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Squirrel's Pick Squirrel's PickThe best game on this page. If you only try one, try this. Budget Pick Budget PickThe best game here for the least money.
CrimeOpen WorldAction
$19.99 ~35.3 hr median co-op complexity: light 97.8% of 307k
The Squirrel's verdictReal-time driving, on-foot hand-offs, and optional co-op for up to four players are what separate Schedule I from City of Gangsters' route-watching menus. You manufacture product, answer customer texts, make deliveries yourself, and expand your operation in a present-day setting. Median playtime is around 35 hours. Some reviewers describe the mid-to-late loop as repetitive once the deliver-repeat cycle sets in.
Not for you if you prefer abstracted logistics management over hands-on tasks, or the drive-deliver-repeat cycle reviewers describe wears thin for you.
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CrimeActionOpen World
$19.99 ~28.5 hr median no co-op complexity: moderate 86.2% of 21k
The Squirrel's verdictBoth put you in charge of an illegal drug operation with exact-fulfillment order systems, but City of Gangsters runs it from a management/logistics view while Drug Dealer Simulator drops you first-person into packing product by hand and running from police in real time. Fits players who want the crime economy played as an action-sim instead of a spreadsheet.
Not for you if you want strategic distance from the trade rather than manually packing exact gram amounts and evading cops on foot.
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The Boss Gangster: Criminal Empire
PC
ActionRPGCrime
$18.99 ~12.4 hr median no co-op complexity: light 83.3% of 348
The Squirrel's verdictBoth build a prohibition-era criminal enterprise with tycoon-style management: hiring staff, running a business, expanding territory. The Boss Gangster swaps CoG's top-down logistics for direct first-person control, letting you personally pickpocket, steal cars, and pick locks alongside club-management and RPG progression systems. Reviews report bugs, including unresponsive NPCs and traffic issues.
Not for you if you want CoG's abstracted logistics-management focus rather than direct first-person control over stealing, lockpicking, and running your own club.
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Closest Match Closest MatchThe most similar game to the anchor, by what players say.
RTSResource ManagementSurvival
$29.99 ~30.8 hr median no co-op complexity: moderate 76.2% of 4k
The Squirrel's verdictCartel Tycoon shares the criminal-enterprise-as-logistics core: build supply chains, manage territory, balance legitimate fronts against illegal product. Where City of Gangsters leans into networking and drawn-out management, Cartel Tycoon adds direct cartel warfare and territory disputes with lieutenants, aimed at players who want more active conflict layered on the trade-route management.
Not for you if you need active studio support, since the developer was shut down and only DLC sales continue.
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CrimeCapitalismEconomy
$24.99 ~26.2 hr median no co-op complexity: moderate 73.4% of 3k
The Squirrel's verdictDefinitely Not Fried Chicken swaps prohibition-era booze for meth cooked inside a fast food front, keeping the illicit-business logistics loop: supply chains, territory, and production management over direct combat. The tone is lighter and more comedic. Devs have confirmed via Discord that no further content or bug fixes are planned, and reviews cite wall-connection bugs, save corruption, and an unfinished UI and content set.
Not for you if you need a finished, actively supported game — devs have confirmed no further updates or bug fixes.
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CrimeBase-BuildingResource Management
$19.99 ~7 hr median no co-op complexity: light 70% of 2k
The Squirrel's verdictBasement keeps the crime-production management core: build out a facility with limited space, manage production chains, expand under pressure. Unlike City of Gangsters' open logistics sandbox, Basement is a structured level campaign that demands a specific order of actions and punishes deviation hard. Median playtime runs about 7 hours.
Not for you if you want an open sandbox rather than a short, tightly scripted campaign that punishes doing things out of the expected order.
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Colony SimImmersive SimLife Sim
$6.99 ~11 hr median no co-op complexity: light 65.7% of 210
The Squirrel's verdictDeadwater Saloon centers on saloon management and personal relationship stats: building staff loyalty, keeping regulars happy, and making sure the right authority figures get their cut. That's a tighter, more character-driven loop than City of Gangsters' logistics and territory sprawl, set in the Wild West rather than Prohibition. Median playtime is 11 hours, and reviews report content running thin after the first few buildings.
Not for you if you want an operation that keeps expanding — reviews describe content running out quickly after the opening buildings and features.
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Card GameRogue-likeRogue-lite
$14.99 ~4.5 hr median no co-op complexity: moderate 64.1% of 376
The Squirrel's verdictCard-based runs and a restaurant-front laundering loop are Don Duality's defining mechanics: you cycle cards to generate dirty money, then wash it through the restaurant side of the business. That replaces City of Gangsters' supply chain sprawl with short sessions around 4–5 hours. Reviews flag the dirty/clean money balance as broken and unchanged by the developer for an extended period.
Not for you if you want balanced difficulty scaling: reviews describe the dirty/clean money economy as broken and report it has gone unfixed for a long stretch.