Have you ever asked yourself this question? Why do so many people like reality TV shows? Well there is an actual explained reason behind this, people like to see other people’s lives. In this world, we all have our own lives to enjoy and to make the most out of but seeing how someone else lives is a very intriguing sensation. That’s why for our first example on What is Game Simulation, we decided to use the popular Sims franchise, namely Sim’s 3.

The Sims 3 brings fans of the long running life simulator back to a world they control with newer features and tons of things to do. The character customization tool has been revamped allowing players to truly create their own sim to mimic their own looks or be something from out of this world. New jobs, housing customization gives The Sims 3 even more depth than any of the previous titles. With a new story mode ability, players can give their created Sims a real goal driven purpose to live that life you always wanted them to live. The Sims 3 is waiting for you to lead your Sims into a happy life or a totally terrible one. Ultimately the choice is all yours!

The Sims 3 isn’t the newest alliteration of the long running Sims franchise but it was one of our favorites and still lets us explain our point. In The Sims 3, you are essentially the God of these little Sims. You control their lives in every sense of the word. Want them to get married? Want them to have great jobs? Or maybe you want them to suffer? That’s the beauty of The Sims 3. You can do whatever you want and no one will tell you it’s wrong or right. If you want true game simulation, then The Sims 3 will be one of the best examples we can point you to.

Working is something most of us in the world have to do at one point in our lives. While we would all love to get our dream jobs, sometimes we choose to settle with other jobs or life opportunities. In game simulation titles, we get to experience what that dream job may have felt like. While they aren’t always 100% accurate, these games tend to give the player a semi-realistic look at how the job works. Down below we decided to use the game Surgeon Simulator to explain what exactly we mean in better detail.

Now some of you reading this—and we don’t need mind powers to know this—probably are thinking why Surgeon Simulator? Why not choose a title like Farming Simulator? Well there is a simple reason for that to be honest. Farming Simulator, while fun for some, isn’t a job that really hundreds will beg for. Farming is an all too important job career—heck without it, we wouldn’t be able to eat cheeseburgers or have fresh produce—but in game simulation, people want jobs that are extremely hard to obtain. Surgeon Simulator gives you the job title of a surgeon and that career alone can take several years to obtain! Don’t worry folks, if you’re still wondering what we mean, let our gaming example explain the rest to you.

Doctor, you’re needed in the ER stat! Surgeon Simulator gives you, the player, the means of feeling like a real surgeon. Operate in various conditions to save the lives of your patients. However, if you fail your duties then that patient will die. Get your various surgery tools ready and wash your hands, the operation is about to begin in Surgeon Simulator.

At times Surgeon Simulator can be a bit fake…okay very fake. Despite that though, a lot of the tools and methods used in Surgeon Simulator are quite accurate to how a real life surgery works. Whether you play with a virtual reality headset or a controller, Surgeon Simulator requires the player to be accurate and slow for the best results. Just like in real life, a wrong move made by a surgeon can cause death and in game that is seen all too well. While maybe surgeons aren’t cutting open aliens to examine them—this is something that you really can do in Surgeon Simulator—the other portions of the game are realistic enough to make the game a solid game simulation. Though we do recommend to try out Surgeon Simulator regardless if you want to be a doctor or not, the game is a ton of fun.

Game simulation, as you’re probably realizing, is aimed at giving you the chance at being something you probably aren’t ever going to be. That’s why a lot of RTS games are the perfect games to show you how game simulation is also used in the gaming world. Rule your kingdoms and control your armies. That is a feeling you can only get in games that focus on giving gamers the means of simulation. Below is our last example of a gaming title that is driven on the gaming simulation ideal. Our last example is the great RTS title know as Civilization V.

Developer Firaxis Games brings forth yet another Civilization title in this case Civilization V. Create your kingdoms and spread your influences across the lands. Will you be a peaceful ruler who wishes to make friends with all around you? Or will you rule the lands with an iron fist and take what you believe is your rightful property? Make your decisions and see the consequences play out in Civilization V.

In real life, being a king or queen is basically near impossible unless you’re born into a high ranking family or you do a lot of footwork and no, we don’t mean running. That’s why you have to love Civilization V if you’re looking for a great game simulation title to enjoy. Controlling large countries and kingdoms all with simple mouse and keystrokes feels awesome and then seeing your choices create actual consequences in game is even better. Haven’t you ever wondered what it would be like to rule over a country just for one day? Well, wonder no more and try out games like Civilization V to really feel as if you could lead a country or kingdom for one day. Our first order of business if we could create laws in a kingdom would be make an actual anime national holiday…