The Best Simulation Games of All Time

The simulation genre is certainly not a favourite genre of mine, though there are some gems out there that can entertain me for a short period of time. For the most part though, I’m not a regular player of simulation games, except for Farm Simulator. Farm Simulator is life. However, the genre is so large it’s hard to define what a simulation game is. So for the purpose of this list we won’t repeat any games from the same sub-genre of simulator. EG: Racing games, military shooters, plane simulators, etc.

These are the top 10 simulation games of all time.

10. Arma 3

This is the only military simulator on the list, so all of you Operation Flashpoint fans can go away. Not to imply that Operation Flashpoint had any fans at all. Arma 3 is far from a perfect game, it’s almost as buggy as its predecessor, and I can’t help but get frustrated with how broken the game is in certain scenarios. However if played under the right circumstances with the right people it can be immensely fun, if slamming you’re head against a wall over and over until you collapse from blood loss is fun. I suppose that even consciously inflicting pain upon yourself can be fun if you have good company.

9. Euro Truck Simulator 2

There no reason for me to like this game, and yet somehow I cannot stop playing it. One minute I’ll be thinking about shutting down the game, and wasting my life away in some other fashion, then in another minute I’ll be more worried about the sedan taking the curve in the left lane right alongside me. This game does an amazing job of demanding your attention; you will always be making decisions to improve the efficiency of your route. The game encourages long term expansion, but makes it difficult by shoving short term problems down your throat on every route. Slovenia sure is beautiful at night though.

8.  Bread Simulator

There is not much to say about this game, you are a slice of bread just trying to go about daily life. Doing things bread does. I’d say the best way to practice to get better at bread simulator is to eat a copious amount of toast.

7. Sports Game (Year Here)

It’s that time of year again, let’s go spend another 60$ to get the same game as last year. And yes this applies to every sports game that comes out annually. These games are fun, no doubt. I buy them every couple years to see if madden has changed in the last decade. (It hasn’t) While I don’t suggest buying these titles every year they come out, you should pick one up for some great fun with friends who are maybe a little video game impaired.

6. Spore

Spore wasn’t what people expected; in fact it was an extreme disappointment. Does that make it a bad game? Not at all, this game is still way more fun than the previous titles on this list. What beats walking around as a penis alien, eating fruits off trees, and killing all of your neighbours? That’s every adult’s fantasy. As the game progresses your species will develop, and the game switches genres on you a few times. It doesn’t do any of its genres exceptionally well, but if you’re going to be an rts, action, adventure, rpg, simulator, you’re not going to be perfect either. At the end of the day Spore promised too much and delivered to little.

5. Farming Simulator 2015

Yes I put this ahead of Spore, shut up. Honestly if it wasn’t such a colossal waste of time it would be higher on the list. Why? Because this game is a masterpiece, it’s realistic from what I can tell, its immersive, and somehow fun. Hours will go by as your plant canola, and harvest wheat. You can build a farming empire collecting huge pay checks, and growing your farms even larger. On top of that you can play in multiple ways, if you’re more the business man you can plant low maintenance crops and focus on growing your empire, If you’re an idiot and prefer actually planting, and growing crops than you can do that too. Just don’t end up like me and sink 1300 hours into this game, you unfortunately cannot be a professional farm simulator. If you’re that experienced maybe you should try real farming.

4. Project Cars

This has to be one of the most ambitious racing Sims out there. That’s why it’s getting its spot on the list; this game is huge, and beautiful. The campaign is pretty fun, but this game shines in the gameplay itself. The handling feels real, and the experience is really heightened with the use of a steering wheel. Plus the soundtrack is killer. One complaint about this game is the online play, not that it’s the games fault, but other people are not as good a racer as you, and all of them speak French it would seem.

3. The Sims 3

This game is hard to describe, let me make this as much like a steam review as possible. “Made an ugly character, got a job, married a girl, had kids, killed the kids by locking them in the basement, accidentally burned to death when I forgot to turn the stove off. 10/10″

2. Kerbal Space Program

Personally, this game is far beyond my IQ. It requires some very real thinking, and you will fail a lot! You will learn a lot playing this game as well. I know more about orbital mechanics than I ever thought I would. The game employs real astrophysics making it a very accurate sim. It’s not something you will have fun with immediately, unless your thing is watching your hard work explode on take-off.

1. Microsoft Flight Simulator X

This is not an easy game to learn, so be patient with it, difficulty aside, this game if freaking awesome. This sim is spot on; it feels as though you are in fact flying a real plane. That is an awesome feeling. And though I never fancied it, multiplayer is a very popular way to play this sim. You can communicate with other aircraft, and the tower to coordinate as closely as possible the real work it takes to land planes. This game is fantastic, and if you’re a fan of the simulator genre you should pick it up.