The 8 Best Simulator Games You Can Play
Feeling organised? Ready to manage? Our list of the best simulator games will give you a choice of fresh new careers to try. Whether that’s as a university administrator trying to keep students happy, a pilot, or even the new owner of a PC building business. Start writing your to-do list now because it’s time to get simming.
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00:00 [SIMULATOR NOISES]
00:04 Feeling organized, ready to manage?
00:06 Our list of the best simulator games
00:08 will give you a choice of fresh new careers to try out.
00:12 Whether that's a university administrator trying
00:14 to keep students happy, a pilot, or even
00:17 the new owner of a PC building business,
00:19 start writing your to-do list now,
00:21 because it's time to get simming.
00:23 [SIMULATOR NOISES]
00:26 [SIMULATOR NOISES]
00:31 The best simulation games serve up
00:33 something that should be a chore
00:34 and turn it into something dangerously compelling.
00:37 Powerwash Simulator just shouldn't work.
00:39 Yet, when faced with endless miles of dirt and grime,
00:42 all we want to do is grab our machine
00:44 with its variety of nozzles and get down to filthy business.
00:47 There's something truly meditative
00:49 about tackling the maps of career mode,
00:51 as the muck disappears under gallons of water.
00:53 With a rewarding pling as you finish each section,
00:56 giving you a little super mean-- wait, sorry, dopamine hit.
01:00 Just another few hundred of those,
01:02 and this place will be sparkling.
01:04 Oh, and you can even ask a friend
01:06 to join you in co-op mode to get together
01:08 for some good, clean fun.
01:10 [SIMULATOR NOISES]
01:13 [SIMULATOR NOISES]
01:18 City Skylines came along in 2015 to restore the city sim
01:22 genre to its former glory, offering
01:24 a contemporary reworking of Maxis's original SimCity
01:28 formula.
01:28 Skylines feels like a modern city sim
01:31 in every sense of the word, and watching your metropolis
01:34 expand and thrive in real time has never looked so good.
01:38 But don't worry, not too much has changed.
01:40 Your city dwellers still really don't
01:42 like it if they live too close to the sewage plant
01:44 or don't have clean water.
01:46 So fussy.
01:47 City Skylines is also one of the growing number of simulation
01:50 games that's available on console, too.
01:53 And the sleek user interface turned the comfort
01:55 of a controller into a totally viable, not to mention
01:58 enjoyable option for those less au fait with a mouse
02:02 and keyboard.
02:02 [SIMULATOR NOISES]
02:06 Contact Los Angeles Tower on 120.0520.
02:09 The 2020 release of Microsoft Flight Simulator
02:11 was the first time the series appeared on console,
02:14 and it was immediately right at home on Xbox Games Pass.
02:18 If you've always wanted to take to the skies
02:20 but never had the gaming PC to power your cloudy dreams,
02:23 Asbo Studios' incredible sim is here to switch your brain
02:27 to airplane mode.
02:28 The game is a visual marvel, and the level
02:30 of realism applied to the technicalities of flying
02:33 is simultaneously impressive and terrifying.
02:36 The nice thing, though, is the understanding
02:38 that you might just want to take off and see the sights,
02:41 in which case you can just turn on all the assists,
02:44 and the game just becomes beautiful tourism.
02:47 As a pilot, you can take in the photorealistic 4K planet
02:50 Earth, complete with realistic weather,
02:52 and whether you want to see the wonders of the world
02:55 or just find your house, Microsoft Flight Simulator
02:58 will happily oblige.
02:59 [SIMULATOR NOISES]
03:02 This is probably going to make you feel really old,
03:11 but The Sims 4 is now eight years old.
03:14 The reason there's never been a sequel is simple.
03:16 Maxis has added so many expansion packs, stuff packs,
03:20 and game packs over the years that The Sims 4 now feels
03:23 like hundreds of games in one.
03:24 Maybe you want to look after an entire family of vampires
03:27 or werewolves, or perhaps build yourself
03:30 the ultimate tiny home, or live by the beach,
03:32 or take on the lives of the rich and famous Sims,
03:35 or even just spend hours constructing the ultimate
03:37 countryside mansion.
03:38 Whether you just want to build or really
03:40 want to dive into the lifestyle element that's constantly
03:43 being updated with more diversity and depth,
03:46 The Sims 4 is still the cream of the management crop.
03:49 [SIMULATOR NOISES]
03:52 Ready your anti-static armband?
03:59 Grab your thermal paste and prep that can of pressurized air.
04:02 PC building simulator is here, and it's more satisfying
04:05 than we could ever have predicted.
04:07 There's something very soothing about taking on a small PC
04:10 business and simply sorting everyone's hardware problems
04:14 one rig at a time.
04:15 This sim is ultra granular, meaning
04:17 you have to undo screws and untangle wires before you can
04:21 even get to the good stuff.
04:22 Excitingly, too, you can play with a huge range
04:24 of real-life hardware components.
04:26 Brands like Intel, AMD, and Nvidia
04:29 are all here to bring some gravitas to your ultimate
04:32 builds.
04:32 There's also a free construction mode
04:34 to build your dream gaming PC.
04:36 You might even feel like building your own PC
04:39 once you're done.
04:40 [SIMULATOR NOISES]
04:44 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:47 Ready to go back to school?
04:50 Don't worry.
04:51 You don't have to go that far back.
04:53 Two Point Campus is all about building
04:54 the ultimate university.
04:56 And if you've played Two Point Hospital,
04:58 you'll be familiar with the humorous tone
05:00 of this in-depth management sim.
05:02 Unlike Two Point Hospital, though,
05:03 where we could look at the bigger picture
05:05 and not really worry about the patients turning
05:07 into spooks in the corridor, Two Point Campus
05:09 forces us to really care about our students.
05:12 If they're not happy learning gastronomy
05:14 or riding their horses and jousting at night school,
05:16 then they won't want to pay you to keep educating them.
05:19 Not only that, but we need to take care of their social lives
05:22 too, throwing parties in the student union
05:24 and even adding items to help them build friendships.
05:27 You better be having the time of your lives.
05:29 [SIMULATOR NOISES]
05:32 Ever wanted to be the lone member
05:39 of a professional kitchen?
05:40 The correct answer is, yes, chef.
05:42 And Cooking Simulator is here to test your skills
05:44 in a sprawling, realistic kitchen.
05:46 If your only experience of Chef Sims is cooking mama,
05:48 consider this a trip from the frying pan into the fire.
05:52 Your diners are demanding.
05:54 And not only that, but cooking is no mere matter
05:56 of waving a wooden spoon in the general direction of a pan.
05:59 Instead, you need to perfectly measure every ingredient,
06:03 slice and dice your meats and veg,
06:04 and perfectly cook each item in the correct saucepan.
06:07 Thankfully, if you're more in the mood
06:09 for mindless destruction, that's also possible here.
06:12 And how a lot of our first meals went,
06:14 with developer Big Cheese giving you
06:16 the ability to start fires, break plates,
06:19 and blow up the microwave.
06:20 Whoopsie.
06:21 [SIMULATOR NOISES]
06:24 Of course, we couldn't have a best Sims list
06:31 without the sound of screams coming from a frankly
06:34 dangerously designed theme park ride.
06:36 But hey, it's what your guests are paying for, right?
06:39 Planet Coaster from the management sim specialist
06:41 Frontier Developments is here to scratch
06:43 all your old school roller coaster tycoon itches.
06:46 Building your own Disneyland or Universal Studios
06:49 has never been this much fun as you
06:51 craft the theme park of your dreams from the flowerbeds up.
06:54 It can be a little intimidating for first time players,
06:56 as there's just so much to get to grits with as you build,
06:59 organize, and staff your park.
07:01 But once you've got the basics, Planet Coaster feels limitless.
07:04 There's also no chance of running out of new items,
07:07 with all of the endless DLC packs on offer.
07:09 So whatever kind of park you want to build,
07:11 you'll find everything you want here.
07:14 So that's the best simulator games you can play right now.
07:17 Go forth and manage, or just clean loads of stuff.
07:21 And let us know in the comments below
07:23 if you've got your own recommendations of what
07:25 we should be playing.
07:27 [MUSIC PLAYING]
07:31 (wind blowing) (laughing)