WeedEx Review – A Chaotic, Cut-Rate Drug Empire Simulator

TL;DR

WeedEx is what happens when you try to build a drug empire with €3, a dream, and a Google Drive full of ambition.

If you want a gritty drug-dealing sim with low price, low shame, and the proud chaos of Early Access... buy it. Laugh. Upgrade your van. Run from cops who can’t be bothered to run properly.

If you want depth, polish, or dignity… wait for full release.

WeedEx is the video-game equivalent of buying weed behind a supermarket, cheap, dodgy, occasionally brilliant, and exactly the sort of thing you’ll deny to your friends.

Freedom of Crime - Open World or IKEA Showroom?

Hyland Point, the coastal metropolis where hope goes to be mugged, drops you in as a broke dealer who couldn’t intimidate a houseplant. You get a couple neighbourhoods, a handful of locations, and a city that looks like it was designed by someone who watched GTA V once and said, “Yeah, I got this.”

Is it open world? Technically, yes. Does it feel open world? More like a guided tour of criminality led by someone who didn’t get permission to use the main building.

Early Access means the scaffolding is still visible, the paint is still wet, and half the city is probably held together with optimism and duct tape, but at least the devs openly admit they're still laying down floorboards while you’re running on them.

Criminal Fantasy Fulfilment - Does Being Bad Feel Good?

WeedEx nails one thing: it lets you play budget Walter White without requiring a chemistry degree or a working moral compass.

You grow drugs. You mix them. You sell them. You upgrade from “guy with one sad plant in a bucket” to “local menace with a van that smells like melted ambition.”

Some players genuinely love this climb, feeling like they’re running a dirt-cheap empire in a city that forgot what laws are for.

Others say it feels like Schedule I bought off AliExpress: same idea, fewer systems, slightly more chaos, and an aesthetic that occasionally screams “AI art was harmed in the making of this game.”

But if your fantasy is simply “Yes, officer, I run a narcotics empire out of a garage and no, I will not stop”, this scratches that itch like a rash you absolutely shouldn't be proud of.

Mission Design - Slick Crimes or Glorified Deliveroo?

The mission design is exactly what you’d expect from a €3 Early Access title:

Grow thing. Sell thing. Run from cops. Repeat. Sometimes you get a story bit. Sometimes you get punched. Sometimes both in the same minute.

The Early Access version is clearly better received than the demo, which was reviewed about as positively as food poisoning. The full release now sits at “Very Positive,” which is frankly a miracle.

But don’t expect Ocean’s Eleven. Expect “Ocean’s One, and he’s tired.”

Money & Progression - Empire Building or Drug-Dealer Internship?

Progression actually feels decent. You start poor enough to envy worms, and slowly evolve into someone who owns labs, stash houses, and vehicles that don’t immediately explode when a pigeon sneezes.

Money goes into:

• Properties

• Vehicle upgrades

• Better equipment

Not thrilling, not revolutionary, but satisfying in the same way reorganising your sock drawer is satisfying. At launch price, complaining feels petty. (If this cost €40 it would be a different story.)

Min-maxers will absolutely whine about missing depth. Casual criminals will think: “Yes. Good. Give me more shiny toys.”

World & Sandbox - Living Underworld or Cardboard Scaffold?

Hyland Point looks good enough from five metres away. Up close, you can see the seams. The grime is convincing, the neon pops, the explosions look fine, and the city does what it needs to: convince you you're somewhere dangerous and underfunded.

But interactive? Reactive? Chaotic?

Not yet.

Right now it’s less “crime ecosystem” and more “urban diorama someone forgot to dust.”

Crew & NPCs - Memorable Psychos or Discount Mannequins?

NPCs here exist to:

• Give you quests

• Buy drugs

• Shoot at you

• Or stand around absorbing oxygen

Nobody’s going to become a cult favourite. No Trevor Philips energy. Just functional humans doing functional things in a city held together with emotional duct tape.

Good enough for now. Not remotely iconic.

Police & Law Response - Heat or Mild Irritation?

Marketing brags about raids, investigations and rival gangs, the whole “one wrong move and you’re dead” fantasy.

Reality: You can get in trouble, and the cops will bother you, but you’re not exactly facing the FBI’s Most Competent Unit. It’s more “annoyed traffic warden with a badge” than “cataclysmic law enforcement gauntlet.”

The community so far is more angry about mouse sensitivity not working than police brutality. That says everything.

If devs improve AI and raids, this could get genuinely tense. Right now it’s a mild inconvenience wearing blue.

Style & Atmosphere - Neon, Smoke & AI Side-Eye

WeedEx looks… pretty good. Stylised, bright, explosive, and occasionally gorgeous in a “does this lighting effect know it’s in a €3 game?” kind of way.

The devs admit they used AI for Steam page artwork only, which is honest, though critics immediately claimed the AI art was the best part of the project. That’s harsh, but admittedly funny.

Sound design is fine. Not memorable. Not awful. Just there, like an unpaid intern trying their best.

Replayability - Criminal Playground or Déjà Vu With Drugs?

Replayability exists, but only because the loop is flexible enough:

• Different drug builds

• Different properties

• Different upgrade trees

Feels good for a few hours. Won’t replace your main addiction (unless your main addiction is €3 crime games).

Early Access promises more areas, more quests, better AI, more systems, more stuff. If they deliver, this could grow into something tasty.

Right now? Fun for a weekend. Not a new religion.

Multiplayer - Nope. Lone Wolf Only.

No co-op. No cartel wars. No griefing. No friend crashing the van full of narcotics into the one tree in an empty parking lot.

Just you and your bad decisions.

Community & Drama - Hidden Gem or Discount Cartel Scam?

Now here’s where things get delicious.

• The full game sits at Very Positive with ~87% approval.

• The demo was reviewed like a stomach virus: overwhelmingly negative.

• One particularly salty reviewer accused the praise of being botted and called the whole thing a low-effort clone with AI art as its best feature. Technically wrong, spiritually hilarious.

• Meanwhile, players who actually played more than ten minutes are praising the addictive loop, the city vibe, and the empire-building grind.

• Player count? Tiny. An indie corner of Steam only visited by people who type “drug simulator” at 3 a.m.

So is WeedEx a scam? No.

Is it a masterpiece? Also no.

Is it a fascinating little underdog with jank, charm, ambition, and a cult brewing around it? Absolutely.

Which means it’s perfect for CRIMENET. We thrive on beautiful disasters.

FAQ

Is WeedEx worth buying in 2025? If you enjoy cheap crime sandboxes and chaotic empire-building, yes. If you demand refinement and rich storytelling… not unless you’re drunk.

How long will it stay in Early Access? Dev says six months. Reality says: “We’ll see.” Steam timelines are suggestions, not laws.

Is WeedEx just a cheap Schedule I or GTA clone? It borrows their DNA but strips out the complexity. Some love that; some call it bargain-bin Narcos. Both are correct.

How bad was the demo? Imagine a birthday cake that’s mostly salt. The full game is much improved, but yes, the demo was a crime against enthusiasm.

Does the game use AI art? Only for the Steam store page. Which is hilarious, because critics keep insisting the AI art is the best part.

Is there multiplayer? No. You will suffer alone, like every great entrepreneur.