Economics of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

Aside from the distasteful subject, the continuous drug trading side quest in Chinatown Wars is actually entertaining as well as useful. I’ve found it to be by far the most efficient way to earn cash in the game. After about two hours of doing nothing but schlepping illicit substances back and forth across Liberty City, I have probably accumulated more than enough funds than I could possibly ever need to supply myself with enough ammo and equipment for the duration of the game.

The strategy is pretty obvious: buy low, sell high. Every now and then you’ll receive an in-game message about a dealer who’s selling some product at a huge discount or buying another product like it’s going out of style. Take advantage of every such situation. If someone is selling low, buy up all of their stock even if you don’t have a buyer in mind for it yet. If someone is buying high, sell them all of your stock then run around town and buy up more to resell to the high buyer. Just make sure any extra you purchase is cheaper than what you can resell it for, and ignore the glaring logical fallacies inherent in such outrageous price gaps between two dealers who work only a few miles apart from one another.

It’s that easy, and you’ll have earned plenty of cash to enjoy the rest of the game in comfort (i.e. fresh armor on every mission!) long before you get even begin to get bored of driving back and forth between the various traders in the city.