Shakedown: Hawaii on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
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Build a "legitimate" corporation via open world missions, shakedowns, sabotage and property acquisition.
Shakedown: Hawaii is a open world, top-down shooter and twin stick shooter game
developed and published by Vblank Entertainment and Inc..
Released on October 20th 2020 is available in English only on Windows.
It has received 545 reviews of which 484 were positive and 61 were negative resulting in a rating of 8.3 out of 10. 😎
The game is currently priced at 19.99€ on Steam.
The Steam community has classified Shakedown: Hawaii into these genres:
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System requirements
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Windows
- OS *: Windows® XP / Vista / 7 / 8 / 10
- Processor: 1GHz processor
- Memory: 256 MB RAM
- Graphics: Pixel Shader 2.0 and Vertex Shader 2.0
- DirectX: Version 9.0
- Storage: 150 MB available space
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
Shakedown: Hawaii is a game that fully embraces the outrageousness of open-world crime satire while presenting it through the lens of nostalgic pixel art. Developed and published by Vblank Entertainment, it plays like a spiritual successor to the studio’s earlier retro-inspired urban sandbox work, taking the fast, chaotic top-down formula and applying it to a world fueled by corporate greed, dying business models, and shameless profiteering. Instead of centering on street-level criminals climbing the underworld ladder, the game focuses on a washed-up CEO desperately trying to modernize and salvage his crumbling empire. This shift in protagonist instantly gives the narrative a personality of its own, turning the usual rise-to-power arc into a ruthless—and often hilarious—critique of capitalism, consumer culture, and the absurdity of modern business tactics. The gameplay is built around two core pillars: arcade-style action and economic domination. The action side delivers classic top-down chaos—high-speed car thefts, shootouts, explosions, reckless driving, and spontaneous destruction. Controls are responsive, combat feels punchy, and the world encourages improvisation, making even small skirmishes entertaining. Missions often escalate quickly, sending players across the island to intimidate competitors, sabotage rival businesses, tamper with advertisements, or strong-arm reluctant shop owners into compliance. The humor in these objectives leans intentionally exaggerated, taking inspiration from media sensationalism and the ridiculousness of corporate PR disasters. While the structure of missions can repeat familiar patterns, the absurd framing keeps them entertaining enough to sustain momentum. The second pillar—the business and property acquisition system—adds a compelling layer of strategy. Nearly every storefront, gas station, apartment complex, and tourist trap on the island can be purchased, upgraded, or exploited to generate income. Watching daily revenue climb as your influence spreads provides a satisfying feedback loop, and experimenting with different upgrades can subtly shape your financial empire. Eventually, passive income begins to dwarf mission rewards, reinforcing the game’s commentary on how wealth perpetuates itself. The city becomes a playground of opportunity, and acquiring properties starts to feel like its own game-within-a-game, pushing players to explore every corner of the map. Presentation plays a major role in the game’s appeal. The pixel art is richly detailed, colorful, and animated with an energy that elevates the setting. Vehicles burst into flames dramatically, storefronts have character, and the island feels like a living parody of tropical urban development. Cutscenes are expressive and comedic, leaning on exaggerated facial expressions and punchy writing to deliver jokes efficiently. The soundtrack bolsters the retro aesthetic—catchy, upbeat, and rhythmic without distracting from the action. Together, the visuals and audio create a world that feels nostalgic yet modern, bridging retro sensibilities with contemporary humor and pacing. As entertaining as it is, Shakedown: Hawaii does have limitations. Once the empire-building aspect hits a certain threshold and income floods in, the sense of struggle or progression fades. Wealth becomes so overwhelming that buying properties or upgrades loses meaning, and the economic system transitions from engaging management to routine button-pressing. The mission structure, while humorous, can become repetitive as objectives begin to blend into one another. The satire—sharp early on—occasionally slips into predictability, relying on similar comedic beats rather than surprising new angles. None of these issues undermine the core fun, but they reduce long-term tension and challenge. Even with these shortcomings, the game succeeds because it remains consistently entertaining and self-aware. It doesn’t overstay its welcome, and it never forgets that its primary job is to make the player have fun. The combination of explosive arcade action, tongue-in-cheek storytelling, and light economic strategy creates a distinctive identity rarely seen in modern open-world games. It’s approachable enough for casual players yet layered enough to keep completionists invested, especially those eager to unlock map coverage or push daily revenue into absurd numbers. Shakedown: Hawaii ultimately works as both homage and satire—celebrating the chaotic joy of retro crime sandboxes while skewering real-world business practices with exaggerated delight. It’s unapologetically silly, stylishly presented, and confident in its vision. Players who enjoy fast-paced open-world mayhem, humorous writing, and accessible empire-building will find a lot to appreciate. It may not revolutionize the genre, but it delivers an experience full of charm, personality, and memorable moments, leaving the impression of a game that knows exactly what it wants to be—and achieves it with gleeful abandon. Rating: 8/10
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I was sitting around wanting to play some GTA2 a couple weeks ago and that's when I remembered I had Shakedown Hawaii, although I thought it was called Shakedown Miami at the time. This was such a great game, so creative and funny. I was really impressed with everything. The controls were great, I was able to choose between two car control types, so I went with the better one where you turn left and right rather than drive towards the stick tilt direction. The car handling was pretty good, for a while I was having trouble but after a while I realized I was actually in x2 zoom, so I switched it to 1x zoom and was good to go. On foot everything controls great as well, I played the whole game using an Xbox style controller using my steamlink hooked up to my 65 inch TV. It ran perfectly and looked great on there. This music is awesome too and fits the game so well, especially because of how the music changes with scenes and based on what's happening as well as having a nice driving soundtrack you can switch between. The graphics are some of the best pixel art I've ever seen, and there is so much. The cutscenes are so good and the character designs are absolutely perfect. Some of the sleaziest looking people you've ever seen in your life. I love it so much. (My favorite movie is Street Trash from 1987). I love how sleazy and scummy the main characters are, but especially the old man. OMG he's the best. The entire game took my 13.3 or so hours with minimal screwing around. I did some car returns, some coffee upgrade missions, B&E's and selling vanloads of loot, etc. All in all, the game length feels great. I was having lots of fun for most of the time, although towards the end, perhaps around mission 100 out of 115, it was getting a bit tedius or repetetive. To make up for this, the developer seems to have cranked up the difficulty of the last few missions and thankfully so as it sort of brought some of the excitement that had slightly faded. I wouldn't really want the game to go on more than it did, so the game length is very good and feels right. I would love for there to be a sequel, but I don't think it would be possible since there is so much here already. So much creativity went in and lots of thinking as to what scummy businesses do that I think everything was mentioned, so there really isn't much left to make a sequel about. Maybe a DLC add-on at most? It really doesn't need it though. When playing I found that even though it was fun, it is best enjoyed in 45 minute or so game sessions. There is something about the way the cutscenes go that seems to quickly tire me out. I don't know if it's the way they cut to and from things, or maybe it's the reading on the top and then the bottom of the screen, whatever it is, it makes me want to step away after close to an hour. That said, I always want to come back soon after, and now that it is over I kind of miss it. I would give this one a 9 out of 10. It's fantastic. Very well done. I am so glad to have played it and beaten it.
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Played on Steam Deck Great gameplay and story Play like GTA, with the ability to destroy some buildings. Drive through trees and fences, people and other cars. Going to keep an eye for thier next game :) *Tried it once on PC, locked to 60 fps, didnt feel too bad. But I bought it for Steam deck and I like it more on a small screen on the go then my Pc
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Shakedown Hawaii is a hidden gem. Classic isometric GTA style gameplay that's done really well, although the controls are a bit awkward. The gameplay is varied, lots of mini-games, property management, extortion, platform levelling. There is just a lot crammed in to this little game. It's got a great sense of humour, dripping with satire playing off of today's hyper-capitalist world. The pixel art is top-notch. Really enjoyed this one.
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(Ignore the low playtime, I love this game so much I have beaten it twice on the Epic Launcher, twice on the Switch and once on the 2DS, so I know what the balls I'm talking about.) Shakedown: Hawaii is a brilliant masterpiece that has the same gameplay from Retro City Rampage but refined so it doesn't suck anymore, and hilarious metadialogue, but instead of pop culture references left and right, the gags are all about unchecked capitalism, which could be somewhat of a hypocritical stance due to the Epic Exclusivity things but we'll get to that. You play as the most ethical CEO of all time, in that he actually gets his hands dirty and doesn't sit behind a desk all day drinking the most expensive champagne in the boardroom. Instead, in his ambition to revive his company and take over the island, he sets out to nefarious tactics of intimidation and coercion. The latter is actually a business deal. Signed. With an RPG aimed at the other executive. See what I mean about this game being awesome? No? How about the story lampooning dumb shit that corpos do, like taking advantage of gaming trends, lootboxes in videogames (which was still a problem when this game came out), saving money while marketing that you are "eco-friendly" now, I will say if you're trying to get OFF the anti-capitalist bandwagon, stop reading this now it's not good for you. Shakedown has genuinely made me more cycnical about capitalism. The mechanic of shaking down business allowing them to be bought outright is a fun enough gameplay loop, but in all honesty, the gameplay is the weakest part of the game. Not to say it's bad, in fact, it's very fun. But you're really coming into Shakedown for the funny writing and anticapitalist metahumour. There is a bit of an issue for some, I'm willing to guess, that this game is hypocritical because it took Epic Games' money and became a store exclusive. And while I have what I like to call a Need-to-Greed rating to judge whether a studio needed the money from being an exclusive, with 1 being the studio absolutely needed the financial windfall, and 10 being why are Ubisoft, and Shakedown scores a 3 on the Need-to-Greed meter, if only because of the message and dialogue in the game that could be seen as tone deaf. But hey, who cares? I freaking don't, and I really, REALLY recommend Shakedown: Hawaii to anyone who enjoys top down GTA1 and GTA2 clones. Imagine top down GTA meets the property ownership of the Saints Row Reboot, but simpler, and that's what you get. On a personal note, Shakedown was my Game of the Year for 2020. And again, this Steam version is actually my FOURTH copy of the game, with both Nintendo Consoles (2DS and Switch) and of course the Epic Fail Games Store already played to death. Was buying another copy just for me to write this overly long gushing review, or was it an excuse to play the bloody thing again? Yes. 10/10
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Frequently Asked Questions
Shakedown: Hawaii is currently priced at 19.99€ on Steam.
Shakedown: Hawaii is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 19.99€ on Steam.
Shakedown: Hawaii received 484 positive votes out of a total of 545 achieving a rating of 8.30.
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Shakedown: Hawaii was developed and published by Vblank Entertainment and Inc..
Shakedown: Hawaii is playable and fully supported on Windows.
Shakedown: Hawaii is not playable on MacOS.
Shakedown: Hawaii is not playable on Linux.
Shakedown: Hawaii is a single-player game.
Shakedown: Hawaii does not currently offer any DLC.
Shakedown: Hawaii does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
Shakedown: Hawaii supports Remote Play on TV. Discover more about Steam Remote Play.
Shakedown: Hawaii is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.
You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for Shakedown: Hawaii.
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Last Updates| Steam data | 28 January 2026 06:20 |
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| SteamSpy data | 24 January 2026 17:08 |
| Steam price | 28 January 2026 20:42 |
| Steam reviews | 27 January 2026 05:58 |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about Shakedown: Hawaii, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.
- SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about Shakedown: Hawaii
- SteamCharts - Analysis of Shakedown: Hawaii concurrent players on Steam
- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck Shakedown: Hawaii compatibility
Game modes
Features
Online players
1
Developer
Vblank Entertainment, Inc.
Publisher
Vblank Entertainment, Inc.
Release
20 Oct 2020
Platforms
Remote Play