Games Like Schedule I: 10 Best Drug Empire Sims and Crime Sandboxes

Schedule I hit Early Access in 2025 and instantly carved out a niche: you start as a broke newcomer with a bag of product and a dream, and grind your way up to running a full criminal empire. The mix of hands-on dealing, employee management, and chemistry-lab progression is unlike anything else on the market — but it does leave players hungry for more.

Whether you want something with deeper strategy, an open-world sandbox, or a mobile fix on the go, this list covers the 10 best games like Schedule I across PC, console, and mobile. We have also highlighted the top three picks for players who want the tightest match to what makes Schedule I special.

Before diving in, make sure you have checked our Schedule I tips and tricks guide — it covers the core mechanics you will want to compare against these alternatives.

⭐ Top 3 Picks for Schedule I Fans

1. Drug Dealer Simulator 2

Platform: PC (Steam)   Price: ~$20

The most direct spiritual cousin to Schedule I. DDS2 puts you in a first-person underground world where you source product, cut and package it, manage street-level dealers, and expand your distribution network across a gritty Eastern European city. The crafting system lets you experiment with different chemical combinations to hit quality targets — sound familiar?

What Schedule I fans will love: Hands-on product preparation, employee delegation, progressive territory expansion, and the constant tension of avoiding law enforcement.

Key differences: Bigger map with more diverse districts, heavier emphasis on stealth and NPC investigation mechanics, no base-building mode.

2. GTA V Story Mode

Platform: PC, PS4/5, Xbox One/Series   Price: Free (PS Plus) to $30

Rockstar’s masterpiece gives you three criminals at different stages of their careers and one of the most detailed open worlds ever made. The story mode includes multiple criminal enterprises — from drug runs to heists — and the sense of building a crew and executing increasingly ambitious jobs scratches the empire-building itch that Schedule I creates.

What Schedule I fans will love: The scale of criminal ambition, diverse criminal activities, character progression, and the satisfaction of executing a complex job.

Key differences: No micromanagement of product production; empire-building happens through story missions rather than sandbox systems.

3. GTA Online Businesses

Platform: PC, PS4/5, Xbox One/Series   Price: Free (included with GTA V)

GTA Online’s business system — particularly the Biker Businesses, MC Clubhouse operations, and the Arcade Heist — is arguably the closest console experience to Schedule I’s empire structure. You buy properties, assign staff, manage supply chains, and defend territory against rivals while completing sell missions to cash out.

What Schedule I fans will love: Simultaneous management of multiple criminal businesses, supply and demand mechanics, passive income systems, and the option to run solo or with a crew.

Key differences: Live service game with years of content; learning curve is steep and some features require significant grind or Shark Cards. Less intimate than Schedule I’s ground-level dealing.

4. Cartel Tycoon

Platform: PC (Steam)   Price: ~$20

A top-down tycoon game set in 1980s Latin America, Cartel Tycoon puts you in charge of building an entire narco empire from scratch. You manage production facilities, transport routes, money laundering fronts, and political corruption — all while rival cartels and federal agencies attempt to dismantle everything you have built.

What Schedule I fans will love: Deep supply-chain management, the satisfaction of optimising routes and production, a morally complex narrative, and the feeling of true empire scale.

Key differences: Isometric strategy perspective instead of first-person; more macro-level management and less hands-on dealing. Think CEO rather than street operator.

5. Scarface: The World Is Yours

Platform: PC, PS2, Xbox, Wii   Price: $5–$15 (used/digital)

A cult classic from 2006 that lets you rebuild Tony Montana’s empire after the mansion assault. You retake territories, recruit lieutenants, manage contraband shipments, and launder money through front businesses — all with the sandbox freedom of a Miami open world.

What Schedule I fans will love: Territory control, empire rebuilding from nothing, managing a criminal crew, and the visceral satisfaction of eliminating rivals who encroach on your turf.

Key differences: Action-heavy gunplay is the primary mechanic; management systems are simpler by modern standards. Showing its age but still delivers the power fantasy.

6. Contraband Police

Platform: PC (Steam)   Price: ~$15

A unique flip on the concept — instead of running contraband, you are tasked with stopping it as a border inspector in a fictional communist-era Eastern European country. Inspect vehicles, catch smugglers, and uncover a wider conspiracy. There is also a base-management element as you upgrade your checkpoint and manage your team.

What Schedule I fans will love: The cat-and-mouse dynamic, detailed smuggling mechanics viewed from the other side, base upgrades, and satisfying progression loops.

Key differences: You are law enforcement, not a criminal. The tone shifts from power-building to investigative puzzle-solving, but the systems feel surprisingly similar.

7. El Patron

Platform: PC (Steam)   Price: ~$10 (Early Access)

El Patron is a top-down criminal empire builder where you start as a low-level street dealer and work your way up to cartel kingpin. The game focuses on territory expansion, product management, gang recruitment, and managing heat from rival gangs and police. It shares almost identical design DNA to Schedule I.

What Schedule I fans will love: Almost every core system mirrors Schedule I — mixing product, hiring runners, expanding territory, managing risk versus reward.

Key differences: Top-down 2D perspective; earlier in development and less polished. Think of it as Schedule I’s indie sibling.

8. Dealer’s Life 2

Platform: PC (Steam)   Price: ~$5

A pawn-shop tycoon game with a criminal twist. You run an underground dealership, buying and selling goods of questionable origin, appraising items, haggling with shady clients, and upgrading your shop. While the contraband is physical goods rather than chemicals, the resource management and negotiation loop is surprisingly compelling.

What Schedule I fans will love: The underground economy feel, client relationship management, shop upgrading, and risk/reward decisions around what merchandise to handle.

Key differences: No open world; the gameplay loop is more focused and smaller in scope. Better as a complementary game than a full replacement.

9. BitLife (Crime Path)

Platform: iOS, Android   Price: Free (Bitizen subscription ~$3/month)

BitLife is a text-based life simulation, but its crime career path is surprisingly deep. You can join gangs, deal drugs, build organised crime organisations, climb from street-level criminal to mob boss, and manage prison sentences. It is the best mobile option for scratching the criminal empire itch when you are away from your PC.

What Schedule I fans will love: The progression from small-time criminal to powerful boss, managing relationships within criminal networks, and the emergent storytelling that comes from each run.

Key differences: Text-based with no real-time action; entirely mobile. The criminal systems are deep but presented through menus and choices rather than direct gameplay.

10. City of Crime: Gang Wars

Platform: iOS, Android   Price: Free-to-play

A mobile strategy game where you build and manage a criminal organisation across a city. Recruit gang members, capture territories, run criminal operations, and wage war on rival gangs — all from your phone. The game has a strong social element with alliance warfare and city-wide leaderboards.

What Schedule I fans will love: Territory domination, resource management, criminal hierarchy building, and the sense of running a growing criminal enterprise.

Key differences: Free-to-play mobile with associated monetisation; PvP-focused rather than solo empire building. Good for mobile-first players who want a social criminal experience.

Comparison Table: Games Like Schedule I

Verdict by Player Type

Tycoon fan: you love the management systems

Go straight to Cartel Tycoon. It is the deepest empire management game on this list, with interconnected supply chains, staff management, political corruption, and rival cartel pressure all demanding your attention simultaneously. It is harder than Schedule I and significantly more strategic — exactly what fans of the management loop are looking for.

Sandbox fan: you love the open-world freedom

GTA Online businesses is the answer. No other game gives you criminal empire building at scale with a fully realised open world where you can roam, race, fight, and flex your criminal wealth. The Biker MC businesses specifically mirror Schedule I’s supply-and-sell structure in a multiplayer context.

Core loop purist: you want exactly Schedule I but more

Drug Dealer Simulator 2 is your game. Same core loop, bigger map, more mechanical depth on the production side, and a grittier tone. If you finish Schedule I and want more of exactly that experience, DDS2 is the next logical step.

Mobile-first player: you play on your phone

BitLife’s crime career path offers more depth than you might expect from a text-based mobile game. The criminal organisation systems are surprisingly nuanced, and the emergent storytelling keeps runs feeling fresh. For something more action-oriented, City of Crime: Gang Wars delivers territory control and gang management in a social multiplayer format.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there anything exactly like Schedule I?

Drug Dealer Simulator 2 is the closest match in terms of core mechanics. Both games feature hands-on product preparation, employee delegation, and territory expansion from a first-person perspective. El Patron is another option with very similar design goals, though it is still in Early Access.

Are any of these games available on console?

GTA V story mode and GTA Online are the strongest options for console players, available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Scarface: The World Is Yours has older console versions on PS2, Xbox, and Wii. Most niche management games like Cartel Tycoon and DDS2 are PC-only.

What is the best free game like Schedule I?

GTA Online is free with GTA V and offers the largest criminal empire experience. BitLife and City of Crime: Gang Wars are free on mobile. For PC, none of the closest matches are free, but Cartel Tycoon and DDS2 regularly go on sale for under $10.

Will Schedule I get more content or a full release?

Schedule I launched in Early Access and the developer has been actively updating it. Check the official Steam page for the current roadmap. In the meantime, these 10 alternatives will keep you busy.

Sources

• Schedule I on Steam — store.steampowered.com/app/3164780/Schedule_I/
• IGN Games Database — ign.com
• Rock Paper Shotgun — rockpapershotgun.com