The core game mechanic in Watch Dogs is hacking.

[15] Aiden Pearce, the game's pr otagonist, is armed with a smartphone loaded with applications capable of hackin g a major part of Chicago's infrastructure, such as traffic lights, bridges, ste am pipes, fuse boxes, road blockers, etc. This phone is reportedly capable of ov er 100 total hacks.[16] Hacking is one of the most heavily marketed features of the game, and is central to both gameplay and plot. Through his profiler application, Aiden Pearce is able to access blurbs of infor mation on every citizen of Chicago he meets at any given time. His smartphone is connected to the CtOS populace database, meaning he can learn people's age and occupation as well as small personal facts about them. Pearce is also capable of reading randomly generated text messages and of overhearing phone calls between two NPC's. These will sometimes lead him to new, unscripted missions. This game play feature was designed to make the world of Watch Dogs feel more alive and re al, giving depth to the city of Chicago and its people. Additionally, Pearce's s martphone is constantly connected to the CtOS crime prevention system, a fiction al tool originally designed for use by the Chicago Police Department. It notifie s him when a crime is likely to occur in his vicinity, giving the player a chanc e to intervene and stop the crime. This contributes to Pearce's vigilante person a. Because of the fact that Watch Dogs' interpretation of Chicago is governed entir ely by the Central Operating System (CtOS), Aiden Pearce has the power to remote ly access and interact with things present in his environment - examples of this are traffic lights, steam pipes, blockers, and even the city's lights. He can u se these in combat situations to eliminate opponents, create diversions or creat e cover. He can also use them as a stealth tool to sneak by guards.