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Genres

Simulation

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533 min: in total
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Arma 3

Bohemia Interactive · 2013

Arma 3 is a military simulation released for PC in September 2013 by Bohemia Interactive. It runs on expansive, photorealistic terrains spanning hundreds of square kilometres. Its realism is systemic: weapons obey ballistics, diving requires dedicated equipment, and electronic warfare or disguise can replace combat entirely. Nearly all gameplay systems—including AI, HUD, and assists—are adjustable via custom difficulty settings. Players pursue fixed mission objectives through self-directed tactics, from solo stealth to squad coordination. It supports extensive modding and user-generated content via the Eden Editor. It is not a narrative-driven shooter. It is a toolset for tactical problem-solving under self-imposed constraints.

Colin McRae Rally (1998 video game)

Codemasters · 1998

Colin McRae Rally (1998) is a Codemasters rally simulation built around the 1998 World Rally Championship. It structures progression across three difficulty tiers — Novice (F2 front-wheel-drive), Intermediate (WRC four-wheel-drive), and Expert (Group B classics) — each with distinct cars and increasing challenge. Colin McRae and Nicky Grist provide authentic voice work, with McRae serving as the tutorial instructor. The game supports LAN multiplayer for up to eight players and two-player split-screen. A cheat-enabled Easter egg parodies the Barney and Betty Hill alien abduction incident. It was distributed in North America by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

Fortnite Creative

Epic Games · 2018

Fortnite Creative is a sandbox game mode developed by Epic Games. Players build custom worlds using Fortnite assets and publish them into the Fortnite Metaverse. Editing happens in real time via a handheld mobile phone tool. Players collaborate in Hubs capped at four people and teleport between islands using the Rift portal. Sessions support up to 100 players under custom rules. Each player may own up to 50 private islands. It is free-to-play across computer, console, and mobile platforms. Revenue comes from microtransactions, including the battle pass system.

Forza Motorsport (2005 video game)

Turn 10 Studios · 2005

Forza Motorsport (2005) is a simulation racing video game developed by Turn 10 Studios for Xbox. It was the inaugural title in a Microsoft Game Studios-commissioned series. It features licensed real-world cars, real and fictional tracks, arcade and career modes, driving assists, realistic vehicle damage, and deep car tuning.

Gran Turismo (1997 video game)

Polyphony Digital · 1997

Gran Turismo (1997) is a PlayStation sim racing game developed by Polyphony Digital. It emphasises realism through physics-driven handling, two distinct modes—Arcade and Simulation—and a curated roster of 140 cars from Japanese manufacturers. It was the first game to fully support the DualShock controller. It does not feature car damage. Its design prioritises mechanical fidelity over spectacle, progression over immediacy, and menu clarity over visual density.

Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec

Polyphony Digital · 2001

Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec is a PlayStation 2 racing simulator built around linear, tiered progression, realistic driving physics, and graphical fidelity over breadth.

Lunar Lander (1979 video game)

Atari · 1979

Lunar Lander (1979) is a vector-based arcade game by Atari, Inc. that reduces piloting to rotation, thrust, and fuel. It offers no story, no characters, no world—only a side-view landscape, a fragile module, and the unblinking arithmetic of descent.

Pro Evolution Soccer (video game)

Konami · 2001

The verified material establishes only that Pro Evolution Soccer (2001) is Konami’s first football sports simulation in the PES series, known in Japan as World Soccer: Winning Eleven 5, with region-specific commentary, and that it sits in a lineage from International Superstar Soccer to eFootball — but says nothing about how it plays, what it asks of a player, or what it delivers in practice.

Richard Burns Rally

SMS Developers · 2004

Richard Burns Rally is a sim racing game developed by Warthog and published by SCi in 2004. It features eight cars and thirty-six rally stages modelled from real locations including Gateshead forest, Nevada, Canberra, Hokkaido, the French Alps, and the Arctic Circle. Its defining trait is an uncompromising physics engine shaped by on-location scouting, precise measurement of road width, camber and texture, and direct input from rally drivers Richard Burns and Possum Bourne. It simulates both classic and modern rallying, and is defined by high difficulty—not as a flaw, but as a consequence of its fidelity-first design.

Session: Skate Sim

crea-ture Studios · 2019

Session: Skate Sim is an open-ended sports video game that simulates skateboarding with strict adherence to physics, presented through a fish-eye lens mimicking mini DV format.

Spore (2008 video game)

Maxis · 2008

Spore is a Maxis-developed simulation game released in 2008 where players guide a species from single-cell origins through five evolutionary phases toward spacefaring capability, with defined goals including spaceship construction and reaching the galactic core.

BeamNG.drive

BeamNG · 2015

BeamNG.drive is a sandbox vehicle simulation game built around soft-body physics. It features career mode, campaigns, time trials, and free roam. Campaigns consist of small scenarios themed around races, chases, and stunts. In time trials, players compete against their own best time using selected vehicles, maps, and routes. In free roam, players can operate, place, and manipulate objects and vehicles within maps. They can also change environmental properties such as time, gravity and wind. Players can utilize various objects ranging from road barriers to weapons such as cannons in order to inflict damage on other vehicles.

Cooking Mama (video game)

Office Create · 2006

Cooking Mama is a sequence of brief, touch-driven minigames representing kitchen tasks. Each lasts under 10 seconds. Players follow instructions on the top screen and act on the bottom screen using the stylus. Failure occurs on serious error or time expiry. It offers crisp, immediate feedback but no cumulative learning or systemic logic. Office Create developed it and enforced strict quality standards over feel and content — but not over depth or coherence.

DayZ (video game)

Bohemia Interactive · 2013

DayZ is a multiplayer online survival game set in fictional plague-ravaged countries where players scavenge, manage health, evade infected, and negotiate threat from other players in a persistent world.

Rust (video game)

Facepunch Studios · 2018

Rust is a multiplayer survival game developed and published by Facepunch Studios. It launched in 2018. Players must gather or steal materials to survive in a harsh open world. They manage hunger, thirst, and health. Other players are the primary threat. Combat uses firearms and bows. NPC vehicles occasionally roam and attack armed players. Crafting is initially limited until specific items are discovered. Players build bases or join clans for protection. Raiding is central. The game operates on 'Wipes' that reset progress regularly.

Steep (video game)

Ubisoft · 2016

Steep is a sports video game developed by Ubisoft Annecy and published by Ubisoft. It was released worldwide on 2 December 2016 for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One. It is an online multiplayer extreme sports game set in a vast open world based on real mountain ranges including the Alps, Alaska Range, and mountains in Japan and Korea. Players explore a freely navigable open world set in the Alps, centered on Mont Blanc. The game can be played from either a first-person or third-person perspective. The game uses GoPro-style camera angles during races. The four main activities are skiing, wingsuit flying, snowboarding, and paragliding. Later DLC added rocket-powered wingsuit flying, sledding, BASE jumping, and speed riding. Players switch between activities using the game's menu wheel.

Monster Rancher (video game)

Tecmo · 1997

Monster Rancher is a PlayStation life simulation RPG by Tecmo (1997) where players acquire, raise, combine, and battle monsters — with CD-based generation as its defining input method.

RollerCoaster Tycoon (video game)

Chris Sawyer · 1999

RollerCoaster Tycoon is a solo-built, tile-based construction and management simulation released in 1999 for Windows. Developed entirely by Chris Sawyer in x86 assembly language, it reflects his Lego-like design philosophy and interest in roller coaster engineering rather than personal riding experience. Players complete 21 preset scenarios (81 total with expansions) by building amusement parks, designing custom roller coasters piece-by-piece, hiring staff with defined roles, modifying terrain, and balancing visitor needs through strategic placement of amenities.

The Sims (video game)

Will Wright / Maxis · 2000

The Sims is a social simulation video game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts in 2000. Designed by Will Wright, it allows players to create and control virtual people called Sims, build and furnish homes, and manage Sims' needs, relationships, careers, and household finances. Its open-ended gameplay has no fixed win condition. The Sims is an artificial life game built around simulated characters who respond to needs, objects, and other Sims. Although Sims can act autonomously when free will is enabled, the player usually directs their actions, manages their household, and decides how they develop relationships, skills, careers, and homes. Because the game has no fixed win condition, it can be played indefinitely and has been described as more like a toy than a traditional game. Sims are influenced by the player to interact with objects or other Sims. If enabled in the game's options, Sims have a certain amount of free will, allowing them to autonomously interact with their world; however, the player can override most of these autonomous actions by canceling them in the action queue at the top of the screen.

2022 Formula One World Championship

Codemasters · 2022

The 2022 Formula One World Championship game is Codemasters’ annual F1 series entry simulating the 73rd running of the championship. It models the full season — twenty-two Grands Prix, dual titles, ground-effect aerodynamics reintroduced after 1982, Pirelli tyres, two-driver teams, and the sprint format at exactly three events: Emilia Romagna, Austrian, and São Paulo — following team negotiations that cut the sprint schedule from six to three. It makes no claims about driver agency, team politics, or design intent behind regulation changes. It is a licensed procedural replica, not a reimagining.

Forza Horizon 5

Playground Games · 2021

Forza Horizon 5 is a racing game set in an open world modelled on Mexico. It was developed by Playground Games and published by Xbox Game Studios for Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

Forza Motorsport 4

Turn 10 Studios · 2011

Forza Motorsport 4 is the fourth Forza Motorsport title, developed by Turn 10 Studios for Xbox 360 and published by Microsoft Studios in 2011. It is a racing simulation emphasising realistic car handling and visual fidelity on closed-circuit tracks. It supports dual-input control: traditional controllers or wheels for driving, and Kinect for head-tracking, voice commands, or full-body steering (with auto-acceleration/braking). Its Autovista mode enables detailed exploration of select cars, and its World Tour career adapts AI difficulty based on player performance.

Gran Turismo 7

Polyphony Digital · 2022

Gran Turismo 7 is a technically accomplished sim racing title that prioritises curated progression and hardware fidelity over player agency. Its reliance on online infrastructure for core functionality—including saving—defines its limits as much as its strengths. It delivers realism through physics and presentation, but structures engagement around compliance, not compulsion.

Digimon World

Bandai · 1999

Digimon World is a PlayStation RPG where raising a single Digimon — through feeding, training, resting, and bathroom use — determines its evolution, intelligence, and battle effectiveness. Poor care locks players into Numemon, a weak Champion form. Battles restore order to File City by recruiting feral Digimon. When the Digimon ages out, it reverts to an egg — forcing a full restart.

Diner Dash

PlayFirst · 2003

Diner Dash is a time-management game where players direct Flo to complete restaurant service tasks under increasing time and mood constraints.

Dirt Rally

Codemasters · 2015

Dirt Rally is a focused, unforgiving rally simulation that replaces spectacle with consequence. It demands repetition, observation, and adaptation—not reflexes or narrative. Its strength is in its specificity: real locations, real cars, real weather, real penalties. Its limit is in what it refuses to offer: accessibility, explanation, or compromise.

EA Sports FC 25

EA Sports · 2024

EA Sports FC 25 is a football simulation game released on 27 September 2024. It introduces FC Rush, a fast-paced 5v5 mode on a smaller pitch, and expands Career Mode with deeper managerial systems. It is the second EA Sports FC title and the 32nd in EA’s football simulation lineage. Pre-ordering the Ultimate Edition granted early access from 20 September 2024. It inherits over 300 league and team licensing deals and was developed by EA Vancouver and/or EA Orlando.

Elite Dangerous

Frontier Developments · 2014

Elite Dangerous is a persistent-galaxy space sim built on scale, synchronicity, and player-driven consequence. It offers unparalleled scope but minimal scaffolding. Its ambition is structural, not narrative. Its cost is time, not money.

Forza Motorsport 7

Turn 10 Studios · 2017

Forza Motorsport 7 refines the Motorsport formula without redefining it. It delivers technical excellence and scale — but nothing structurally new.

Gran Turismo 2

Polyphony Digital · 1999

Gran Turismo 2 is a PlayStation racing simulation with two distinct modes—Arcade for instant access, Simulation for licensed progression—and nearly 650 cars across 27 tracks, including rally stages. Its brake dynamics were retuned to reduce lock-ups and oversteer. It expands on its predecessor in volume, not vision.

Gran Turismo 5

Polyphony Digital · 2010

Gran Turismo 5 is a PlayStation 3 sim racing title by Polyphony Digital that adds mechanical and external damage, real-time deformation, overturning, weather on select circuits, karting, stereoscopic-3D, and a parameter-driven course editor.

Gran Turismo 6

Polyphony Digital · 2013

Gran Turismo 6 is a PlayStation 3 racing simulation developed by Polyphony Digital. It features 30 tracks (71 layouts), 1,200 cars, variable weather and time-of-day on some tracks, a dynamic celestial sphere, adaptive tessellation rendering, and a simplified UI with faster loading. It is designed as a realistic driving simulator offering realistic driving physics.

Madden NFL

EA Sports · 1988

Madden NFL (1988) is the foundational entry in EA Sports’ long-running American football simulation series. Developed by EA Orlando and published by EA Sports, it launched on Apple II and established core tenets: 11-player teams, numerical player ratings, detailed play diagrams with John Madden’s coaching commentary, and broadcast-style voice narration. Later entries expanded into Franchise Mode — a multi-season management layer involving training camp, 16-game seasons, playoffs, and the Super Bowl — though this mode remains consistently criticised. The series operates under an exclusive NFL licensing agreement extending through the 2025–2026 season.

Madden NFL 24

EA Sports · 2023

Madden NFL 24 improves on-field football with SAPIEN, Fieldsense, and 1,000+ new animations — but fractures its off-field modes across hardware generations and leaves Franchise and Superstar feeling incomplete. It is a technical upgrade with structural debt.

No Man's Sky

Hello Games · 2016

No Man's Sky is a lean, deterministic simulation of scale — not story, not society, not persistence. It asks you to verify reality, not inhabit it.

Persona 5

Atlus · 2016

Persona 5 is a Japanese role-playing game developed by P-Studio and published by Atlus in 2016. It simulates one academic year in Tokyo through a rigid day-night cycle, blending social relationship-building (Confidants) with dungeon-crawling in two distinct Metaverse realms: narrative Palaces and procedural Mementos.

Ring Fit Adventure

Nintendo · 2019

Ring Fit Adventure is an exercising role-playing video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It requires two physical components—the Ring-Con and the Leg Strap—to translate real-world movement and strain into in-game actions. Its main mode is a turn-based RPG where overworld navigation (running in place, jumping via Ring-Con squeeze-and-release) and combat (exercise-based attacks, abdominal press defence) are fully dependent on those accessories. Exercises are colour-coded by target muscle group: red for arms, blue for legs, yellow for core, green for yoga. The design prioritises embodied routine over mechanical depth or narrative ambition.

Universe Sandbox

Giant Army · 2008

Universe Sandbox (2008) is a physics simulation tool masquerading as a game. It lets players load real solar system data or invent new stars, planets, and black holes — then adjust mass, density, velocity, and time to watch gravity do its work. There is no score, no story, no failure state — only observation, iteration, and consequence. Its strength is fidelity to astrophysical cause-and-effect; its limit is the absence of any design layer between the user and the equations.

Wii Fit

Nintendo · 2007

Wii Fit is a simulation of physical discipline built around a single hardware input: the Wii Balance Board. It measures weight and centre of balance in real time. It offers over 40 activities — yoga, strength training, aerobics, balance games — all calibrated to that input. It supports up to eight user profiles, each tied to date of birth, height, and a Mii. It logs external activity manually. It uses an on-screen trainer in yoga and strength modes. It does not simulate athletic development. It simulates accountability.

Wreckfest

Bugbear Entertainment · 2018

Wreckfest is a car simulator released on June 14, 2018 by Bugbear Entertainment using their ROMU engine. It features banger racing and demolition derby, with physics-driven soft-body damage that alters vehicle dynamics based on impact location. Players configure assists, buy and upgrade vehicles, and compete in career, multiplayer, and custom events. Its slower, more strategic pacing distinguishes it from faster destruction racers like Burnout.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Nintendo · 2020

A life simulation played in real time on a deserted island, shaped by real-world seasons and open-ended activity.

Cities: Skylines

Colossal Order · 2015

Cities: Skylines is a systems-first city-builder where players manage zoning, infrastructure, taxation, and district-level regulations to grow a functional urban area. It rewards methodical planning and iterative adjustment—not storytelling, speed, or spectacle.

Dwarf Fortress

Bay 12 Games · 2006

Dwarf Fortress is a procedural simulation that demands reading over reacting, patience over progress, and interpretation over instruction. Its strength is systemic coherence—not accessibility.

Factorio

Wube Software · 2016

Factorio is a factory simulation game developed and published by Czech studio Wube Software.

Gran Turismo 4

Polyphony Digital · 2004

Gran Turismo 4 is a PlayStation 2 sim racing title by Polyphony Digital. It features A-Spec (first-person racing with experience-based progression), B-Spec (AI-directed crew-chief mode), Driving Missions, Photo Mode, and Nissan collaborations including the Fairlady Z NISMO S-Tune Concept and Z-Tune 350Z. It lacks online play at launch and uses reactive-only damage.

Minecraft

Mojang · 2009

Minecraft is a sandbox and survival game developed by Mojang Studios. Its first alpha version was released on 17 May 2009. It began as a clone of Infiniminer.

RimWorld

Ludeon Studios · 2016

RimWorld is a construction and management simulation game developed and published by Ludeon Studios for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It functions as a story generator driven by procedural 'storyteller' algorithms that select events to shape narrative experiences. Players oversee stranded colonists on a procedurally generated planet, forming and sustaining a colony while managing survival needs, mental stability, and external threats. Colonists are task-driven rather than directly controlled, and the game ends via spaceship construction, AI-assisted ship recovery, or DLC-specific endings. Events scale in difficulty and are influenced by configurable storyteller modes and difficulty presets.

SimCity 2000

Maxis / Will Wright · 1993

SimCity 2000 replaces top-down abstraction with isometric spatial logic, adds elevation and underground layers, and expands infrastructure choice—but offers no deeper explanation of how its systems connect. It rewards experimentation, not mastery.

SimCity 3000

Maxis · 1999

SimCity 3000 refines the city simulation loop with decay, density, and deal-making — but never asks why the city exists, only how to keep its accounts balanced.

Stardew Valley

Eric Barone · 2016

Stardew Valley is a top-down, open-ended farm life simulation where players inherit a dilapidated farm from their deceased grandfather, leave a corporate job, and rebuild life near Pelican Town in Stardew Valley.

Terraria

Re-Logic · 2011

Terraria is a 2D sandbox action-adventure game with no set goals. Players explore procedurally generated worlds, fight bosses to unlock progression, gather resources across biomes, craft equipment, and recruit NPCs by completing goals. Evil biomes like Corruption and Crimson spread and infect other areas. Resources such as ores are found in caves. The game supports single-player, multiplayer, and modding. It was developed by Re-Logic—an American independent studio based in Floyds Knobs, Indiana—using the Microsoft XNA framework. It launched on May 16, 2011, earlier than planned due to a beta leak. Development was paused in February 2012 but resumed in 2013, with major updates continuing thereafter.

The Sims 2

Maxis · 2004

The Sims 2 is a 2004 Maxis simulation that introduces full 3D, lifespan management, genetics, and 360° camera control to the franchise. It expands domestic agency but offers no narrative cohesion across its pre-built neighborhoods.

The Sims 4

Maxis · 2014

The Sims 4 is a social simulation game developed by Maxis and released in September 2014. It has no primary objectives or storyline. Players create Sims using Create-a-Sim, build homes in Build mode, and manage six depleting needs—hunger, bladder, hygiene, social, fun, and energy—through interactions with objects. Careers generate income, but advancement depends on developing linked skills. Aspirations and dynamic wants and fears provide optional goal-oriented structure. The game is open-ended and almost endless.

Wii Sports

Nintendo · 2006

Wii Sports is a hardware demo disguised as a game. It reduces sport to arm motion. It asks nothing of the player but gesture—and gives back only confirmation. It worked because it was the first thing many people ever did with motion control. It does not work as a game today.