Netflix used Dexter to power Narcos: Cartel Simulator — a game to promote the 3rd season of their hit original series.

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If you owned a TI-84 graphing calculator, odds are you spent some time in calculus class playing a game or two. One of the more popular games was Drugwars — a game in which you bought low and sold high to pay off a loan shark before time expired. For the third season of Narcos, we worked with Netflix and Virtue to bring a custom Cali Cartel version of the classic to life for Facebook Messenger.

This abbreviated version of the game wove in storylines from the upcoming season, moving users from Cali to Miami in search of the next deal. If they paid off their debts in time, they were treated to one of ten surprise endings. If they got busted or went broke, and they were met with one of a series of unfortunate fates.

The Virtue team did an amazing job with the art direction and production design, bringing the experience to life with that early-90s / LCD art look and feel. The game was met with much fanfare, generating a million messages in the first week.

You can play Narcos: Cartel Simulator here.