Who would've guessed that Schedule 1 would become yet another indie sensation on Steam?

An open-world drug empire sim developed almost entirely by a solo Australian dev named Tyler has become wildly popular, outsold major AAA games and climbed up to 300,000 concurrent players. It sold for $20 in early access and is believed to have sold at least a million copies. Its appeal? It is bizarre, lo-fi, strange, charming, and has deep, satisfying systems you don’t usually see in big studios. In this game, players plant seeds, package products, hustle their way to the top of the ladder, and automate their operations. All that slow, crunchy gameplay for which bigger studios are sleeping.

Schedule 1 thrives in its weirdness and is unlike any other polished sims done before. Its characters are blank-faced and bug-eyed, and its world is stripped back. For a game released in early access, and even smaller things have great details, it delivered what AAA titles have been missing in their games for years. Steam’s algorithm also plays a part in its momentum as it helps games with lots of wishlists and positive reviews gain traction.

While comparisons to games like Drug Dealer Simulator are beginning to pop up, it is clear that there’s something distinct about Schedule 1. It’s chaos. It’s clever. It’s all Steam magic.

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