It’s been some time since I played a Civilization type game. Something where you need to pay attention to everything, everywhere, all at once. So how could I turn down being able to run a massive drug ring and start gang wars? It was about time to say hello to my little friend, Cartel Tycoon. Filled to the brim with stereotypical looking characters, like Spanish dudes with 80s porn mustaches and for some reason, random Native Americans that decide that a life of crime is more rewarding than the reservations.

In Cartel Tycoon, you’ll be taking advantage of the fact every politician is corrupt, paying off whole cities so you can launder money through any number of businesses. In reality, if you wanted to make it easier you should just build a church, then you don’t even need to pay taxes on any of it. Around your compound you’ll be able to make money through a variety of different growing operations, but watch out for the police as they will aim to have you shut down.

You’ll be able to hire foot soldiers to help protect your product, but it’s not easy. I found it was easiest to just let them seize your land and then pay them off. Then no one has to die. Well, that is until you start to take over other farms and compounds, or harbours you can transport product out of, then some competition does generally need to die.

I know this is an indie game, but honestly the voice acting will take you right out of any suspension of disbelief you may have while playing. On the bright side, for some reason there is also only voice acting in the tutorial, which is another strange choice. I know I’ve literally just complained that it’s not well done, but either use it completely or not at all. Especially since there is no option to mute it. On the other side of the subject of sound, I appreciate if you listen to the game, you’ll know when police are coming to cause problems because you can hear them. There is also a notification in the UI to point you in the direction of where they’re coming from.

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.

 

Graphics: 6.5 It can take a lot to find the “sweet spot” with the camera that makes it feel like you can see enough of the map, and at the same time tell what you’re looking at on it. There are times were I wish I had a better idea of what was going on anywhere when fully zoomed out.	Gameplay: 8.0 If you can get properly into it, especially with the sandbox mode, it would be easy to lose entire days in Cartel Tycoon. That said, just like other games of the genre, it’s also entirely possible that you have a few games back to back where you get absolutely dominated and decide “not today, Satan” and walk away.
Sound: 4.0 The “best” sound effect in the game is the police sirens, since they alert you to the police coming to shut you down. The voice acting isn’t terrible, but it’s definitely comical, and not because the script is funny.	Fun Factor: 6.5 Just like other games in the genre, how much fun you have comes down to skill, and RNG. Unfortunately, I’ve never claimed to be good at video games, and also unfortunately, most of my back luck tends to result in horrible RNG. That said, I can have fun with Cartel Tycoon on good days, but it’s definitely a game that I have found I need to be in the mood for.
Final Verdict: 6.5

Cartel Tycoon is available now on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S.

Reviewed on Xbox Series X.

A copy of Cartel Tycoon was provided by the publisher.