Run Customs. Catch Smugglers. Survive the Cartel
DRAGO Entertainment, the publicly listed Polish studio behind Gas Station Simulator, today released Airport Contraband on Steam. It is a first-person customs officer simulator with roguelite progression, dark comedy and an ever-growing set of inspection mechanics. Players donât smuggle: they think like smugglers so they can stop them.
Welcome to Caldora, a fictional authoritarian country ruled by the unpredictable Great Leader. As its newest customs officer, players check passengers, luggage and cargo, enforce ever-changing regulations and keep the airportâs reputation intact, all while quietly completing jobs for the local Cartel. Their boss, JosĂŠ, shows them the ropes. He also has some very suspicious friends.
In Airport Contraband, each employee represents a run. Get fired by the airport or exhaust the Cartelâs patience, and that employeeâs career is over, but progression carries on with their replacement. Dream Workers Company⢠always has someone ready, and Dream Coins earned in longer runs buy permanent upgrades for future employees.
Every two in-game days, players choose new Paths that permanently add mechanics and problems to the current run. The more Paths they stack, the more a simple airport shift turns into a chaotic balancing act. The longer an employee survives, the harder it gets to keep everyone happy.
Key features
- Full passenger control: Check IDs, search luggage and clothing, use the X-Ray scanner, question suspects with the Lie Detector, identify diseases, confiscate items, deny entry or make arrests.
- Contraband & arrests: Restricted items get confiscated; contraband means confiscation and the passengerâs arrest.
- Dynamic embargoes: The Great Leaderâs decrees can suddenly make single items or entire categories illegal. Stay up to date or pay the price.
- Run the Hangar: Operate a crane to move cargo between aircraft and trucks while inspecting suspicious shipments and dealing with malfunctioning equipment.
- Cargo inspection: Uncover weight discrepancies, hidden wall compartments, wrong markings, UV symbols, locks and seals utilizing the Hammer, Knife, Crowbar and UV Lamp.
- Bribes & corruption: Suspects facing arrest may offer cash. Follow procedure, or take the payoff and risk the airportâs reputation.
- Escaping passengers: Some suspects resist arrest and run. Stop them with the Taser.
- Cartel tasks: Jobs that often directly conflict with official duties.
- Path Perks: Upgrade the tools tied to the problems players chose, plus extra perks from the airportâs Handyman.
- Good and Bad Omens: Alternating horoscope days add temporary advantages, disadvantages and extra chaos.
- Bureaucratic satire: Absurd situations, with the occasional capybara found where cargo should be.
Airport Contraband offers 20+ hours of gameplay, though actual playtime depends heavily on how players approach each run.
âWe wanted a simulator where every shift could go wrong in a new way. In Airport Contraband youâre the last line of defense against smugglers, but the Great Leader keeps changing the rules and the Cartel keeps calling. Each run stacks more chaos on top, and we canât wait to see how long playersâ officers survive.â â Joanna Tynor, CEO, DRAGO Entertainment
Airport Contraband is available now on Steam.