The first thing that many players may think of when hearing the term "simulation game" is games like Euro Truck Simulator, political simulators like Crusader Kings, racing simulators, and games that simply take a lot of learning in order to play. However, simulation games come in all shapes and sizes; from management, business, survival, life, and walking simulators, all the way to tycoon games and action games that aim to simulate specific experiences with higher detail than the average game.
This list aims to provide a broad variety of simulators that are beginner-friendly, and/or contain simulation aspects without necessarily targeting hardcore simulation game fans. Many of these games are great places to start for players that have never played any kind of simulation, and there should be something here for everyone.
10 Prison Architect
This management simulation tasks players with designing, constructing, and managing a prison. Throughout a playthrough of Prison Architect, players will have to manage both their staff and their prisoners, including their prison's intake, financials, and more specific things such as the flow of contraband and potential escape routes.
Prison Architect is great for beginners to management simulators, primarily because players can choose how large they want their prison to be, how many inmates to take, and what security level they're going to manage. This means that players can begin by managing a small prison of twenty minimum-security inmates, for example, and grow from there, learning the game's deeper systems as they go.
9 Payday 2
Although Payday 2 is primarily a shooter/action game, there's a case to be made that when playing the game's various heists in full stealth, the game takes on a much more simulated feel; with players sneaking around taking out guards, answering their radios, hiding the bodies, and stealing keycards, Payday 2 gets players as close to the feeling of pulling off a heist as it can.
Payday 2 isn't always entirely accurate, though, and sometimes the game's AI can cause frustrations. Furthermore, if players are caught and forced into combat, the game takes a wildly different turn, though its gunfights are intense and at the very least do a good job of simulating the action from the scenes of classic film bank robberies.
8 Embr
This fire-fighting multiplayer game has players putting out fires across 25 unique levels in three different districts, unlocking new equipment as they progress. The game aims to be fun and frantic, and simulates the spread of fire as it slowly reduces the integrity of buildings.
In Embr, players are tasked with breaking down doors, smashing windows, and even clearing out gas leaks and repairing broken electrical circuits. However, Embr never gets bogged down in the specifics, focusing more on easy-to-use equipment and easy to understand mechanics that provides players with the power fantasy of fire-fighting without over-realistic gameplay.
7 Overcooked
Although Overcooked is more focused on being a chaotic multiplayer game than it is on simulation, despite its occasionally whacky environmental hazards, the game does a good job of simulating the stress of working in a kitchen.
In Overcooked, one to four players dash about the game's various kitchen levels in an attempt to cook as many dishes as possible. Players will clean plates, chop veg, fry burgers, and perform a variety of tasks as a team in order to succeed. Although the game isn't highly detailed in its cooking mechanics, it does a good job of simulating the atmosphere of a kitchen, especially when played with all four players.
6 The Escapists
This immersive simulation game tasks players with breaking out of ten unique and increasingly difficult prisons. The Escapists simulates the routines of guards and other inmates, a crafting system (and plenty of items to make use of) and a system for contraband in the prison. While planning their escape, players will have to deal with shakedowns, trade with other inmates, and manage their relationships with them.
The Escapists gives players freedom to escape in a variety of ways, allowing for plenty of player creativity, but this freedom is rarely overwhelming, largely due to the fact that the game's mechanics are easy to learn.
5 Cook, Serve, Delicious!
Cook, Serve, Delicious! is a restaurant simulator that aims to be easy to learn but hard to master. The game tasks players with bringing a run-down restaurant back to its five-star status through managing the restaurant and serving customers.
Players are tasked with designing a menu, purchasing unlocks with cash to improve their restaurant, and serving customers through a series of mini-games unique to each menu item. What makes Cook, Serve, Delicious! a great entry point for simulation games is its theme, simple gameplay, and light management elements that combine to make it both accessible and fun.
4 The Long Dark
This survival game's minimalistic art-style, sparse but effective use of color, and excellent lighting make it a visual treat that, during the game's quiet moments, can transform it into a pleasant walking simulator. However, make no mistake, The Long Dark is an extremely harsh and difficult game about surviving during the winter. Players have to contend with the weather, wild animals, and the limits of the human body, managing their resources and making smart decisions in order to survive.
The Long Dark may be challenging, but it's still a great introduction to simulation games, especially because the game's moment-to-moment gameplay is easy to get into and encourages replaying. Players can expect to manage their calories, deal with potential infections, scavenge for food, and keep warm. There's a lot to manage, and some beginners may find it too difficult, but the game's visuals and the ability to just get lucky make it more accessible than hardcore simulation games.
3 Two Point Hospital
This game is clearly influenced by the classic business simulation game, Theme Hospital, tasking players with designing and managing a hospital while attempting to cure patients of strange and unique ailments.
In Two Point Hospital, players will spend their time managing staff, analyzing their hospital's statistics, and optimizing their hospital to make as much money as possible through efficient management. The game's illnesses are far from realistic, but Two Point Hospital is a charming and accessible business simulation game that's a great place to start for those with little experience.
2 House Flipper
This relaxing simulation game about renovating houses and selling them for profit won't be for everyone, primarily because the gameplay is arguably rather monotonous and highly repetitive. However, this is part of House Flipper's charm, as it's designed and marketed as a game for relaxing.
House Flipper tasks players with either renovating houses to meet the specific requirements of clients, or simply designing their own house. The game provides plenty of cathartic, therapeutic moments, including smashing walls down with a hammer, and using plenty of other tools that allow players to paint, clean, and plaster. What makes House Flipper so great, however, is the satisfaction of turning an ugly, run-down house into something beautiful. While its seemingly mundane gameplay won't be for everyone, there's enough detail and intentionality in House Flipper's design to make it a great lightweight simulation game.
1 Spore
Arguably the most accessible simulation game on the market, even since its 2008 release, Spore aims to simulate the process of evolution, putting the fate of an entire custom species in the hands of the player.
In Spore, players take their species through five stages of evolution, starting right at the bottom at a microscopic scale. Spore may not be the most realistic simulation game (it's effectively science-fiction), but it's arguably the perfect place to start with simulation games; Spore is extremely easy to pick up and learn, and provides more of a sandbox than an actual challenge, so for players looking for a hard game, Spore is probably not the best choice.