Four Cannabis-Infused Video Games for Stoners

Some cannabis consumers tout that their hand-eye coordination is on fire when they're baked, enabling them to score higher, accrue Monopoly-like digital wealth, make more kills, and lay down record-breaking speeds in video gameplay. While science hasn't backed up those claims yet, one thing is certain: Weed has been infused into video gameplay since folks were puff-puff passing and blowing smoke into 8-bit cartridges in the 1980s.

Here's a list of four cannabis-related video games that will test your green-thumbed hand and red-eye coordination.

Wiz Khalifa's Weed Farm

It's no secret that flowers named after rap artist Wiz Khalifa are sold in dispensaries in the Valley. But did you know the "So High" rapper-turned-cannabiz entrepreneur has a video game inspired by him as well? Download Wiz Khalifa's Weed Farm from the App Store or Google Play for free, and trip out.

Rated Mature 17+, it's subtitled "The Dankest Idle Game." Idle game means a video game that can be actively played or that will play by itself. Think of it as an autopilot mode in which the player can take off for a sesh, come back, pick up the video game control, and reap the benefits of idle gameplay.

For old-school gamers, imagine if the Robotic Operating Buddy on the 1980s Nintendo could play the video game for you while you ate a microwave dinner. Fast forward to 2022, idle gameplay has the ability to manage the weed plants and strains ahead of time for the clients, and when players return to Khalifa's game, the plants are ready to sell on the mass market in the game.

You plant, grow, and harvest the most lit weed in hopes of building a blooming green empire. It's a single-player simulator that'll enable metro Phoenicians to embark on cultivation biz without fronting real money — but you can spend real moolah through in-game purchases.

Once you level up, a cartoon version of Wiz Khalifa puffing pops up with cartoony text that reads, "Great job homie!" In 191,000 Google Play reviews, the free downloadable app averaged 4.6 stars out of five. On the App Store, where it also is available for free for the iPhone or iPad; it scored a 4.8 out of five.

Weedcraft Inc

Weedcraft Inc is a game about the cannabusiness of breeding, producing, and selling marijuana in the USA. It also dives deep into the political, financial, and cultural aspects of the complicated love-hate relationship with the miracle plant.

Dope music can be toggled off and on, which will help you zone into the game as you play in three different scenarios, each exploring the legit and illegitimate sides of the industry.

One storyline is about a group of cultivators in Idaho who illegally bring their weed to Hollywood. It's set in a fictional period when weed is still unlawful.

The game shines a light on the period when you could get popped with a joint and experience the accompanying trials and tribulations. Additional scenarios developed by the folks at Vile Monarch are pretty dank in gameplay, but we won't offer any spoilers. Weedcraft Inc was published in 2019 by Devolver Digital and can be downloaded for $19.99 at Steam. It's playable on Windows or Mac systems and scores 7.6 out of 10 on the site.

Grand Theft Auto V

Grand Theft Auto V is a 2013 action-adventure open-world video game by Rockstar Games. While the M-rated game revolves around stealing cars, running away from police and criminals, and completing missions in the stolen vehicles, there's a side mission called "Grass Roots" for cannabis users to trip out on.

In the first- or third-person shooter GTA V, the player can choose between three characters to complete a mission: Franklin, Trevor, and Michael. Each character has built-in abilities better suited for specific tasks and scenarios in the nonlinear gameplay.

With "Grass Roots," the characters must meet with Barry, a pot-smoking weed advocate who asks your characters to smoke a joint with him in order to initiate the mission. When either Trevor or Michael puff Barry's blunt, the each end up hallucinating and their point of view changes, becoming hazy with pastel-esque hues and featuring monsters or clowns roaming about that they must kill. The gameplay totally shifts as each trips out for a few minutes and never seeks the stash to fully complete the "Grass Roots" level.

When Trevor smokes Barry's blunt, his point of view remains clear as day, and he can proceed into the "Grass Roots" adventure to steal cars to locate the stash. One of the stashes is hidden in an inoperable grimy-looking car that Trevor, using a stolen tow truck, must tow to Barry's apartment. Once the car is dropped off, Barry commends Trevor and calls him a "green warrior," and a "Mission Passed" banner pops up on the screen.

The "Grass Roots" mission is one of dozens of scenarios in the video game that can be played on the PlayStation 3, 4, and 5 systems; various Xbox consoles; and Microsoft Windows computer platforms. It's a fav for stoners and non-stoners.

Drug Wars

Drug Wars is a turn-based strategy home computer game that was released in 1984, a time when cannabis was illegal and video game players took turns to slap on bulky keyboards — hence "turn-based."

The player assumes the role of a drug dealer who flips popular illicit commodities of the era, including marijuana. Unlike the aforementioned video games with their realistic cartoon graphics in the aforementioned video games, the MS-DOS and text-based Drug Wars is as basic as it gets with no illustrations — period. Instead, the game is played by typing in command prompts, mostly "Y" for "yes" or "N" for "no," and numerals that signify the quantities and monies exchanged on a dark screen ladened with green-colored text. The closest thing to a graphic is a border that separates the list of drugs, and the command prompt section displayed lower on the monitor.

In a YouTube video depicting the 1984 computer game, the screen reads in part, "Hey dude, the prices of drugs here are: weed 700, speed 130, ludes 40 .... Will you buy, sell, or jet (take off)?" The top half of the screen shows the player's inventory, in both the "stash" and "trench coat." There's also a section in the middle to show what part of New York City the character is in during the transaction.

The object of the game is to deal drugs to pay off loan sharks who charge interest. If you can't pay them back, you lose and have to start over or pass the keyboard to your buddy. In the gameplay, there are muggings between drug sales, an increase in drug prices, and confrontations with law enforcement.

If the player hasn't died in the game or lost and makes it to the endgame, you're in the red and making a profit. The last screenshot shows your ranking, from 1 to 100. Of course, the more money you make dealing drugs, the higher your rank becomes.

While the original 1984 Drug Wars 5.25-inch floppy disks are tough to come by, there are versions online where you can play but they are inundated with spam pop-ups during gameplay.