Drug Dealer Simulator offers an unusual take on the genre with enough systems depth to remain engaging despite its limitations
In Drug Dealer Simulator, you start as a small-time dealer in a run-down urban district, armed with nothing but a basic apartment, a laptop, and a connection to the cartel through your contact Eddie. The game presents a gritty, though simplified take on the underground drug trade, focusing on the business and stealth aspects rather than glamorizing the lifestyle.
The game takes place in an economically depressed city district, where passenger jets trace contrails across gray skies and abandoned playgrounds stand as silent testimony to better days. While the narrative is minimal, your character aims to build a drug empire from the ground up. The environment, though technologically modest, effectively conveys the intended atmosphere of urban decay.
At its heart, Drug Dealer Simulator is about managing your illicit enterprise. You'll start by ordering product from Eddie through dead drops scattered around the city. These supplies need to be retrieved within time limits, adding an element of urgency to your operations. Back at your apartment, you'll use your workstation to prepare products for distribution, carefully measuring and packaging them for individual sales.
The laptop serves as your business hub, where you'll receive encrypted messages from clients and manage orders. Time management becomes crucial as you balance multiple orders with their delivery windows. The game implements a risk-versus-reward system through its day/night cycle - nighttime offers better profits but increased police presence due to curfew hours.
As you complete deals and missions, you earn experience points and level up, unlocking skill points to invest in various abilities. These include improved stamina, better stealth capabilities, enhanced drug-hiding skills during police searches, and increased salesmanship. The progression system adds depth to what could otherwise be a repetitive loop.
The game features a territory system where you can expand your influence by tagging areas with graffiti. This unlocks new clients and opportunities but also increases police attention. You can eventually recruit dealers to work under you, allowing for passive income while managing larger-scale operations.
An interesting aspect is the drug mixing system, where you can cut products with various substances to increase profits or create specific effects. This requires careful balance - too pure a product risks client overdoses, while too much filler could lose customers.
Money management becomes increasingly important as your operation grows. You'll need to balance reinvesting in product, upgrading your equipment and locations, and laundering money to avoid attracting attention. The game implements risk meters that increase based on your activities, potentially triggering DEA raids if you become too conspicuous.
Real estate expansion offers additional safe houses and operation centers, while furniture and equipment upgrades improve your efficiency. The economic system creates a satisfying progression from street-level dealer to organized operation manager. Police mechanics add tension through patrol routes and search mechanics. During curfew hours, the stakes increase as officers become more aggressive, forcing you to stick to shadows and back alleys. The stealth elements, while not particularly sophisticated, add welcome variety to the gameplay.
The game's presentation is undeniably rough around the edges. Character models are basic, animations can be stiff, and the urban environment, while atmospheric, shows its budget constraints. However, there's an earnest attempt at creating immersion through environmental details like radio chatter, ambient music from buildings, and the day/night cycle affecting gameplay. The Xbox Series X version runs adequately, though it's clearly not pushing the hardware to its limits. Load times feel a little long, however, the frame rate remains stable.
Drug Dealer Simulator is a niche title that won't appeal to everyone. Its core gameplay loop is inherently repetitive - source product, prepare deals, make deliveries, manage money, repeat. However, for players who enjoy management sims and can look past the technical limitations, there's an engaging game underneath.
The various systems interlock in interesting ways, creating meaningful choices about risk management, business expansion, and territory control. While the presentation shows clear budget constraints, the developers have focused on creating engaging mechanics rather than flashy visuals. If anything I talked about above sound interesting to you, maybe you should give it a try. Thanks for reading!
The game was reviewed on a Xbox Series X via a code provided by the publisher. Drug Dealer Simulator is available on PC, Xbox and soon on PlayStation.
