occasions, Shimazu will use her influence to lower the cost of your nightly bills by 2% (which is stackable). The exact amount that triggers this is uncertain, so the best strategy here is to send cash in smaller amounts, so you can keep the excess for business expenses.

The game over screen in Promise Mascot Agency

The reason you don’t need to pay the full amount back is due to how the story pans out. Without giving too much away, there is a solution at the end of the narrative that removes the need for you to continue funding Shimazu and the rest of the clan back home.

What Happens If You Don’t Pay The Debt?

While it’s not essential to pay the full amount back, it is still critical that players send cash to Shimazu, even beyond the minimum 1,000,000 required as per the story.If you don’t pay the debt back, Shimazu’s enemies will come for her head and you will ultimately fail the game. While this isn’t ideal, there isn’t a great consequence to this happening, as you can simply respawn at your most recent autosave point and rectify your previous error.

Promise Mascot Agencydoesn’t try to be a difficult game, so it is actually very hard to fail this game, as you are given multiple warnings about the threat level. When you are first warned, ensure you move to make some quick money by performing tasks like sending Mascots on jobs and selling merchandise. Unless you’re having difficulties with acquiring funds, you won’t fail the game unless you go AFK for really long time, or you intentionally fail to see what happens. It is worth noting that intentionally failing doesn’t unlock anyachievements in the game, so there’s really no benefit to it, outside of seeing a couple of dialogue screens.

Promise Mascot Agency

Promise Mascot Agency - Official Steam Screenshot 1

Promise Mascot Agency - Official Steam Screenshot 2

Promise Mascot Agency - Official Steam Screenshot 3

Promise Mascot Agency - Official Steam Screenshot 4

Promise Mascot Agency - Official Steam Screenshot 5