Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Game
Game2022
Cartel Tycoon
Developer Moon Moose
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. From the Steam store page
173 reactions from 2 sources (Steam reviews, Mastodon) · newest Oct 8, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
61
Fresh
103 positive · 65 negative
95% range 54–68%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 103 | 65 | 0 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
5 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
2,899 of 3,821 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 173 · most liked firstAs much as I'd love this game to be developed into something bigger and more interesting, it's never going to happen. It's another case of abandonware, unfortunately. The game dev studio went bankrupt and the studio owning this title only sells DLCs but doesn't put out any updates. For those who still thinks "it looks fine and there are some positive reviews so it cant't be that bad" I'll explain. Graphics, aesthetics and music in this game are amazing. Dialogue is cheesy but deliberately so.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Last time I played this game was in September 2021. 6 years later, and holly jesus ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ H christ what a bunch of scammers. Abandon ware + DLC released that won't even work. ''Oh I'm sure it's not that bad!''. It is. It is THAT bad. Stay away from it. And F' the devs.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Was a good game, but it seems to be abandoned now. No new information as to what may be coming, or any bug fixes.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TinyBuild quietly shutdown the developer. The money wont go to the devs so do not buy. The game is a good tycoon game and worth a try.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Don't Buy it! The Developer and Publisher abandoned the game after releasing 1.0. There will be no more updates. Lots of bugs!
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a shame that TinyBuild closed this game down. This could have potential if the studio had more time to create more content, but instead... they were closed down for Hello Neighbor. It's most likely that there were creative differences and infighting between the studio and the publisher. I had fun, until at a certain point (10 hours or more) I figured everything out. In the end, it's a financial management simulator. That's all it comes down to. I hope the former employees of the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a good game, but it's very buggy and some of the mechanics are either poorly explained (if explained at all) or just plain broken.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game had potentional and was worked on, now it lays abandoned. If it somehow goes on sale for 50% or more pick it up but no more then that.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Dead game, keep your money. I had such high hopes this would be a fun game. This could have been such a fantastic tycoon game with a cool setting, however, it is an unfun micromanaging mess with little to no explanation to what any of the icons mean. "Hey! Your building has an icon over it that needs to be dealt with." "What needs to be done?" silence If there were any tool tips whatsoever, I don't think I would be so harsh. Don't buy this even on sale, there are much better tycoon games…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Heavily overpriced with how little game play or content in general there is and how simple the game is. If you hypothetically paid 10% of the price, you might not regret the purchase even if you didn't like it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fair to say it's 2025 and this game is long completed (the company might not officially exist anymore), so what we get here is as complete a product as they ever intended. Frankly, it's a bit of a disappointment, despite having a strong premise, flavor, and music. There are a lot of little fiddly bits that slow down the action, stuff that doesn't make sense and isn't explained until you experiment with it. Moving money around is a chore, moving resources is annoying-there's no way to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's fun in short bursts. The longer I've played in a scenario the more bugs, limitations and lack of final polish became apparent. There is a lot of quality of life options missing, and transporting goods becomes a pain after a while. It would be lovely if there would be more updates. I've spent most of my play time when the game was still in early access. It sometimes still feels like it's unfinished.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TL;DR This is a logistics simulator. It's a pleasant game for a relaxed, customizable experience at mostly your pace. This is not a difficult game unless you go out of your way to make it difficult. It could use tweaks on performance. Long version: I enjoy this game considerably as a busy individual who needs to be able to pause regularly and keep an eye on other things. Which means if you want a challenge this is not the game for you. The biggest challenge is your patience and your…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →1. The game's tutorial is really good. If you're playing for the first time, don't skip it. It's easy to understand. 2. Once you get used to the mechanics, it's a really enjoyable and sweet gaming experience. 3. Capturing other rival gangs and strategizing is incredibly fun. I don't think there are any downsides. Even if you're not interested in this type of game, play the tutorial. It takes five or ten minutes. If you don't like it, you can return it. I think it's a great game. 9/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fun at first, but once you have done a few games you start to realize its quite shallow in its depth.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Combat system makes the game unplayable and a giant waste of time. Ah well good scam I guess...
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's got good potential with its good story lore but it has so much jank which ruins the gaming experience and the game ended up being abandoned, the difficulty curve is very steep, going from very easy to hard and unbeatable, the difficulty in this game isn't exactly creating difficulty via game mechanics much and instead artificially creates said difficulty by ramping up or turning down Terror or Loyalty gain, many of the quests during the story missions are such a slog, and lieutenants…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It needs updates, theres so many little quality of life things that need to be done. It was enjoyable for 20 hours but because of the tedious little things, cant recommend it unless you're really bored. Also combat needs to be reworked. Endurance is designed to keep you from fighting, even with hospitals. Part of the tycoon part of the game is alright once you figure it out. That is pretty good for the most part Doubt I played efficiently but the cash kept coming in!
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This Game is Micromanagement Masochism. I like the mechanics, but if you can't manage multiple aspects in a short period of time, this game isn't for you. From psychotic lieutenants who aren't happy until the DAMN CIA PULL UP, to mellow dealers - there are tonnes of characters to deal with and play as you build an empire which was in fact, built in a day (unlike Rome). The thing is, it can fall just as fast as it was built. The story is well considered and the tutorial is very helpful.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Didn't click. I only got it to play a specific fantasy, but the actual gameplay (mechanics, UX) immediately gets in the way of that. So nope.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Honestly? for the music alone i should definely recomend it, but unfortunately the bad outweights it I can guarante you, if you buy it, and you like agresive micro-management, you will like it! but after the 10th hour mark well, it gets a bit samey worst of all, game got killed for hello neighbour, or whatever the hell it was, horrible choise by tiny build but, whatevs, the developers at least can go and do great things on their own, hopefully all, and all, only buy this if you are…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I must say when I first saw this game I was like NOPE. but then I tried it and I could not stop playing it. 4 years later and I still find myself coming back to play it. I absolutlely ADORE this game. I keep praying to the gaming gods for a Cartel Tycoon 2 with more cities more, countries (not to encurage drug dealing) but more types of drugs. please @Moon Moose & @tinyBuild could we get a sequel to this Amazing underated hidden gem. seriously, simply put it is an amazing game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It gets really intense in story mode. You will need to save often and replay to adjust your strategy based on previous failures. You will feel frustrated. There are some game mechanics that will annoy you, but if you are stubborn like me - you will finally succeed. And be glad you made an effort.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →god it could of been so good if it was not so micro. i don't think i would recommend maby if they made a second game with a better connections and more focus and story and being a capo
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game to get on sale With nearly 100 hours and 100% in the base game I can assure you this game is fun... only if you don't look too much into it. This game has so much potential, great art, great music, a decent story mode and a decent map, the mechanics are really unique but they lack the kinda customization that makes this type of optimization games fun (for example not being able to decide what % of money goes to each connection of the residence or what % of product goes to each…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →is a shame... the gameloop was fun, the concept solid but it was abandoned
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is fun, until you notice you can never build up enough force with your gang to take out any of the other games, i attacked another group it was 26 power vs 23 power, and they wiped the floor with all my guys this happened till i ran out of people to recruit. I bought weapons and did everything i thought was right. But seems it never worked I looked into it and i guess i am to ally with other cartels, so i gave up it was not fun for me anymore. It was more of a passive city sim where i…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game, but no support.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just played 20hours ish on survival mode. out of the blue the game closes down. After restart the game pretends i dont have the rafaela dlc and has deleted all my saves . NICE
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →was fun for a few hours just a colony management sim point and click, nothing more to it. for $30 its a hard no, catch it on sale or not at all.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love the game. It is a colourful management game, the music and the art captures the vibe of the 80s movie this game is emulating. There are two maps (one with the DLC), three campaign missions and plenty of ingame goals you can set for yourself, and I didn't encounter any technical issues. I don't get why people need to ♥♥♥♥ on indie games, especially when said games does what it says.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →image of wojak wearing shirt that says I HATE TINYBUILD
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is kind of interesting but lacks polish. 1. Inconsistency. Dirty money is sometimes called cash. Why use two terms? Also, dirty money is sometimes white and the other times yellow. 2. Encourage micro-management. The behavior of warehouses is that trucks deliver goods from farms to the warehouse, and then deliver goods from the warehouse to factories. Why can't trucks directly deliver goods from farms to factories? This design is stupid and causes inefficiency of warehouses. If the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've played through this game many times since the EA / Beta phases and it is one of the most unique and fun RTS / management sims I've ever played. It's taken me a while to wrap my head around what I assume is the goal state of the game, and it's both unique and fun. It adds an interesting twist on the usual "Fed ex simulator" style game that has great character, narrative value, pacing, and theme. It took a while to get the mix just right, but the game as it stands is fantastic,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game and very enjoyable tycoon, I just wish they updated this game, they don't make games like this anymore.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Cool and fun concept, limited scope of gameplay.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Sadly, the game feels cheap and is far worse than Tropico. I don’t like the way the UI works, the story and dialogues aren’t interesting and road connections don’t work as intended, even in the tutorial. It told me to connect the transport company to a road leading to the airport. I did exactly that, but the objective still wasn’t marked as complete. The game didn’t hook me at all, it's a bit dull, boring and frustrating. Awarding an achievement for pressing ALT+F4 is a nice touch though.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →after 25 hours i might still play but this is not that much fun. the fact that NUMBERS MEAN NOTHING in fights other than, you are strong, you might win, you are weaker you will never win, see how that works? horrible. 18 v 12, 12 wins 8 out of 10 times. police come WAY to often. I have ZERO understanding of how to get along with other gangs, just fight. Should have been made better before any DLC. If i had known these things, i would have NEVER bought this even on sale, scroll along for…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is impossible to play beyond 5 hours on the first mission. Everything goes well until the police starts to raid buildings, if seized the cost is too much to unlock, you run out of legal money before you can expand to the next area. The time that your Lieutenants give you to complete missions along with maintaining their costs, including paying the mayor 10 Grand to lower the police radar, washing dirty money, upkeep costs.. It is too dificult to play at your own pace. Plus the other…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is honestly the worst management, strat game I've ever played. theres no option for difficulty settings, you're constantly attacked by the police and rival gangs, and its impossible to pass the first mission for me so far. I absolutely hate this game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Cartel Tycoon is a trading management simulator with a slightly Escobar vibe: you are tasked with building your own drug empire, that consists of production and supply chains. You will try to dodge law enforcement and rival cartels, and somehow keep your lieutenants alive while your rivals are probably plotting your demise. The game is like a mix of Sim City and Tropico with a dash of the classic "Tycoon" games but with more explosions, shady deals, and moral ambiguity. The gameplay is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Cartel Tycoon is a distinctive blend of economic simulation and narrative-driven strategy, set against the gritty, stylized backdrop of the 1980s Latin American drug trade. It places you in the role of an up-and-coming drug lord building a sprawling empire from the ground up. What starts with modest operations—growing basic crops and running small labs—quickly spirals into a high-stakes logistical game of transporting narcotics, laundering dirty money, managing relationships with government…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Transporting goods is so needlessly complicated.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great atomsphere, fun to play. As often mentioned there will be no updates or bugfixes due to the shutdown of the dev studio. Thats sad but the game is fine as it is. Runs great on Linux. Thx for this gem
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I do recommend Cartel Tycoon. At its heart, it's a resource management game - but the atmosphere and theme set it apart from other similar games. It's fun to build the supply chains, and the game is quite realistic to the reality of drug cartels in Central/South America. The soundtrack is great, the graphics are (IMO) beautiful, and some of the quests provide some fun moments. This game isn't without flaws, though. For starters, there are lots of mana bars. You don't want to fill the Terror…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is just pointlessly unbalanced. You get missions at the start that require mid game levels of development, you get massive attacks out of nowhere, it feels like the depth is actually pretty low but there's just sprawling maps and research and "content" that you'll never actually get to because nothing is balanced or structured correctly.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →its just so ass, tried the story mode like 5 times. always the same thing will happen after like 20% completion, all your ♥♥♥♥ will be spam seized and other gangs will spam attack you destroying everything.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →abandonware, but was fun
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Bueno juego. solo le falta un DLC con Narcos Gallegos
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I rarely type reviews, much less negative ones, but I reluctantly don't recommend this one. My fears came true and the hype of the first 2 or 3 hours of all the potential that could happen in this game was unfounded. The tutorial is essentially the entire game with only one or two things after that. The economy system seems fun at first but in reality makes little sense. Also not being able to queue lieutenant actions is a mind boggling QoL miss and makes the game feel even more like a slog at…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game is so fun overall - but the combat sucks. I wish if it had more depth and something to utilize in terms of combat, rather than just a simple clash. Can recommend if you want to have fun from the production and smuggling part. But don't expect a fair or fun combat system, as I mentioned.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Close to being a decent game, but just misses the mark. No one wants to play the boring campaign and the solo modes leave a lot to be wished for.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pretty sure the devs haven't bothered to play the game, or they wouldn't have goals in the story mode that make you build inefficiently, creating pointless setups that require you to back through and delete after forcing the game onto the next step. Not to mention the VAST amount of ♥♥♥♥ mechanics that just drag the game into a micro-min ♥♥♥♥ storm that gets old after two hours, i.e. LT loyalty, dirty money management. Trash
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have been on and off on this game ever since buying it. The biggest issue that I have with this game is that there is no save/load option aside from quitting the game. So if you mess up something, you're kinda screwed. I don't know if that was intentional or not to make it more difficult, but would be real swell if they could implement that in a potential update
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good game to kill some time, i played it on console and just started on a PC.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Needs updates and bug fixes like the one where your liutenants get stuck in ports...... has the potential to be an amazing game.. but needs some work
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great tycoon game where you get to play a gangster of the underworld, well worth getting.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →⭐ 10/10 – From Small-Time Dealer to Crime Lord in 3 Hours (or 3 Days, Who’s Counting?) ⭐ Cartel Tycoon is a management sim with a slightly illegal twist: build your empire, dodge law enforcement, and somehow keep your accountants alive while your rivals are probably plotting your demise. It’s like SimCity, but with more explosions, shady deals, and moral ambiguity. The gameplay is addictive. Supply chains, production lines, and bribing officials all mesh into a chaotic dance that feels both…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Devs abandoned the game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is garbage, do not waste your money on this cash grab, the game play sucks, no fun what so ever. do not even bother with it. sad i wasted so much time on this sh!t game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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