Best Simulation Games on the PC

Simulation Games are one of the things the PC & Modern Multi-Platform is genuinely for. The ones worth playing start with Conan Exiles, Stardew Valley, Enshrouded.

The PC and Simulation Games

Not a console, and that is the point: no generation boundary, no exclusivity, and a back catalogue that goes back forty years and never stops working.

This is one of its strengths. Strategy, simulation and indies — the three genres that have essentially always lived here — plus mods, which turn several of the games below into different games entirely.

Filtering to simulation means you want a system to run or a routine to inhabit. It is the right filter when what you liked was being somewhere rather than beating something.

The Simulation Games Worth Playing

  1. 1. Conan Exiles

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  2. 2. Stardew Valley

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  3. 3. Enshrouded

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  4. 4. Escape from Tarkov

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  5. 5. Cities Skylines II

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  6. 6. RimWorld

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  7. 7. Enlisted

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  8. 8. Arma 3

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  9. 9. iRacing

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  10. 10. Palia

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

What Makes a Good Simulation Game

A game that does not need you to be good at it, and that rewards paying attention over reacting quickly.

Urgency. Simulations are deliberately slow, and the ones with no fail state give you nothing to push against.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best simulation game on the PC?

Conan Exiles is the usual first answer, and there are 10 in the library we cover.

Was the PC good at simulation games?

Yes — it is one of the things the machine is known for, and there are 10 in the library we cover.

What is a cosy game?

A simulation with no fail state and no time pressure. The label describes how it feels to play rather than what genre it is in.

Are management sims and life sims the same thing?

No — one is about running a system well, the other about inhabiting a routine. Recommending across that line is where most simulation recommendations go wrong.

How is this list put together?

From the games this site covers on the PC & Modern Multi-Platform, matched against hand-mapped gameplay categories rather than a storefront's genre tag. A page only exists where there are at least four, which is why some console and genre combinations have no page at all.

Simulation Games on Other Consoles

More From the PC

Or browse the whole PC & Modern Multi-Platform library.