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Cartel Tycoon

Cartel Tycoon

|United States|Simulator, Strategy

7.6 /10

Pretty good

Hot

3.8k ratings
Rating sources
Steam · Player score7.6/103.8k ratingsIGDB · Player score6.0/105 ratings
Trailers & screenshots
Why play it

Cartel Tycoon is a story-driven business sim inspired by the '80's narco trade. Expand and conquer, stave off rival cartels and authority attention, earn people's loyalty and try to overcome the doomed fate of a drug lord with too much power.

Story and worldbuilding

Set in the fictionalized '80s Latin America, Cartel Tycoon tells the story of a time when the cocaine took over first the US, and then the whole world. Ridiculously rich drug kingpins rule over glorious empires, creating thousands of jobs. But a maelstrom of violence threatens this criminal underworld from within.

Game highlights
Rating momentum

Pretty good: 7.6/10 across 3.8k ratings. Overall vibes are good; safe to add to your backlog.

Play style

Leans into Simulator, Strategy, Indie — a quick read on whether that fantasy matches what you usually enjoy.

Reviews

8 media reviews

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WayTooManyGamesAaron Price · 21 Apr, 2024
6.5/10

Overall, Cartel Tycoon can be a good replacement for other RTS type games. Everything can go wrong pretty easily, as you’d likely be familiar with if you’ve played these types of games before. Sometimes you’ll have games where you steamroll everyone else and feel pretty good about yourself as well. Much like a box of chocolates, you never really know what you’re gonna get sometimes.

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NoobFeedKurtis Seid · 20 Aug, 2022
6.5/10

Cartel Tycoon is mostly for people who want a fun and gritty theme to their city management, even if it is at the cost of overall gameplay. As it stands, the game needs more onboarding and a better user interface instead of just throwing players to the wolves. Moon Moose has already announced further updates, and perhaps those could help relieve some of the existing issues.

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3DNewsМихаил Пономарев · 7 Aug, 2022
7/10

Not brilliant, but pretty entertaining tycoon with a bunch of decent mechanics and gameplay aspects.

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New Game NetworkAlex Varankou · 31 Jul, 2022
6.5/10

Cartel Tycoon gets the basics right, and its low price may entice some fans of management games. However, more could have been done with the setting and some of the mechanics. There are better options in the genre.

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GameLusterNirav Gandhi · 30 Jul, 2022
7/10

While a little overburdened with systems and a glaring glossing over of the rampant sex trafficking and drug deaths that are a direct result of the real cartels, Cartel Tycoon is a polished management sim with intuitive UI and great visuals. If you want to feel like you're the star of Netflix's Narcos, you've come to the right place.

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GameOnAUSRoyce Wilson · 27 Jul, 2022
7.5/10

As much as I’ve enjoyed Cartel Tycoon, I still can’t shake the feeling it isn’t quite ready to come out of early access. It’s almost there and there’s a lot of potential for future content, but for now I think this is one that needs a few more features and some additional polishing before being ready to hit the streets.

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SoftpediaCosmin Vasile · 26 Jul, 2022
8.5/10

Cartel Tycoon goes all in on the drug cartel leader fantasy and mines the setting for as many concepts as possible. The management game is good, with a mix of mechanics and with clear challenges for players to work through. I like the look of the game and most of the writing fits well with the ‘80s Latin American world it is evoking.

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Gaming ProfessorsPetr Polák · 16 Apr, 2021
7.5/10

Cartel Tycoon is for me a nice and original diversification in the Tycoon genre. The developers sensed an appropriate opportunity and took advantage of the so far clear waters in setting the Tycoon genre in a controversial drug environment. The actual placement in the world of the Latin American drug cartels has really worked out well and there is nothing more to do than wait for the final version of the game.

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