How to Play Drug Wars

The basics

• Pick a game length: 10, 30, 50, or 100 days. Each is its own leaderboard.
• Travel between New York boroughs. Prices change every day in every location.
• Buy goods when the price crashes, then sell where and when it spikes.
• Your coat has limited capacity, so every purchase is a bet on space.
• Each trip to a new city advances the day. Days are the real currency.

Money and debt

• The loan shark charges interest daily, so the $5,500 grows fast if you ignore it.
• Pay the debt down early once you have a cushion, not on the last day.
• The bank keeps cash safe from muggings and pays interest.
• Final score is cash plus bank minus debt on your last day.

Strategy tips

• Learn each item's normal price range. A real bargain is far below the usual low, not just cheaper than yesterday.
• Put everything into one big score when a crash hits, then wait for the spike.
• Upgrade your coat when you can afford it. Capacity compounds every trade after.
• Bank your winnings before a risky stretch. Getting mugged only takes loose cash.
• On short 10 day runs, take bigger swings. There is no time to grind back.

Leaderboards

Every finished game can be posted to the global leaderboard. Sign in with Google to claim your scores, set a custom display name, and keep your runs tied to your account. You can also watch the game live on the stats dashboard, which shows games played, players online, and the top scores today.

Going deeper

Know the rules and want to actually win? The strategy guide breaks down which boroughs buy cheap and sell high, which goods are worth your coat space, and when a bigger coat pays for itself. Curious where the game came from? Read the history of Drug Wars, from a 1984 high school project to the calculator under your desk, or why half the world knows it as Dope Wars instead.

About the game

This is a modern web tribute to John E. Dell's original Drug Wars from 1984, the game that spread across DOS machines, TI calculators, and early phones. It is free, needs no download, works on mobile, and has no ads. Found a bug or have an idea? Use the 💬 feedback button in the game.