When people think of management games, they might think of straitlaced simulation games dedicated to running an office or a school with very little room to experiment. While that trope definitely does exist within the management game genre, the modern genre at large is actually more wide-ranging and varied than people may think, with games available to suit everyone's tastes.
Though it might seem like a dense, complex genre that's hard to get into, there are plenty of beginner-friendly management games out there. This article will go over some of the best management games for newcomers to the genre, including classics as well as a few hidden gems.
8 Spiritfarer
Though Spiritfarer's storyline focuses on issues like death, mortality, and losing loved ones, the gameplay itself is a mix between platformer and management. The player makes their way through the game as a young woman called Stella and takes over as Spiritfarer at the beginning of the game. Her role consists of traversing throughout the region on her large boat to collect those who are ready to move on to the afterlife.
While doing this, players get the opportunity to manage exactly where Stella goes, who she collects, when they leave, and how her boat functions, all without any pressing time limits. The management aspect of Spiritfarer fits surprisingly well with the emotional storyline and creates a relaxing game perfect for players who want to take things at their own pace.
7 Bear And Breakfast
In Bear and Breakfast, players take on the role of a curious little bear, Hank, who decides to build and run a bed and breakfast in the woods. It's definitely as cute as it sounds, and it's also a great example of a management game that's as accessible to newcomers as it is to veterans of the genre.
From collecting resources for the B&B to building and customizing the B&B itself, the management part of this game is super engaging. There are always rooms to decorate and guests expecting a room or meal. That being said, the stressors of some other management sims aren't as pressing in this game. Instead, this title leans into allowing the player to play as they wish instead of forcing tedious goals onto them when it comes to serving guests or decorating rooms. This makes it great for newcomers and those who want an easygoing management experience.
6 Cities: Skylines
One of the most iconic and expansive city-builder management games, Cities: Skylines is great for newcomers to the genre. It's a relaxing game that gives the player total freedom, handing over the reigns for creativity to reign free without feeling too lax. It offers challenge and innovation in equal amounts, and there's nothing better than watching the starting strip of land expand out into a sprawling, thriving city, aided by the simple building mechanics that are incredibly easy to pick up.
As with other games on this list, Cities: Skylines also has a huge modding community and a ton of DLC. This means that the game often feels infinite. Players new and old can be certain that there will always be a way to spice up the game if it ever begins to feel stale.
5 RimWorld
RimWorld is a game with a very interesting concept: much of it relies upon the well-developed random event generator, led by three AI Storytellers that the player can choose between. The game uses this alongside the range in personalities of the player's fellow survivors of the crash-landing that serves as RimWorld's setting.
While the game gives plenty of options on how to manage the colony (and plenty of motivation to do a good job), the random events add a huge amount of depth to gameplay that might otherwise seem fairly average. Thanks to these events, each playthrough is totally unique, and anything can happen. While players can peacefully farm the days away or spend time collecting resources, it's just as likely that more bizarre options will lead the player down an absurdly funny rabbit hole. It's thanks to this that RimWorld is a great management game for newcomers and fans of the genre already: there's always something new to experience.
4 Cult Of The Lamb
Has any other game about demonic cults ever been quite so cute? Cult of the Lamb manages to do a ton of things at once: management, simulation, roguelike, and even romance can all be found in one game. What's more, it does all of them pretty well.
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Much of Cult of the Lamb's gameplay is focused on growing the cult and creating a space for every member to feel comfortable. In fact, if they aren't comfortable, they'll be certain to let the player know. If they get mad enough about it, they'll begin rampaging through the cult, spreading dissent. This means that players have to be smart about how they manage their cult. Assigning cultists to specific tasks will gain resources that can then be used to grow the cult by creating better locations for the cultists to enjoy, like nicer sleeping quarters, a place for them to go to confession, and places for them to pray.
Even the unavoidable roguelike gameplay aspect isn't that stressful for newcomers to that genre. The difficulty modes and accessibility options are extremely useful, and the roguelike gameplay is easy to pick up and get used to, making it great for a newcomer.
3 Slime Rancher
Some might not consider Slime Rancher and its sequel to be a traditional management game, but the little blobs players find themselves wrangling and rearing throughout the game would definitely beg to differ. Though much of Slime Rancher's gameplay focuses on exploration, action, and adventure, the actual management portions of the game show off the genre at its best (and often its funniest).
There's the player's farm to manage, slime pens to build, organize, and clean, and oftentimes the slimes will try to make a run for it. Herding them back up and making certain that they don't eat their own poop (which, of course, will turn them into tar monsters who will try to consume everything they see) is a more challenging task than it may first seem, but the magic of Slime Rancher lies in just how much fun it can be to manage all of these things at once. Plus, there are no extra stats to worry about. It's as simple as grabbing slimes, managing their day-to-day, and making sure their little smiling faces don't ravage the farm into a smoldering wreck by sundown.
2 Two Point Hospital
One of the things that makes Two Point Hospital so great is its unapologetic silliness. It's a great management game at its core, with plenty to focus on when it comes to building a hospital up and managing every patient that walks through the door. It also has great controls that are easy to manage, and a building difficulty that grows the more hours players put in, aided by things like hard-to-handle weather conditions or new diseases.
But the real magic lies in the ridiculousness that the game throws at its players just for fun, turning a regular management game into complete and utter chaos. This is a part of why it's so great for newcomers, too. There are few other management games that are both as captivating and as easy to learn.
1 Planet Zoo
Just like Planet Coaster, Planet Zoo is the management genre at its best. Players have a huge amount of freedom, and the parks they create can be customized to their heart's content. While it does require a ton of creativity, even if players choose to do the bare minimum, there's so much fun to be found in managing the day-to-day of the zoo and the animals within it.
One really great thing about Planet Zoo is its accessibility to newcomers to the game and to the management genre at large. Tutorials are useful, but they leave enough of the game unexplored that finding new things to focus on feels rewarding. Plus, the feedback loop of creating a great zoo, having happy animals, and getting a mass of visitors and donations is super addictive and will keep players new and old coming back for more.