Drugwars
Encyclopedia
Drugwars is a turn-based strategy
computer game in which the player assumes the role of a drug dealer. The object of the game is to deal the most drugs
to pay off the "loan shark
" (who charges interest) by the end of the game and make a profit. Drugwars was originally an MS-DOS
program created by John E. Dell in 1984.
. The player travels around the various parts such as Manhattan
, The Bronx
, and Brooklyn
. The player also buys and sells various drugs such as Cocaine
, Heroin, Acid
, Weed
, Speed
, and Ludes
. Traveling from one part of the city to another takes one day. The point of the game is to make the most amount of money in the given time of 30 days.
The player begins with $2,000, 100 spaces in his/her trenchcoat, and no weapons. A player must deal with loan sharks who are useful because they provide the much needed initial capital investment, but charge a high interest rate and must be paid back quickly or the player loses the game. During the course of the game, the player can buy a gun or extra pocket space by randomly being offered those things during travel. In each part of the city, the player checks the prices, buys and sells drugs, and then travels to another part of the city.
Other components include the police who are embodied in the character of Officer Hardass. During the game, Hardass will randomly confront the player. The player has four choices: to get arrested, to run, to fight, or to keep dealing. Any choice risks injury to the player and after 10 shots the player dies and thus loses the game. In order to fight the police, the player must have a gun. If the player can kill Hardass and his deputies, a cash award will be earned. Random occurrences also occur during the game such as muggings, drug sales, increased drug prices, and the finding of drugs.
After 30 days, the game ends. The final score is calculated by taking the players current amount of cash and multiplying it by two. The number of millions of dollars a player has is his/her score out of a 100. For example, a player who finishes with $25,000,000 will have a final score of 50/100. If a player reaches $50,000,000, the maximum score of 100/100 will be attained and the player will have beaten the game.
At the beginning of the game, the player does not have much money and must deal with the cheapest drugs such as ludes and speed because that is all the player can afford. As the game progresses however, the player can buy the more expensive drugs with a high profit margin
such as cocaine and heroin. A skilled player must know the standard price of all drugs and must realize when a drug is cheap and when it is expensive.
However, in order to make the most amount of money, the player must take advantage of great fluctuations in the market. These fluctuations occur in every drug. The cheap drugs such as ludes, speed, weed, and acid usually can be found at greatly discounted prices at one location, and therefore create a great profit margin. This occasionally happens also to coke. These price drops occur by chance and the player must be lucky enough to find one.
To beat the game, the player must take advantage of the increased price of the most expensive drugs, cocaine and heroin. Occasionally, the cops perform a coke bust or heroin addicts are desperate for heroin. This can drive up the price of these drugs up to ten times their normal value. If a player is lucky enough to stumble into several of these and make a huge profit, then he/she can beat the game.
A variation on Drugwars also exists in the Nintendo DS game Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
where the player can buy 6 different kinds of drugs from various gangs in Liberty City
. Price trends are displayed on a map and the player gets informed of good prices via an in-game email system.
There have been various incarnations of this game. There are web
-based versions, cell phone versions, a Windows
client, a Linux
client, a Palm OS
version and a version for the Mac OS X
Dashboard.
developed a version of the game for social networking websites, such as Myspace
and Facebook
. Their version changes some mechanics of the game.
Zynga's rendition of Dope Wars took the basic layout of the original game and turned it into an MMORPG
style game with user interaction. The player's objectives are to deal drugs, hire live workers, fight with them for cash in fight club, gamble in the casino, and travel the world while doing missions and building their cartel.
Zynga discontinued this game in early December 2009.
iPhone
exclusive Drug Lords app was released in the Apple Inc. App Store retitled as Underworld: SweetDeal, which centers around the illegal trafficking of candy rather than drugs, but with the same mechanics. This version is GPS based, and operates on real-life location and only allows trade with other iPhones / iPod Touch
es in the area.
There is also another version on the iPhone & iPod Touch called 'Gangster Wars' where the player is a weapons dealer. You start with a $5000 loan that you must pay back. This game also features an achievement system.
In February of 2011 a highly graphical version called 'Drug Wars!' was released for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. This version took the game in a humorous spam-filled direction.
. At last count, there were at minimum, 6 free, 5 paid and 4 donation applications which are based on the original DrugWars game.
Strategy game
A strategy game or strategic game is a game in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome...
computer game in which the player assumes the role of a drug dealer. The object of the game is to deal the most drugs
Recreational drug use
Recreational drug use is the use of a drug, usually psychoactive, with the intention of creating or enhancing recreational experience. Such use is controversial, however, often being considered to be also drug abuse, and it is often illegal...
to pay off the "loan shark
Loan shark
A loan shark is a person or body that offers unsecured loans at illegally high interest rates to individuals, often enforcing repayment by blackmail or threats of violence....
" (who charges interest) by the end of the game and make a profit. Drugwars was originally an MS-DOS
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
program created by John E. Dell in 1984.
Premise
The premise of the game is that the player is a drug dealer living in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The player travels around the various parts such as Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, The Bronx
The Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
, and Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
. The player also buys and sells various drugs such as Cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
, Heroin, Acid
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
, Weed
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
, Speed
Amphetamine
Amphetamine or amfetamine is a psychostimulant drug of the phenethylamine class which produces increased wakefulness and focus in association with decreased fatigue and appetite.Brand names of medications that contain, or metabolize into, amphetamine include Adderall, Dexedrine, Dextrostat,...
, and Ludes
Methaqualone
Methaqualone is a sedative-hypnotic drug that is similar in effect to barbiturates, a general central nervous system depressant. The sedative-hypnotic activity was first noted by Indian researchers in the 1950s and in 1962 methaqualone itself was patented in the US by Wallace and Tiernan...
. Traveling from one part of the city to another takes one day. The point of the game is to make the most amount of money in the given time of 30 days.
The player begins with $2,000, 100 spaces in his/her trenchcoat, and no weapons. A player must deal with loan sharks who are useful because they provide the much needed initial capital investment, but charge a high interest rate and must be paid back quickly or the player loses the game. During the course of the game, the player can buy a gun or extra pocket space by randomly being offered those things during travel. In each part of the city, the player checks the prices, buys and sells drugs, and then travels to another part of the city.
Other components include the police who are embodied in the character of Officer Hardass. During the game, Hardass will randomly confront the player. The player has four choices: to get arrested, to run, to fight, or to keep dealing. Any choice risks injury to the player and after 10 shots the player dies and thus loses the game. In order to fight the police, the player must have a gun. If the player can kill Hardass and his deputies, a cash award will be earned. Random occurrences also occur during the game such as muggings, drug sales, increased drug prices, and the finding of drugs.
After 30 days, the game ends. The final score is calculated by taking the players current amount of cash and multiplying it by two. The number of millions of dollars a player has is his/her score out of a 100. For example, a player who finishes with $25,000,000 will have a final score of 50/100. If a player reaches $50,000,000, the maximum score of 100/100 will be attained and the player will have beaten the game.
Strategies
The basic strategy of Drugwars is to buy a drug in one location at one price, and then travel to another location to sell it for a higher price.At the beginning of the game, the player does not have much money and must deal with the cheapest drugs such as ludes and speed because that is all the player can afford. As the game progresses however, the player can buy the more expensive drugs with a high profit margin
Profit margin
Profit margin, net margin, net profit margin or net profit ratio all refer to a measure of profitability. It is calculated by finding the net profit as a percentage of the revenue.Net profit Margin = x100...
such as cocaine and heroin. A skilled player must know the standard price of all drugs and must realize when a drug is cheap and when it is expensive.
However, in order to make the most amount of money, the player must take advantage of great fluctuations in the market. These fluctuations occur in every drug. The cheap drugs such as ludes, speed, weed, and acid usually can be found at greatly discounted prices at one location, and therefore create a great profit margin. This occasionally happens also to coke. These price drops occur by chance and the player must be lucky enough to find one.
To beat the game, the player must take advantage of the increased price of the most expensive drugs, cocaine and heroin. Occasionally, the cops perform a coke bust or heroin addicts are desperate for heroin. This can drive up the price of these drugs up to ten times their normal value. If a player is lucky enough to stumble into several of these and make a huge profit, then he/she can beat the game.
Variations
Over the years a few variations of the original game by John E. Dell have been released. Dope Wars is a popular version of the game written by Ben Webb. Another popular version is Drug Wars - Underworld. In 1998, Michael Swain released a modified port of the original TI-82 Drug Wars, for the TI-83 and TI-83+ graphing calculators.A variation on Drugwars also exists in the Nintendo DS game Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is a video game for Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, and iOS, developed by Rockstar Leeds in conjunction with Rockstar North. It is the thirteenth game in the Grand Theft Auto series, and the very first for Nintendo DS and iOS.-Gameplay:Chinatown Wars has a...
where the player can buy 6 different kinds of drugs from various gangs in Liberty City
Liberty City (Grand Theft Auto)
Liberty City is a fictional city in Rockstar Games' video games series Grand Theft Auto, based primarily on several major cities including New York City...
. Price trends are displayed on a map and the player gets informed of good prices via an in-game email system.
There have been various incarnations of this game. There are web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
-based versions, cell phone versions, a Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
client, a Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
client, a Palm OS
Palm OS
Palm OS is a mobile operating system initially developed by Palm, Inc., for personal digital assistants in 1996. Palm OS is designed for ease of use with a touchscreen-based graphical user interface. It is provided with a suite of basic applications for personal information management...
version and a version for the Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
Dashboard.
Zynga version
ZyngaZynga
Zynga is a social network game developer located in San Francisco, United States. The company develops browser-based games that work both stand-alone and as application widgets on social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace....
developed a version of the game for social networking websites, such as Myspace
Myspace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
and Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
. Their version changes some mechanics of the game.
Zynga's rendition of Dope Wars took the basic layout of the original game and turned it into an MMORPG
MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
style game with user interaction. The player's objectives are to deal drugs, hire live workers, fight with them for cash in fight club, gamble in the casino, and travel the world while doing missions and building their cartel.
Zynga discontinued this game in early December 2009.
iPhone version
On April 8, 2009, the jailbrokenJailbreak (iPhone)
iOS jailbreaking, or simply jailbreaking, is the process of removing the limitations imposed by Apple on devices running the iOS operating system through use of custom kernels. Such devices include the iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, and 2nd Gen Apple TV...
iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
exclusive Drug Lords app was released in the Apple Inc. App Store retitled as Underworld: SweetDeal, which centers around the illegal trafficking of candy rather than drugs, but with the same mechanics. This version is GPS based, and operates on real-life location and only allows trade with other iPhones / iPod Touch
IPod Touch
The iPod Touch is a portable media player, personal digital assistant, handheld game console, and Wi-Fi mobile device designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The iPod Touch adds the multi-touch graphical user interface to the iPod line...
es in the area.
There is also another version on the iPhone & iPod Touch called 'Gangster Wars' where the player is a weapons dealer. You start with a $5000 loan that you must pay back. This game also features an achievement system.
In February of 2011 a highly graphical version called 'Drug Wars!' was released for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. This version took the game in a humorous spam-filled direction.
Android version
Multiple Android versions of DopeWars are available for Android phones in the MarketplaceAndroid Market
Android Market is an online software store developed by Google for Android OS devices. Its gateway is an application program called "Market", preinstalled on most Android devices, allows users to browse and download mobile apps published by third-party developers...
. At last count, there were at minimum, 6 free, 5 paid and 4 donation applications which are based on the original DrugWars game.