Simulation games
What simulation games recreate, the range from serious to relaxing, and who they suit.
Simulation games recreate a real activity or system, and the genre spans an unusually wide range — from software so accurate that pilots train on it, to gentle games about running a farm.
What unites them is the absence of a traditional win condition. You are not usually racing to an ending; you are operating something.
The main kinds
Vehicle simulation — flight simulators, truck and train simulators. Microsoft Flight Simulator, Euro Truck Simulator.
Life simulation — managing people and their daily lives. The Sims, Animal Crossing.
Farming and craft simulation — Stardew Valley, Farming Simulator.
Management and tycoon — running a business, a hospital, a theme park, a city. Cities: Skylines, Two Point Hospital, Football Manager.
Sports management — the tactical half of sport without playing the matches.
What are popular simulation games?
The Sims, Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, Cities: Skylines, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Euro Truck Simulator, Football Manager, Farming Simulator.
Why people play them
Two very different reasons, and it is worth knowing which you are.
Mastery. Flight and management simulations are genuinely complex, and learning them is the point. These reward study — many players read manuals.
Calm. Farming and life simulations are among the most relaxing games available. No fail state, no time pressure, steady visible progress. For a lot of people this is the most restful thing on a console.
Platform note
Simulation is one of the genres where PC leads clearly. Management games, flight simulation and the deeper end of the genre are largely PC territory, often with mouse-driven interfaces that do not translate well to a controller.
The lighter end — farming, life simulation — works well everywhere.
See our PC games page for the PC catalogue.