Let me level with you for a sec: I reeeeeeally hate the term “simulation” game. Because, what does it even mean? Isn’t every game a simulation of something? Metaphor: Refantazio is a democracy simulator. Baldur’s Gate 3 is a D&D simulator. Final Fantasy 7 is an eco-terrorist simulator. See what I mean?
But there are a certain kind of “simulation games” that riff off of every day, normal, absolutely mundane activities like: making friends, earning money, accomplishing tasks, and managing your time. These have come to be known as “life sims.” I’m thinking of, well, The Sims, but also games like Animal Crossing and Bitlife, or even “job sims” like TCG Card Shop Simulator. I would also argue that “dynasty/city builders” are similar enough to be included under their own appropriate categories here, too.
(We probably need more macro-life simulators and micro-life simulators genre differentiation, but that’s for another article!)
In these types of games, you are “gameifying” real life to an extent. Sure, it’s highly exaggerated real life for the sake of fun—but you are still doing chores and running errands for the most part. Maybe we should start calling them Society Simulation or something. (I think I’m onto something here.)
Anyway, here are my favorite life sims, immersive sims, job/business sims, dynasty/city builders, and society simulation games available to play right now.
Category 1: Life Sims
Definition + scope: Life simulation games let players shape the daily lives, relationships, and personal growth of virtual characters, often with open-ended storytelling and player-driven choices. From managing social interactions to decorating homes and pursuing careers, these games thrive on emergent gameplay and player creativity.
1. The Sims
Why am I even writing about The Sims like you don’t know what it is? I feel silly including the global sensation like you haven’t heard of it yet, but my list wouldn’t be complete without it.
The Sims 4 is a life simulation game where players create and control virtual people, known as Sims, guiding them through daily life, relationships, careers, and personal aspirations.
Players can design and customize their Sims’ appearances, personalities, and homes, then shape their stories in an open-ended world filled with dynamic social interactions and unexpected events. Whether pursuing a dream job, building the perfect home, or starting a chaotic family, The Sims 4 offers endless creative possibilities and emergent storytelling.
Plus, The Sims and The Sims 2 both recently received a rerelease for the game’s 25th anniversary. You can buy them separately or in the Sims Legacy bundle.
Key features:
- Create-A-Sim: Customize Sims’ physical features, outfits, and unique personality traits.
- Build/Buy Mode: Decorate homes with a building system and an extensive furniture catalog.
- Emotions & Personality: Sims experience emotions that affect their interactions and behaviors.
- Career & Aspirations: Guide Sims through careers, skills, and life goals.
- Social Interactions & Relationships: Build friendships, fall in love, start families, or stir up drama.
- Life Stages & Aging: Sims progress through different life stages, from infancy to old age.
2. MySims
MySims is back and cuter than ever in this retro re-release with updated graphics, bringing its signature charm to PC players. Set in a struggling town, it’s up to you to revitalize the community by designing homes, crafting furniture, and helping quirky residents like DJ Candy Supergroove and Cap’n Ginny.
With a focus on creativity and customization, MySims offers a laid-back, cozy game experience where your imagination shapes the world around you. Whether you’re constructing the perfect arcade, uncovering hidden treasures, or just hanging out with new friends, this charming life sim puts the power of town-building in your hands.
Key Features:
- Build & Customize Your Town: Design homes, businesses, and landmarks from the ground up.
- Meet & Befriend Unique Locals: Interact with a cast of colorful characters who bring the town to life.
- Craft & Decorate: Create furniture, accessories, and décor using collected materials.
- Explore & Discover: Search the world for hidden treasures, special patterns, and unique collectibles.
- Shape the Community: Decide who moves in, who moves out, and how your town evolves.
3. inZOI
inZOI is billed as a next-gen life simulation that hands you the reins to shape entire communities, build stunning homes, and craft deeply personal stories. This highly detailed sim lets you create unique characters—called Zois—who live, work, and form relationships based on their personalities and life experiences.
With cutting-edge customization tools and facial motion capture options, inZOI blends immersive storytelling with a powerful creative suite, letting players design everything from cityscapes to individual character animations.
Whether you’re orchestrating a bustling metropolis or just watching your Zois navigate the highs and lows of life, inZOI offers a fresh take on the life sim genre with endless possibilities.
And yes, the inZOI uses genAI in the game.
Key Features:
- Deep Life Simulation: Zois live autonomously, forming relationships, and spreading rumors.
- Advanced Character Customization: Over 250 options to personalize everything from hair to outfits.
- Unreal Engine 5 Realism: Stunning, lifelike cities inspired by real-world locations.
- AI-Powered Creativity: Generate custom patterns, textures, and even 3D objects using text.
- Community Sharing: Showcase and explore user-generated content within the game.
4. Growing Up
Growing Up is an immersive life simulation that lets you shape a character’s journey from childhood to adulthood, navigating friendships, education, and career paths in a nostalgic 1990s setting.
Every choice—whether it’s studying for exams, exploring the city, or forming lasting relationships—determines your character’s future, making each playthrough a unique experience. With deep customization, a branching narrative, and over 200 skills to master, Growing Up offers a heartfelt coming-of-age story where your decisions define who you become.
Key Features:
- Life Simulation with Generational Play: Guide your character from toddler to adult, then continue the legacy with their children.
- Branching Narrative: Make meaningful choices that shape your character’s story and friendships.
- 1990s Nostalgia: Explore a richly detailed city filled with references to pop culture.
- Dynamic Skill System: Unlock over 200 skills and pursue one of 42 unique career paths.
- Deep Customization: Personalize your character’s look, schedule, and living space.
5. Bitlife
BitLife is a wildly entertaining life simulation game that puts your entire existence in your hands. Make choices that shape your destiny, from childhood to old age, navigating careers, relationships, and unexpected twists. Will you become a successful entrepreneur, a devoted parent, or a reckless thrill-seeker? Every decision leads to new possibilities, hilarious moments, and dramatic consequences.
BitLife is free to play on your phone or in your browser, making it a great “in-transit time-killer” type game. But it isn’t as fully fleshed out as others on this list. Replayability is really high, which is great.
Key Features:
- Full Life Simulation: Experience every stage of life, from birth to old age.
- Endless Possibilities: Choose your education, career, relationships, and lifestyle.
- Dynamic Choices: Face the impact of your decisions with unexpected twists and challenges.
- Family and Parenthood: Start a family, adopt children, and navigate your responsibilities.
- Wealth and Success: Manage finances, invest in assets, and climb the ladder of success.
- Multiple Playstyles: Pursue an honest life, embrace chaos, or experiment with alternate realities.
6. Hello Kitty Island Adventure
I need a genre called “dream life simulator” because this is that. It’s not as gritty and realistic as some of the others on my list, and that’s what I love about it. Total cozy escapism.
Hello Kitty Island Adventure invites you on a heartwarming open-world journey filled with friendship, exploration, and creativity. Restore a mysterious island alongside Hello Kitty and her friends, solve ancient puzzles, customize cozy spaces, and immerse yourself in a charming world teeming with adorable critters and delightful surprises.
Key Features:
- A Vast Island to Explore: Traverse diverse biomes, from deep oceans to floating islands.
- Befriend Iconic Characters: Meet over 40 beloved Hello Kitty & Friends characters.
- Creative Customization: Personalize your avatar, decorate cozy cabins.
- Relaxing Activities: Cook delicious meals, fish for rare critters, and cultivate a lush garden.
- Dynamic Events & Seasons: Experience festive celebrations, and changing weather.
- Multiplayer Fun: Join friends online for cooperative adventures, social quests, and special bonuses.
7. Animal Crossing: New Horizons [Switch only]
Live your best island life with Animal Crossing: New Horizons! Create your dream island, interact with adorable animal neighbors, and enjoy a relaxing, open-ended gameplay experience.
Whether you’re fishing, designing, or celebrating with friends, every day brings new surprises in this tranquil simulation game. Explore a whimsical world of possibilities, create your perfect island, and make memories in this heartwarming life simulation. Animal Crossing: New Horizons offers endless hours of cozy, laid-back fun.
Key Features:
- Customize your island: Shape your paradise with limitless decoration and design options.
- Interact with neighbors: Befriend quirky animal villagers, each with unique personalities.
- Seasonal events: Celebrate holidays and festivals throughout the year with themed activities.
- Relaxing activities: Fish, catch bugs, and garden at your own pace.
- Craft and upgrade: Gather materials to craft tools, furniture, and more.
- Multiplayer fun: Visit friends’ islands or invite them to your own.
8. Emily is Away
Emily is Away is a nostalgic interactive story set in the early 2000s. Relive the days of AIM and MSN Messenger as you navigate the ups and downs of your high school relationship with Emily. Choose your dialogue and watch as your decisions shape the narrative across five years of growing up. Emily is Away boasts a heartfelt, emotional journey back to simpler times. Enjoy a story-driven experience filled with personal choices and the iconic feel of old-school messaging.
Key Features:
- Branching narrative: Your choices affect the course of the story and relationships.
- AIM-era nostalgia: Experience the charm of early 2000s instant messaging and chatrooms.
- Dialogue decisions: Make key choices in conversations that alter your relationship.
- Personalize your screenname: Create a unique handle and change your text color.
- Buddy icons & away messages: Use classic chatroom features to interact with characters.
Category 2: Job Sims
Definition + scope: Job simulation games focus on recreating specific professions, either realistically or with a humorous twist, allowing players to experience everything from running a bakery to piloting a spaceship. These games often emphasize skill progression, task management, and sometimes quirky mechanics that turn mundane jobs into engaging gameplay loops.
9. Powerwash Simulator
The ultimate stress-busting, grime-blasting experience! PowerWash Simulator 2 let’s you transform the dirtiest locations into sparkling masterpieces.
With upgraded tools, satisfying new mechanics, and expanded multiplayer options (including split-screen co-op) you can now clean with even more precision and relaxation. Whether you’re uncovering the secrets of Muckingham or personalizing your cozy home base, every spray brings pure, sudsy satisfaction.
Key Features:
- Fun cleaning tools: Enhanced soap mechanics cling to grime, making cleaning even more satisfying.
- Home base customization: Decorate your space with furniture and trinkets you collect.
- Co-op options: Play online or in split-screen to wash away dirt with friends.
- Relaxing gameplay: Enjoy the meditative joy of transforming dirty spaces into pristine perfection.
10. TCG Card Shop Simulator
Ever dreamed of running your own trading card shop? TCG Card Shop Simulator puts you in charge, letting you stock shelves with the latest booster packs, set your own prices, and manage the business side of a thriving local game store. Whether you’re flipping rare finds for profit or hosting tournaments to build a loyal community, success is in your hands.
With deep shop customization, dynamic customer trends, and an ever-growing inventory of cards to collect, this is the ultimate simulation for TCG fans and business strategists alike.
Key Features:
- Run a shop: Manage inventory, pricing, and layout for maximum customer satisfaction.
- Collect rare cards: Open booster packs yourself and decide whether to sell or keep.
- Host tournaments: Organize events, attract players, and grow your store’s reputation.
- Expand your business: Upgrade your shop, unlock new card sets, and boost profits.
- Adapt to trends: Stock popular cards and adjust strategies to meet demand.
11. Two Point Museum
You are a curator and designer of the museum of your dreams in Two Point Museum! From prehistoric wonders to supernatural oddities, manage exhibits, lead expeditions, and keep both guests and staff happy—while making sure kids don’t climb on the dinosaur bones. Build your reputation, attract donations, and create an unforgettable experience for every visitor.
Key Features:
- Lead expeditions: Send experts to discover rare artifacts across 100+ unique locations.
- Keep guests entertained: Arrange guided tours, manage visitor needs, and maximize donations.
- Protect your collection: Watch out for thieves, mischievous kids, and unpredictable exhibits.
- Build your museum empire: Unlock and upgrade five unique museum locations across Two Point County.
12. Farming Simulator
Let’s get gritty and realistic with Farming Simulator 25! Build your dream farm across diverse landscapes, from North America’s grain fields to East Asia’s rice paddies. Grow crops, raise livestock, and manage forestry, all while handling unpredictable weather and using cutting-edge machinery. Whether solo or in co-op multiplayer, your farm, your rules!
Key Features:
- Expansive farming world: Choose from three unique locations with new crops and animals.
- Advanced weather effects: Face twisters, hailstorms, and realistic ground deformation.
- Authentic machinery: Operate 400+ real-world vehicles & tools from 150+ top brands.
- Customization: Build, expand, and personalize your farm with new production chains and mod support.
13. House Flipper
Pick up your hammer and get flipping. House Flipper 2 brings fresh mechanics, new visuals, and even more creative freedom. Renovate old homes, build from scratch in Sandbox Mode, and explore the charming town of Pinnacove, where every house holds a story. Whether you’re cleaning, designing, or constructing, it’s time to make your dream home a reality!
Key Features:
- Revamped renovation tools: Hammer, paint roller, and mop—back and better than ever.
- Sandbox Mode: Build houses from the ground up with total creative freedom.
- Story Mode: Restore homes, complete renovation jobs, and uncover town secrets.
- Charming town of Pinnacove: Meet friendly residents and discover local stories.
14. Fresh Start Cleaning Simulator
Embark on a peaceful journey to restore the world. Fresh Start Cleaning Simulator lets you clean up pollution, revive nature, and help adorable animals—all with your trusty vacuum-water hose. Watch as landscapes transform before your eyes, unlocking upgrades and solving puzzles along the way.
Key Features:
- Eco-friendly adventure: Clean, recycle, and restore nature’s beauty.
- Upgrade your skills: Unlock abilities to clean and restore more efficiently.
- Meet and help animals: Befriend cute creatures who need your aid.
- Explore and solve puzzles: Find hidden items and repair travel mechanisms.
15. Euro Truck Simulator
I know little to nothing about this game but the fact that it was rated Overwhelmingly Positive on Steam made me do a double take. People like trucks, I guess!! Euro Trucks, specifically.
Hit the open road and become king of European highways! Euro Truck Simulator 2 challenges you to transport cargo across vast, detailed landscapes, managing both your driving skills and your growing trucking empire.
Key Features:
- Massive open world: Drive across 60+ European cities, from London to Warsaw.
- Trucking business management: Buy garages, hire drivers, and expand your fleet.
- Customize your ride: Upgrade trucks with lights, beacons, horns, and more.
- Convoy multiplayer: Team up with friends for online deliveries.
- Realistic driving: Navigate highways with authentic physics and road networks.
Category 3: Civilization Sims
Definition + scope: Civilization and city-building games challenge players to design, manage, and grow a thriving metropolis, balancing infrastructure, economics, and citizen satisfaction. Whether constructing towering skylines or managing traffic flow, these games test strategic planning and resource management skills in dynamic, evolving environments.
16. Crusader Kings
Shape the fate of your dynasty in Crusader Kings III, a deep grand strategy game blending medieval intrigue, war, and legacy-building. Rule through diplomacy, cunning, or sheer force as you navigate a world teeming with treachery, romance, and ambition.
Key Features:
- Dynastic rule: Guide your house across generations, from 867 or 1066 onward.
- Grand strategy meets RPG: Manage politics, warfare, and personal rivalries.
- Medieval intrigue: Spy, seduce, betray, or assassinate your way to power.
- Custom rulers: Shape your leader’s traits, appearance, and destiny.
17. Medieval Dynasty
Build, survive, and lead your family in the harsh medieval world of Medieval Dynasty. Start from humble beginnings as a farmer or hunter, then grow your dynasty through crafting, village-building, and survival.
Key Features:
- Survival and crafting: Hunt, gather, and craft to meet your needs.
- Village management: Design and grow your own thriving community.
- Co-op multiplayer: Play solo or team up with friends in co-op mode.
- Seasonal challenges: Adapt to changing weather, food shortages, and wildlife.
- Character progression: Learn new skills and develop your character.
18. Cities: Skylines
Build and manage the city of your dreams in Cities: Skylines II. From its high-resolution graphics to intricate AI-driven economics, the game offers an immersive city-building experience with endless possibilities.
Key Features:
- Deep simulation: Experience realistic economics, citizen life, and environmental dynamics.
- Massive scale: Build sprawling cities or towering skylines with no limits.
- Dynamic world: Respond to changes in weather, seasons, and citizen needs.
- Strategic planning: Balance infrastructure, economy, and residential needs for growth.
- Detailed city customization: Craft every aspect of your metropolis with advanced tools.
19. Go-Go Town
As the new mayor of Go-Go Town, it’s up to you to transform a rundown town into a thriving community. Build, decorate, manage resources, and attract tourists while avoiding chaos and catastrophes. Enjoy solo or multiplayer fun as you shape your town’s destiny!
Key Features:
- Town-building: Design, construct, and decorate the town of your dreams.
- Resource management: Automate industries and balance supply chains for efficiency.
- Collaborative gameplay: Play solo, co-op, or with up to 4 players.
- Engaging activities: Fish, forage, farm, clean, and explore new biomes.
- Uncover secrets: Discover hidden areas, unlock new tools, and meet unique characters.
Life Simulation Games on my Watchlist
These games aren’t out yet, but I’m excited for them anyway.
20. Paralives – coming TBD 2025
Paralives is the less controversial “The Sims competitor” stomping into town in 2025. Customize your character, build your dream home, and micromanage your avatars’ lives however you want. The developers call it a “doll house life simulation” game on their Steam page, and I really like that for Sims-likes, actually. Paralives let’s you take care of your pet, focus on your career, find true love, spend time with friends and family, explore hobbies or be as mischievous as ever.
Stay cozy, gamers!