Simulation video games used to be counted among the more niche titles out there. The belief seemed to make sense, as you’d have to be both a fan of the original sport or activity and a fan of video games to find sim games engaging. Time has routinely proved this belief wrong, however, as simulation games have routinely pulled in significant audiences far beyond initial expectations. So what games illustrate this fact, and why do sim games continue to grow in popularity?
Starting the Simulation Genre
‘Simulation’ games were largely used as scientific tools or as systems in education. The Sumerian Game, designed by then-teacher Mabel Addis, revolved around ruling the city of Lagash in Sumer, circa 3,500 BCE. Iterated over the years, the limited availability of computers at this time meant the title was not especially widespread.
The first person to bring sims to the mainstream was arguably Will Wright, game designer of 1989’s SimCity, alongside a wide host of other sim titles. SimCity set a tone that many other titles would emulate, with the understanding that accuracy was important, but it wasn’t the most important component of simulation titles.
Imagination Meets Exploration
Over the decades that followed, many other titles in the sim genre would narrow down on the formula, understanding that the key to success was fun and not complete realism. Sure, sim games had to take one step further than other genres when looking at real-life components of an activity, but they always had to understand where to draw the line.
Fishing simulators like the aptly named Ultimate Fishing Simulator from developer Ultimate Games S.A. demonstrate this concept by cutting out all the frustrating and sometimes tedious parts of real fishing. There’s no haggling over bait prices, being uncomfortably cold, or feeling the pain of a snapped rod early into a trip. In other words, on the spectrum of simulation to arcade experience, Ultimate Fishing Simulator is on the more realistic side, but it still explores the activity in a highly fictional way on a variety of platforms like Xbox, PlayStation, and now even mobile devices.
If you play Big Bass Bonanza, a popular slot game from developer Pragmatic Play, the title approaches the topic from the other side of the spectrum. The fishing in this five-reel slot shares little with most parts of fishing, except landing the big one. Both arcade and simulation sides of gaming condense the best part of the experiences, and this is how both sides find their success.
Whether looking at fishing games, truck driving simulators, or even titles that let you build your own gaming room setup, the key is finding the balancing point between accurate gameplay and fun. For some titles, this might mean intensely detailed representations of the minutia of real-life elements. Others might take a slightly more casual approach, to lean further into the parts of the activity that are the most famously loved.
It’s this flexibility that allows sim games to reimagine popular pastimes while remaining successful. They’re accurate enough to draw in existing fans of a sport or activity, but they’re relaxed and arcadey enough that they don’t alienate or dissuade newcomers. The reimagining is built on decades of video game understanding, and thanks to this, the genre only continues to grow.
