Gangsters: Organized Crime

Gangsters: Organized Crime is a real-time strategy simulation developed by Hothouse Creations and published by Eidos Interactive in 1998. Players assume the role of a mob boss in the fictional city of New Temperance during the Prohibition era, tasked with building a criminal empire through extortion, racketeering, and violent territory takeovers. The game blends two distinct play modes: a strategic planning phase (the Gang Organizer) where players manage businesses, assign lieutenants, and plot moves on a city map, and a real-time Working Week in which orders are executed simultaneously against rival AI or human gangs.

The simulation is notable for its depth, inviting players to micromanage everything from bribing officials and recruiting thugs to setting up speakeasies and laundering money. A complex web of family relationships, specialties, and rivalries adds layers to the gang management. Multiplayer support for up to four players over LAN or internet (via TCP/IP or MPlayer) was a standout feature, offering genuine strategic competition absent in the single-player mode.

The game received mixed reactions at launch, with praise for its ambition and scope but criticism directed at an obtuse interface and AI that failed to provide a lasting challenge. Still, Gangsters retains a niche following among simulation enthusiasts who appreciate its uncompromising design.