Games like Cartel Tycoon
If Cartel Tycoon is your kind of game, the closest matches are Endzone - A World Apart, Prison Architect and Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic — picked from the ranked list below. Reviewers single out its atmospheric, challenging and dark. Each pick is ranked by what players of this game also play, shared genres and tags, and review-mined similarity — not a generic popularity list.
Get personalized picks →Cartel Tycoon is a challenging business simulation set during the 1980s and 1990s narco trade era. Developed by Moon Moose and published by tinyBuild, the game tasks players with building and managing a drug empire, capturing cities, automating supply chains, and deploying lieutenants to expand their operation. Players must balance growth against rival thugs and law enforcement while earning loyalty from the local population to avoid the inevitable downfall that claims most cartel leaders. Reviewers highlight the automation rewarding smart base layouts, the colorful period-accurate characters and slang creating an atmospheric experience, and supply chains demanding deep strategic planning. The game offers campaign-missions with progression through long sessions of challenging micro-management, and runs as playable on Steam Deck. It holds a 72% positive rating from over 1,200 Steam reviews.
About Cartel Tycoon: Cartel Tycoon is a survival business sim inspired by the ‘80s and '90s narco trade. Expand and conquer, fight off rival thugs and evade the authorities. Earn people's loyalty and strive to overcome the doomed fate of a power-hungry drug lord.
Players who liked Cartel Tycoon also play
Steam players who put hours into Cartel Tycoon also tend to own these titles — a signal called collaborative filtering. imho.run cross-references millions of library ownership patterns to surface games whose real audiences overlap, regardless of whether their genre tags match.
Endzone - A World Apart
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Cartel Tycoon.
Top pick for Cartel Tycoon fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Strategy and Indie with Cartel Tycoon.
Endzone is a post-apocalyptic survival city builder, where you start a new civilization with a group of people after an ecological disaster. Build them a new home and ensure their survival in a shattered world, threatened by constant radiation, toxic rain, sandstorms and droughts.
Prison Architect
WHY THIS
Shares an immersive mood with Cartel Tycoon.
Second-strongest match for Cartel Tycoon fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Strategy and Indie with Cartel Tycoon.
Only the world’s most ruthless Warden can contain the world’s most ruthless inmates. Design and develop your personalized penitentiary in Prison Architect.
Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Cartel Tycoon.
Third-strongest match for Cartel Tycoon fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Strategy and Simulation with Cartel Tycoon.
Build a soviet republic from an impoverished country into a rich industrial superpower in a city builder with intricate production chains and a fully simulated global economy. Manage the lives of your citizens from education to work and party loyalty to criminal activity.
Northgard: Definitive Edition
WHY THIS
Shares a challenging mood with Cartel Tycoon.
Ranked #4 for Cartel Tycoon fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Strategy and Indie with Cartel Tycoon.
Northgard: Definitive Edition is a critically acclaimed real-time strategy game based on Norse mythology. Lead your clan, uncover the secrets of a mysterious newfound continent and defeat your enemies to conquer the Throne!
Land of the Vikings
WHY THIS
Shares a challenging mood with Cartel Tycoon.
Ranked #5 for Cartel Tycoon fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Strategy with Cartel Tycoon.
Land of the Vikings is a survival colony sim game. Build and lead your village, and expand it into a thriving city. A wise Jarl must manage resources, survive harsh conditions, and guide their fellow Vikings to work together through social conflict. Skál!
STATIONflow
WHY THIS
Ranked #6 for Cartel Tycoon fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Strategy and Simulation with Cartel Tycoon.
STATIONflow is a game about controlling the flow of thousands of passengers by building and managing an efficient underground train station.
Stronghold: Warlords
WHY THIS
Shares an immersive mood with Cartel Tycoon.
Ranked #7 for Cartel Tycoon fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Strategy and Simulation with Cartel Tycoon.
Besiege Great Khans, Imperial warlords and Shōgun commanders in Stronghold: Warlords, the latest 'castle sim' from Firefly Studios. Command AI warlords across the battlefield as you build a castle economy and new gunpowder-fuelled siege engines!
Manor Lords
WHY THIS
Shares resource allocation and an atmospheric mood with Cartel Tycoon.
Ranked #8 for Cartel Tycoon fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Strategy and Simulation with Cartel Tycoon.
Manor Lords is a medieval strategy game featuring in-depth city building, large-scale tactical battles, and complex economic and social simulations. Rule your lands as a medieval lord – the seasons pass, the weather changes, and cities rise and fall.
Reviewers mention these as similar to Cartel Tycoon
Surfaced from review text: when other players write 'if you liked X, try Y', we catch the name and resolve it back to a Steam game.
City of Gangsters
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Cartel Tycoon.
Reviewers of Cartel Tycoon cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Strategy and Simulation with Cartel Tycoon.
In this management tycoon game, you’ll start a criminal operation from nothing and grow it into a well-oiled money machine! Build speakeasies and illegal distilleries. Manage production chains and resource distribution. Leverage favors, chase down debtors, and bribe the police to look the other way.
Capitalism 2
WHY THIS
Shares supply chain management and a challenging mood with Cartel Tycoon.
Reviewers of Cartel Tycoon cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Strategy and Indie with Cartel Tycoon.
Create and control the business empire of your dreams. This in-depth strategy game covers almost every aspect of business that could be encountered in the real world.
Empire of Sin
WHY THIS
Shares a dark mood with Cartel Tycoon.
Reviewers of Cartel Tycoon cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Strategy with Cartel Tycoon.
Empire of Sin is a new strategy game brought to you by Romero Games and Paradox Interactive that puts you at the heart of the ruthless criminal underworld of 1920s Prohibition-era Chicago.
Drug Dealer Simulator
WHY THIS
Shares an immersive mood with Cartel Tycoon.
Reviewers of Cartel Tycoon cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Action and Indie with Cartel Tycoon.
Have you ever considered creating your own crime empire, without the legal and moral consequences? SIMULATE IT! Crawl into the dark alleys of the street business in this OG drug-dealing game, and make a fortune! A co-op sequel – DDS2 – is out NOW
SimCity™ 4 Deluxe Edition
WHY THIS
Shares a challenging mood with Cartel Tycoon.
Reviewers of Cartel Tycoon cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Strategy and Simulation with Cartel Tycoon.
SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition includes the bestselling SimCity 4 and the all-new SimCity 4 Rush Hour Expansion Pack. Create the most massive region of cities ever, with a farming town, bedroom community, high-tech commercial center, and industrial backbone.
Tropico 4
WHY THIS
Reviewers of Cartel Tycoon cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Strategy and Simulation with Cartel Tycoon.
The world is changing and Tropico is moving with the times - geographical powers rise and fall and the world market is dominated by new players with new demands and offers - and you, as El Presidente, face a whole new set of challenges.
Tropico 6
WHY THIS
Shares campaign missions and an atmospheric mood with Cartel Tycoon.
Reviewers of Cartel Tycoon cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Strategy and Simulation with Cartel Tycoon.
El Presidente is back! Prove yourself once again as a feared dictator or peace-loving statesman on the island state of Tropico and shape the fate of your very own banana republic through four distinctive eras.
Weedcraft Inc
WHY THIS
Shares an immersive mood with Cartel Tycoon.
Reviewers of Cartel Tycoon cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Strategy and Indie with Cartel Tycoon.
Weedcraft Inc explores the business of producing, breeding and selling weed in America, delving deep into the financial, political and cultural aspects of the country's complex relationship with this troublesome and promising plant.
Cheaper alternatives
Games in the same vein priced at least 40% below Cartel Tycoon at current Steam store prices.
POSTAL 2
WHY THIS
Priced ~87% under Cartel Tycoon on Steam right now. Shares Action and Indie with Cartel Tycoon.
Live a week in the life of "The POSTAL Dude"; a hapless everyman just trying to check off some chores. Buying milk, returning an overdue library book, getting Gary Coleman's autograph, what could possibly go wrong?
Buckshot Roulette
WHY THIS
Priced ~60% under Cartel Tycoon on Steam right now. Shares Action and Indie with Cartel Tycoon.
Play Russian roulette with a 12-gauge shotgun. Four enter. One leaves. Roll the dice with your life. Good luck!
GRIS
WHY THIS
Priced ~50% under Cartel Tycoon on Steam right now. Shares Indie with Cartel Tycoon.
Gris is a hopeful young girl lost in her own world, dealing with a painful experience in her life. Her journey through sorrow is manifested in her dress, which grants new abilities to better navigate her faded reality.
The Test
WHY THIS
Priced ~73% under Cartel Tycoon on Steam right now. Shares Indie and Simulation with Cartel Tycoon.
You will answer a series of questions that will reveal truths from deep within. These questions may make you uncomfortable, but with great knowledge comes great sacrifice. Can you make it all the way through The Test, and if you do, are you sure you want the answers you seek?
Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk
WHY THIS
Priced ~80% under Cartel Tycoon on Steam right now. Shares Indie with Cartel Tycoon.
A short story about what sort of challenges everyday little things can be. Help the girl buy milk, be the first not to disappoint her.
Blood and Bacon
WHY THIS
Priced ~87% under Cartel Tycoon on Steam right now. Shares Action with Cartel Tycoon.
This Co-op Shooter , has Day and Night levels, multiple maps, players will take on 25 enemy types and numerous bosses, like Gargantuan Monsters and Minibosses every 10 days as you explore, shoot and run for your life against the onslaught of porcine monstrosities.
Crypt of the NecroDancer
WHY THIS
Priced ~60% under Cartel Tycoon on Steam right now. Shares Action and Indie with Cartel Tycoon.
Crypt of the NecroDancer is an award winning hardcore roguelike rhythm game. Move to the music and deliver beatdowns to the beat! Groove to the epic Danny Baranowsky soundtrack, or select songs from your own MP3 collection!
A Short Hike
WHY THIS
Priced ~47% under Cartel Tycoon on Steam right now. Shares Indie with Cartel Tycoon.
Hike, climb, and soar through the peaceful mountainside landscapes of Hawk Peak Provincial Park as you make your way to the summit.
Free alternatives
Free-to-play games that recommended players of this title also tend to enjoy.
Ultimate Custom Night
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Action and Indie with Cartel Tycoon.
Welcome to the ultimate FNAF mashup, featuring 50 selectable characters and custom difficulties!
Magic Archery
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie and Simulation with Cartel Tycoon.
Train a commoner to become the greatest archer in this short incremental game! Increase your stats, gather wealth from quests, buy upgrades, and infuse your arrows with magic.
The Lab
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it.
Welcome to The Lab, a compilation of Valve’s room-scale VR experiments set in a pocket universe within Aperture Science. Fix a robot, defend a castle, adopt a mechanical dog, and more. Still not sold? It’s free!
DORONKO WANKO
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Action and Simulation with Cartel Tycoon.
『DORONKO WANKO』 is a DORONKO Action Game. In this game, You can become a cute, innocent Pomeranian, make your master's home messy and dirty. "Will the master be angry with me?" Don't worry. Because you are a sweet doggie.
Landfall Archives
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Action and Strategy with Cartel Tycoon.
Break into the Landfall Archives to steal and play previously unreleased games, demos, interactive slide shows, and even an unreleased version of Totally Accurate Battle Simulator from 2017!
SuchArt: Creative Space
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Action and Indie with Cartel Tycoon.
Paint on any surfaces with numerous tools in Creative Space — a free sandbox version of SuchArt: Genius Artist Simulator. Create masterpieces, complete commissions, and decorate your studio in the most advanced artist sim!
Outpath: First Journey
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie with Cartel Tycoon.
Outpath: First Journey is a prologue chapter of the main game, Outpath. An experimental clicker base building game. Craft, gather & manage resources, build your base and buy more islands to exploit and expand!
Epic Battle Fantasy 3
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie with Cartel Tycoon.
Epic Battle Fantasy 3 is a silly turn-based JRPG, full of useless NPCs, rabid cats, childish humor, unreasonably large weapons, anime boobs, and other nonsense. And it's totally free!
Narrow it down
Head-to-head comparisons
Frequently asked about Cartel Tycoon
- Does Cartel Tycoon run on Steam Deck?
- Cartel Tycoon is rated Playable on Steam Deck — it runs, but expect some manual adjustments (control remapping, text size, or graphics settings) for the best experience.
- How much does Cartel Tycoon cost?
- Cartel Tycoon is listed on Steam at 7.49 USD (current store price; Steam sales may reduce this temporarily).
- What games are most similar to Cartel Tycoon?
- Based on Steam play patterns and shared genres/tags, the games most often recommended alongside Cartel Tycoon are Endzone - A World Apart, Prison Architect, Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic.
- Who developed Cartel Tycoon?
- Cartel Tycoon was developed by Moon Moose and published by tinyBuild.
imho.run ranks Steam game alternatives using a mix of collaborative filtering (ALS / iALS / EASE / LightGCN), content scoring over genres, categories, Steam tags, developers, and publishers, plus AI-extracted vibes mined from review text. The page above is generated in seed mode anchored on Cartel Tycoon.
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