Simulation game

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A screenshot from The Sims: Deluxe Edition. The Sims is an example of a simulation game. The sim in this picture is playing with a virtual reality set.

A simulation game, or sim game, (also known as a game of status or mixed game) is a game that contains a mixture of skill, chance, and strategy to simulate an aspect of reality, such as a stock exchange. In computer games simulation games is a wide super-genre covering titles such as MS Flight Simulator, SimCity, Civilization and The Sims. Some simulation games are intended to simulate the real world; others are intended to simulate a fictional world; still others are designed to be able to do both.

1 Online games
2 Table-top and computer simulation games
3 Genres of computer simulation games
4 See also

[edit] Online games

Online simulation games include browser based games and Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs), the second of which requires you to download software to your computer before you can login and start playing. These online games can generate hundreds of millions of hits a day and their unique online interactivity keeps people entertained for hours.

[edit] Table-top and computer simulation games

Simulation games have been played with pencil and paper for many years. Maps are drawn on paper and cardboard counters or metal figures represent the characters or military units. The players may all be on the same side, or they may be on two or more opposing sides. A referee decides what is done by characters who are not controlled by players, and resolves situations which are not covered by the rules.

[edit] Genres of computer simulation games

Online games that must be played online or through a browser window
Vehicular simulators generally attempt a realistic representation of how to drive a certain vehicle. Flight simulators and Racing games are typical examples.
Role-playing games and skirmish war games are played on an individual scale; each player controls one or a few characters.
Tactical war games and operational war games simulate small-scale battles, typically involving a few hundred or at most a few thousand soldiers, and are commonly real-time tactics or turn-based tactics games.
Strategic war games simulate large-scale battles, campaigns, and entire wars. Grand strategy war games and nation-simulation games allow the players to control nations. Due to their scale they are commonly of the turn-based strategy type.
In god games players represent an entity with supernatural powers.
In life simulator games, which sometimes overlap god games, a virtual life, career, etc. is simulated. Dating sims, a subset, are meant to simulate a relationship or friendship.
Economic simulation games present players with aspects or the entirety of an economy or a business. A specialised sub-type is the city-building game genre.
Real-time strategy games combine stylised aspects of wargaming with economic simulation games.
Pet-raising simulations include games like Nintendogs, Nakayoshi Pet Advance Tamagotchi and many more.