Simulation

There isn't anything 'tycoony' here. It's just construction, riding, and destroying. On paper it actually doesn't sound like something that would be that fun. Sure, I often built ultra-insane coasters on Roller Coaster Tycoon, or build coasters that would inevitably crash. But that fun lasted 30 minutes, tops. So could ScreamRide deliver an experience that would keep me intrigued for hours on end?

Simulation city-building games have been popular ever since the release of the highly acclaimed and somewhat revolutionary Sim City franchise began. While games that allow the player to control locations or people have always had a niche, Sim City created the ability to not just control one small sub-section of a society, like a theme park or a mall, but allowed players to control an entire city. With the player usually acting as the mayor of said city, they make decisions about labor and production for their citizens and must gauge how important the ...

Simulation and time management games have always worked their way along through the gaming community because their challenging gameplay and feelings of earned accomplishment are something that is hard to achieve perfectly in a game.

One of the most successful game franchises of all time, The Sims, offers players the opportunity to build their own worlds filled with people of their creation whose lives and happiness rest in the palm of their hand. Whether you are creating massive family lineages, successfully raising your “Sim” through the ranks of a selected career, or watching your beloved Sim graduate college, you are in control of their every move and you have the power to give the best (or worst) life possible.

Considering that Out of the Park Development's signature Out of the Park Baseball series is a constant time sink in my life, there's no denying I was excited to play their foray into hockey simulation, Franchise Hockey Manager. Not because I was a hockey fan - though I'm a sports nut, I rarely watch hockey - but because I was hoping FHM would allow me to learn the ins and outs of the sport, as OOTP did with the deeper complexities (and constant heartbreak) of baseball, both as a game and a business.

For baseball nerds like myself, there's nothing better than spring. Fresh batches of rookies, big stars on new squads, the inevitable, if completely misguided, World Series dream of every player and fan... and of course, the arrival of the latest Out of the Park Baseball award-winning sports simulation series. And this year's edition - the 15th - is undeniably the best yet, despite what initially looks and feels like an incremental improvement over OOTP 14. As it always is in baseball, the devil is in the details - and those who've played OOTP know just how ...

Euro Truck Simulator 2 puts you in the shoes, or sandals, of a wannabe trucker who wants to start their own trucking business from the ground up. You will end up buying a multitude of licensed trucks and exploring most of Europe. Along the way, you'll be doing a lot of driving, storming through countries to get the delivery in on time.

I've always been fond of games that can take a seemingly dull aspect of life and make it interesting. During the Summer, Lucas Pope managed to make stamping documents thrilling in Papers, Please (one of my favorites this year), but in 2012 the hectic job of sorting luggage at an airport was turned into addicting entertainment with Aero Porter on the 3DS.

I've been a huge fan of From Software's Armored Core franchise since way back when the original was first released on the Playstation, and while I personally feel that the series quality has seen a gradual decline over the years, mostly due to a change in focus in the form of "fast paced action" as opposed to "slow and clunky" mech battles of old, it has always held a special place in my heart. So naturally when Armored Core V was first announced, I was excited to get my hands on the latest instalment of my favourite customisable mech-based action game, ...

Farming Simulator is exactly what it says it is. It's not Harvest Moon, nor is it a chance to mess around an open world with dangerous farming equipment. There aren't really any objectives, no goals - you just run a farm. Harvesting, planting, cutting grass... this is a farming simulator.