Simulation games are becoming more and more popular as a genre, and with so much choice on what to ‘simulate’, it’s understandable. It can be nice to just relax and enter a world that’s not your own, but more importantly, one you can completely control.
From the days of Rollercoaster Tycoon, where you could create your own theme park, to your own family and friends’ daily lives on The Sims, there’s a lot to enjoy. Even now, on your mobile, you can get to feel what it’s like being a goat on Goat Simulator, but rather than focusing on farm animals, we look forward to 2022 to see which games players are waiting to play.
Become the ultimate thief
You’d think creating a game about breaking and entering and stealing valuables would be frowned upon. Then again, we’ve got games like Grand Theft Auto, so nothing’s really off-limits, is it?
Thief Simulator 2 expands on the original, putting you in the role of an adept thief as you plan out some robberies. You can sneak around a neighbourhood, looking for a viable house, before breaking in and taking out the security and using your tools to grab as much loot as you can before the cops catch you.
With new settings and harder challenges, it’s a nice sequel to the original. The game’s available across multiple consoles, too, including the new Xbox and PlayStation consoles and PC and Nintendo Switch. This means the art of thievery is opening up to a massive audience.
Rollercoaster sims continue to shine
We mentioned the original Rollercoaster Tycoon before, but if you thought the idea of making your own theme park wasn’t as popular nowadays as it was over 20 years ago, you’d be mistaken.
Published by Bandai Namco and released on PC and next-gen consoles, this year sees the release of Park Beyond. As the name suggests, this goes way beyond just a conventional theme park. Sure, it comes with all the good rollercoaster sim parts, such as creating your rides and your employees that help make it run. But in this case, you get the ultimate freedom to make a ride that you won’t find in the real world.
Flames on a never-ending circle of doom? A water flume that dives into ice cream instead? This theme park world is your oyster to let your creativity run rampant.
Prepare a settlement, build for war
Two hot games to watch out for this year on the PC are Night is Coming and Viking City Builder. The first takes you into a fantasy world, and it’s up to you to build your structures and settlement. That means getting the right resources, settlers and farming the land. Oh, and of course, deal with the mythical creatures that come to attack you.
Meanwhile, fans of the hit Vikings TV series will enjoy Viking City Builder, where you will be able to create an authentic Viking experience as you take control of a small group that’s pillaged a town in Europe (as Vikings do, of course) and set about building up your own village.
Similar to Night is Coming, you need to gather supplies, erect your buildings and, while there may not be any mythical creatures attacking your settlement, you’ll have a bunch of angry Europeans wanting their land back. So best to get your army prepared, too.
What happens in Vegas stays on the PC
One of the greatest casino-inspired simulation games around is SimCasino. Available to play on Steam, you can play some casino classics yourself – with the same game options and betting alternatives you would find at iGaming websites – as well as create your own casino empire, which is the game’s main goal. Catch the cheaters, interrogate them and lure in the heavy hitters as you plan out your deft interior.
We’re hoping that 2022 could be the year this game gets an upgrade with new mods and additional games. A sequel would be nice, too.
The real-life of cowboys
Thanks to Rockstar, when you think of a cowboy video game, the first thing that will come to your head is the Red Dead Redemption games.
But now you can look forward to a more realistic game in the form of Cowboy Life Simulator on the PC. You’ll head back to the 19th century and take on the role of an authentic cowboy. Not just an outlaw. You’ll be looking after your farm (as John Marston would have wanted to), gathering resources and making it thrive.
Of course, you’ll still be able to head to the saloons to gamble away and fight off the bandits, as well as explore the Wild West on some grand adventures. Sure, you’re not part of the Red Dead crew, but you’ll be your own cowboy and create your own experience. Yeehaw!
