Simulation game
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A simulation game, or sim game, (also known as a game of status or mixed game) is a mixture of a game of skill, a game of chance and a game of strategy, which results in a simulation of a complex structure (like a stock exchange, or civilisation flux). These games are quite current through their mirror of modern society. Its benefit is the representation of complex situations of communal life, interconnections in society, and partial aspects of the economy (for example, the development of the railroad).
The term can also be used to describe a video or computer game that is truer to reality (for instance, racing simulations would be racing games in which cars would handle more realistically, tank simulations would include more real life mechanics as part of the gameplay) or a game that attempts to simulate tasks performed in an artificial reality (for instance, MechWarrior/Battletech type games and games that include space flight are considered simulations, even though they have little basis in reality). The term simulation is often applied to games such as this without any modifiers, using the term this way however usually constitutes a different genre than sim games as discussed here, and are most often games with a first-person perspective (that is to say, that you view the game through though the eyes of your own ficticious character), and are often considered by a significant number players to be overly elaborate, unweildy, and drudgerous.
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Genres
Computer and video games
In computer and video games, these are frequently called sim games. Many of the most notable have been released from one company Maxis.
Examples
Maxis games
- SimCity, a game written by Will Wright where you can create or change a city. It has three sequels: SimCity 2000, SimCity 3000 and SimCity 4.
- SimAnt
- SimEarth
- SimLife
- SimIsle
- SimPark
- SimFarm
- SimTower, where you construct a simulated building complex.
- The Sims, a game by Will Wright where you can control the lives of people you create. As of 2003, it was the highest selling computer game of all time.
Non-Maxis games
- Utopia on Intellivision (1982) by Don Daglow, often credited as the first "world sim" video or computer game
- Animal Crossing, a life simulator for GameCube
- Civilization, a whole world sim by Sid Meier
- Seven Cities of Gold, 1985, a simulation of the exploration of the New World by Dani Bunten
- Jones in the Fast Lane, an early life simulator
- Microsoft Flight Simulator, a game, originally created by Bruce Artwick, where the player pilots an aircraft
- Noctis, a galaxy simulation where the player explores from the first-person viewpoint
See also
| Computer and video game genres |
| Adventure | Educational | Fighting | First-person shooter | Massively multiplayer | Music | Platform | Puzzle | Racing | Role-playing | Shoot 'em up | Simulation | Sports | Strategy | Third-person shooter |