Simulation game

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A screenshot from The Sims: Deluxe Edition. The Sims is an example of a simulation game.

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, RollerCoaster Tycoon, and The Sims. Some simulation games are intended to simulate the real world; others are intended to simulate a fictional world; still others (The Sims 2 for example) are designed to be able to do both.

[edit] Multiplayer simulation 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.Some 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 or moderator decides what is done by characters who are not controlled by players (NPCs or Non-Player Characters), and resolves situations which are not covered by the rules.

[edit] Genres of computer simulation games

Sports Simulation Games like the Football Manager, FIFA Manager, Championship Manager and Out of the Park Baseball series.
Online games that must be played online or through a browser window. A good example of this type of program is the popular web site, Second Life.
Vehicular simulators generally attempt a realistic representation of how to drive a certain vehicle. Flight simulators and racing games are typical examples.
Combat simulators capture the experience of being in combat. They may simulate the experience of driving a combat vehicle in battle, such as a tank. Or they may simulate being a soldier in battle. Or they may provide a comprehensive experience, in which the player can choose to drive a vehicle, or fight as an individual soldier, using a variety of weapons and roles.
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 simulations, a subset, are meant to simulate a relationship or friendship. The Sims is an excellent example that falls under this category.
Economic simulation games present players with aspects or the entirety of an economy or a business. Examples are Lincity (reach sustainable economy) and RollerCoaster Tycoon 3. 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, The Sims 2: Pets, NeoPets, and many more.
Hacking simulation games are set either in a GUI- (Uplink) or a command console-based (Dark Signs) environment, which provides the player with methods to access locally (ingame) simulated servers in a way similar to techniques used by hackers to gain unauthorized access to computer systems and networks.