In recent years I have notice an increase in the number and popularity of “sim-games” and, to an extent, I would say it awkwardly makes sense – let me explain. First and foremost, although ideologically one could argue that any game is in itself a simulation, what I am referring to within this specific context is the genre that simulates real-world activities. As such, simulation games is an umbrella term for many different sub-genres; you have your classic city builders or management sims (Cities: Skylines), life and relationship sims (The Sims, aptly names), job simulations and many others.
I could start rambling on about the origin of some of these games, thinking for instance of how Sid Meier by the end of the ’80 was already producing simulation games (although later on they verged towards more strategic ones – consider 4X game series such as Civilization), but I think that would be a bit superfluous for what I am trying to discuss today. My focus is more directed to games that became popular in the last five to ten years and especially what I referred to as job simulations. There is however a big distinction to be made before going on. There exist ‘games’ or programs that aim to simulate a real environment in order to train people, some even used as proper tools for teaching. I assume that airplane pilots do not used Microsoft Flight Simulator to get their license, but I am sure they have advance flight simulators of their own in order to learn and train.
The job simulators I am considering are much simpler in nature and there are a lot of them, like a lot a lot of them, so let me give you some examples. House Flipper (2018) lets you buy, renovate and resell hoses, Ship Graveyard Simulator 1 & 2 (2021, 2023) lets you scrap big-ass boats and resell the metal and components, Storage Hunter Simulator (2025) lets you buy storage units and resell the junk you find inside. There are also even more relaxed games such as PowerWash Simulator (2022) which…well…it lets you power wash places for a paycheck. And these are just some of the top of my head. There are even games that let you be a border guard inspecting vehicles and people entering a country (same concept was also applied to a zombie-themed game making you halt infected people). There is a game out there that lets you play as a cashier in a grocery store and there is even one that lets you have a career as a streamer. Let me just say that there is even a sim-games (with a but-ton of mods) about owning a trading card shop where you can even go through the gatcha mechanics of opening packs and then reselling the Rares and UR’s that you find.
Just imagine for a moment living in a world where you work a 9 to 5 in a supermarket to then go back home and play a game where you are a cashier in a similar supermarket. This is the absurd historical moment we are living in and it is a sight to behold. So the question becomes: why? Why are there so many of these games and why did so many of them pop up in the last five years or so?
Let me be blunt in saying that these games, while they do tend to simulate life, the also provide something that our recent way of living has been dispensing less and less: gratification. Within these games, as you manage your activity, whatever it may be, you are able to make it flourish. From a simple cashier you can go on to become a manager, make more money, maybe open yet another activity. Gratification, the sense of tangible accomplishment, is something that (if you are bombarded by the news of the world that surrounds you) you have probably notice less and less. I am not saying that everything is going bad in the world; there are also many things that we are slowly, hopefully, making better. Alas, there are still many aspects that are not so bright.
Quintessentially, in a socio-political dimension where finding gratification is harder and harder, especially not for life-long goals (just think of what economists identify as the ‘lipstick effect’), a rise in popularity for sim-games makes perfect sense. There is a sense of progression and accomplishment that is intrinsic in their game mechanics. Numbers go up, stonks go brrr and depression goes down (or at least you trick your mind into thinking it). As your virtual business grows and becomes an empire within the presented game world, you feel a sense of success and an obvious resulting rush of dopamine. This, although partially, alleviates the dread or anxiety that reality may bring; it is a sort of escapism, but that could also be said about games and media in general. By a process of substitution, the game’s reality becomes a virtual surrogate for happiness and accomplishment and I would say this could be worrisome.
Let me be clear on a point before I go; my intent was not to criticize any of the games that I mentioned in this article. I will always be a firm defender of the freedom of the player: go forth and play whatever your heart’s desire, in whatever fashion you choose to (cheats and savescuming will always be allowed in my book) and on whatever platform, as long as you enjoy it.
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