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What are the best Simulation games on Steam?

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Sep 3, 2023

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The 9 must play gamesWhy?

Best Simulation games on Steam	Price	Steam Rating	Genre
96 Euro Truck Simulator 2	$19.99	Overwhelmingly Positive	Open World / Driving / Simulation
94 Frostpunk	$29.99	Overwhelmingly Positive	City-building, Survival
93 Stardew Valley	$14.99	-	Farming Simulation, Role-Playing
93 Factorio	$20.00	Overwhelmingly Positive	Realtime Strategy (RTS)
93 Cities: Skylines	$29.99	Very Positive	City Simulation

Euro Truck Simulator 2

Top Pro

Gorgeous scenery

The game has a huge map that covers much of Europe and delivers detailed, varied scenery throughout giving each place a sense of identity and creating a specific atmosphere. See More

Top Con

Some parts may feel slow

Since it is a simulation game, trips and progression may feel too slow for some. See More

RickZeeland's Experience

Travel across Europe in your truck, on offer on Steam now for only 4,99€ See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Overwhelmingly Positive

Genre:Open World / Driving / Simulation

Controller Support:Partial

Top Pro

Lots of variety in trucks

Scania, Mercedes Benz, and more manufacturers are available with the expansion of more with mods. See More

Top Con

Requires a performant machine to run smoothly

InquisitiveMoneiba's Experience

more fun to play on multiplayer then single since trafic on single is cr*p See More

Top Pro

Cathartic experience

Because much of the game is based in routine and long-distance travels, it gives the ability to switch the brain off, relax and tune out the real world and supplement it with peaceful in-game representation of Europe. See More

Top Con

Menus and text aren't optimized for VR

Small text and loading screens can be hard to read as they aren't optimized for VR. See More

HumbleIrpa's Experience

I found that this game was priced well and graphics were outstanding. I spent many hours driving around the city I live (London) from behind my computer monitor. See More

Top Pro

Addicting progression system

The game is a classic rags to riches story that starts the player off in a little garage working for other companies and earning money to eventually buy a truck of his own. Owning a truck allows getting higher paying jobs, that allow getting the truck upgraded, that allows getting even higher paying jobs. At some the opportunity to hire other drivers presents itself and building a trucking empire is not far off. See More

Top Con

Runs on Rift in extended mode only

Runs much slower on an HMD than it really should. See More

harley parmenter's Experience

really good See More

Top Pro

Accessible

The game is easy to pick up. It provides a friendly tutorial that explains the essential mechanics and tools used in the game in a clear and concise way. See More

Top Con

Menu and text not optimized for VR

Small text and loading screen that aren't in 3D, very hard for the eyes. See More

PrudentSobek's Experience

Over 300 Hours brilliant GAME. See More

Top Pro

Has tons of mods

The game has a wide variety of mods available that add new locations, game content and functionality. There's even a multiplayer mod. See More

TruthfulLevana's Experience

so good game See More

Top Pro

Simple VR setup

To run the game in VR mode, add -oculus command line parameter. See More

Neelakandan's Experience

2 years See More

Top Pro

No VR sickness

Since the player and the character are stationary with the vehicle creating a frame of reference, much of the issues with motion sickness are avoided. See More

Frostpunk

Top Pro

Balanced simulation experience

Overall, the simulation aspects are handled quite well, and there is a lot to micromanage. Resources such as lumber and coal must be harvested and managed to construct buildings and keep your city warm. Rationing and finding food is important too, as your citizens need to eat to work. You will also be managing your "hope" and "discontent" metrics which is a general indicator of your population's happiness. Overwork them and they may revolt or die of exhaustion. Underwork them and they may starve or freeze to death. Finding this delicate balance between survival and keeping people content is where the game truly shines. See More

Top Con

Not much replayability

Due to no open sandbox/endless mode, a large amount of scripted events that will play out the exact same in every playthrough, and skill trees that essentially accomplish all the same end goals, there's not much replayability. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Overwhelmingly Positive

Genre:City-building, Survival

Top Pro

Engaging moral choices

You can enact and carry out laws in your city that will affect both the survival and happiness of your citizens in interesting ways. These moral choices add an entertaining and engaging depth to gameplay. For example, if your workers are frostbitten, you can house them in hospitals which costs resources. Otherwise, you can choose to amputate them which effectively takes them out of your workforce, yet they still have to be housed, kept warm, and fed. Children can be kept protected and warm, or you can send them off in the frozen wasteland to work like the adults. Every single action you take affects how content or upset your population is. Whether you keep them safe and warm, or make tough calls in the name of survival is your choice. These systems must be carefully balanced if you want to succeed. All in all, Frostpunk offers no shortage of interesting moral choices for you to make. See More

Top Con

Limiting experience overall

Frostpunk's main scenario only runs about 45 in-game days (6-12 hours). There is no sandbox mode where you can keep growing and building indefinitely, making it a rather limited simulation experience overall. This may be disappointing to those who would prefer to keep their city going as long as possible. See More

Top Pro

Unique premise

Frostpunk takes place in a steampunk-themed 1886 England. A freak snowstorm has wiped out most of the world's population and plunged Earth into a deep freeze. As the last remaining bastion of humanity, you'll be building and managing an outpost as you fight the weather and human nature itself. It's out of this dark and desolate post-apocalyptic premise that allows the game to offer a lot of grim, yet interesting gameplay choices. See More

Top Con

Camera zoom may ruin immersion for some

After building up your city, you can't zoom in to see workers headed down the bustling streets or admire the fine details on the cyberpunk style buildings. You're stuck with a zoomed out camera, which can sometimes ruin immersion. See More

Top Pro

Captures the grim reality of survival incredibly well

As the world lies in a deep freeze and your city is just barely clinging to life, many situations will arise where tough choices have to be made in the name of survival. When facing a shortage of adult workers, you may opt to send children to work, and possibly their death, out in the wasteland collecting coal and lumber. When people die, you can bury the dead or, in the most dire of times, use them as a food source. When coming across survivors, you have to weigh the benefits and downsides of taking them in. They may provide extra labor, but it's just another mouth to feed. As the temperature plummets, you can order workers to double shifts to keep the heating going, but it puts them at risk for starvation and exhaustion. There are just so many little decisions that add up to driving the point home that you are really in the middle of a crisis and its captured incredibly well in-game. See More

Stardew Valley

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Top Pro

You have freedom to choose to play one aspect of the game or all of them

Such as farming, fishing, mining, forestry, exploration and meeting people. This allows for many elements to explore in the game that expands the gameplay but also allows for freedom of choice in what to do and when to do it. See More

Top Con

Can get really repetitive

Living on a farm is a lot of work, so you'll have to repeat the same tasks quite often. This includes tilling land, planting seeds, chopping trees, and many other farm related activities. While it's normally pretty fun and relaxing, it can get incredibly tedious during long play sessions, especially if you're just trying to progress. See More

Specs

Genre:Farming Simulation, Role-Playing

Co-Op:Online and Local, up to 4 players

Top Pro

There is always more to do

Just like in the real world, operating a farm is a lot of work, especially if one is set on expanding said farm. The game works just like this in that the player is always driven to expand on what they have, be it growing more crops, raising more animals or just improving ones house and equipment. This makes for a game that drives the player to keep playing just a little bit longer to get just one more thing done. See More

Top Con

Large amount of grind

While it is the bread and butter of the gameplay, the amount of work that needs done from the start is quite a lot and so you will be doing the same thing over and over again. The whole farm is dilapidated, meaning everything needs cleaned up, weeds need cleared, rocks need cleared, tress need cleared, the whole house needs rebuilt. this amount of what are basically chores may not appeal to all as it is quite a feat to take on. See More

Top Pro

Long playtime

The game is reported to taking over 10 hours for one season in the game, of which their are four season in a year. Which means it can take 40 hours just to get though the first year in the game, of which there can be many. This means a user can easily sink in 100s of hours into the game, making for quite a bargain for a $15 game. See More

Top Con

Lacks polish in some areas

Menus feel odd in that some controls work in some areas while not in other such as item management when using chests. There is also a lack of information in the game on how to do things, which means the player must figure it out through trial and error. While this is much like an old school game it would be nice to have a few things explained in order to not miss anything important in the game like certain festivals. See More

Top Pro

Works on many platforms

Currently, the game runs on Windows machines, MacOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The Nintendo Switch version with multiplayer is coming this year. See More

Top Con

Townspeople schedule is difficult to keep up with

The game asks the player to meet everyone in town, while there is mini map that shows where townspeople are, certain townsfolk are missing from this map such as shop keepers. This makes it difficult to keep up with who is where. See More

Top Pro

Very fulfilling to play

Stardew Valley is a very simple game where you're free to do anything and everything at your own pace. This includes building your farm, planting and harvesting crops, and exploring the world among many other things. It will feel enjoyable no matter how fast or slow you do it. This coupled with the colorful/pleasing art style and the great soundtrack makes it an extremely pleasing experience. See More

Top Pro

A great mix of genres

While Stardew Valley is primarily a farming simulator, it also has social interaction elements and combat elements. The social interaction elements allow you to interact with people around the town. You can befriend them, get quests from them, hang out with them, and even find a significant other to go out with and eventually marry. It can be very addictive to max out your relationship with everyone. The combat elements are introduced when you unlock the dungeon, allowing you to battle creatures such as slimes, golems, and even mummies. While the combat is pretty simple, having you just swing your weapon, it's very satisfying to whack away at enemies. If farming ever starts feeling stale you can try either of these to mix it up, allowing you to keep the game fresh for a longer time. See More

Top Pro

Great soundtrack

When you work on your farm, go fishing, explore or just walk around the town you'll be accompanied by a really nice soundtrack. It's sometimes upbeat, sometimes soothing, and sometimes even melancholic, with every track matching each location and season perfectly. There's also a wide variety of instruments used, including a piano, accordion, banjo, synths, and many others. This allows you to listen to the soundtrack for hours without getting tired of it. Sometimes it's very hard to believe Stardew Valley and its soundtrack was produced by just one person. See More

Top Pro

Great freedom in designing your farm

When creating your own farm you aren't just limited to plowing fields for planting crops. You can also dig wells, put down fences, and even build various structures such as barns or stables. This allows you to build a farm that firmly matches your goals and sense of aesthetics. See More

Top Pro

Weather system that forces the player to adapt

Each day in the game may feature different weather depending on the season in the game. From rain to snow to natural disasters, each forces the player to adapt their workload to that days forecast. This keeps the player on their toes and forces them to plan for events to make sure they have the needed supplies for when different disasters happen. See More

Top Pro

Deep customization options

There is quite a lot that can be crafted in the game, from fence posts to chicken coops. Discovering how to build these and then deciding where to place them is one of the best parts of the game as you can build/design a farm to your liking. See More

Top Pro

Convenient auto save feature

There is no manual saving in the game, it auto saves when sleeping or or moving on to the next day. This is convenient as the player does not need to remember to save, which could lead to accidental lost data. This system also prevents the player taking advantage of the randomly generated mines, as it could be too easy to exploit for rare items. See More

Top Pro

Good selection of game options

The games options see resolution support, controller and keyboard support, of which the controller support even has a rumble feature (for those that have controllers with rumble support). Keyboard support also has built in key-bind support, for those that do not have a separate key-bind support app. See More

Factorio

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Top Pro

Endless solutions

With proper planning, users can "code" together very precise ways to create all the things needed for the game, some in very inventive ways that can differ quite a bit. This allows for tons of replayability. See More

Top Con

Can become rather repetitive

There's really little payoff for being able to build really long chains of automation, it usually results in being able to open a new tech tree which allows the player to continue the process of building automation chains ad infinitum, which, admittedly can become rather boring after a while. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Overwhelmingly Positive

Genre:Realtime Strategy (RTS)

Co-Op:16+ Player Online (100+ has been done)

Top Pro

Under active development

The game is still in Alpha which means endless future possibilities. See More

Top Con

Still in Early Access

The game is still in Early Access which means there will be bugs as well as missing features. See More

Top Pro

Massive and infinite procedurally generated world

The playing world is as large as you want to explore, it automatically generates it as you explore more areas. See More

Top Pro

Cooperative or PvP building

Factorio also supports multiplayer, allowing many players to cooperate and assist each other, or work against each other in PvP. By default, multiplayer games run the CO-OP freeplay scenario where all players work together to launch a rocket with a satellite into space. See More

Top Pro

Charming old school graphics

While not the most technically advanced graphics the look of the game is much like a game from the 90s but seeing it in action when an assembly line starts moving there is an impressiveness to it that suits the game quite well. See More

Cities: Skylines

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Top Pro

Large scale

At a total of 36 square kilometers of area to use (compared to Sim Cities 4), there is quite a bit of room to build and play. See More

Top Con

High system requirments when playing with mods

AmiableCavillace's Experience

Poor looking graphics, very little diversity in buildings without mods, and very little 'multiple' playstyles (ie linear best way to scale/build) See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:City Simulation

Top Pro

Great gameplay

Top Con

Can be difficult to glean what one has done wrong in game

Cities: Skylines has difficulty letting the player know what they have done wrong, which results in a lot of head scratching. See More

Claudio Gomes's Experience

Rich graphics and control over gameplay. See More

Top Pro

Depth of field

There is a depth of field effect that will blur distant buildings, which mimics Sim City's diorama effect. It can of course be adjusted with a slider as to how much or little to use. See More

Top Con

Resource Heavy

If your computer doesn’t have decent specs, don’t expect to be able to run this game smoothly. See More

FascinatingMatton's Experience

best game i've ever played See More

Top Pro

Highly moddable

The game was built with modding support and Steam Workshop in mind, and as such the base gameplay can be extended with a variety of interesting and entertaining community mods. See More

Top Con

Roads/Traffic are difficult to manage

Top Pro

Good Community on Steam

There are plenty community guides on Steam that can address most of the challenges of the game, such as traffic, without spoiling it. See More

Top Pro

Large Amount of Workshop Mods & Assets

With almost 150 thousand assets and mods, you can totally change the gameplay and look of the game See More

Top Pro

Steady Stream of new content via DLCs

DLCs are optional, they do go one sale. Plus when a new DLC is released a bit of the content is released into the base game. See More

Kerbal Space Program

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Top Pro

You just can't get bored with it. And you will learn a lot

A "physics" game about space. Build rockets, space planes, space stations, rovers, landers, probes. Explore planets, moons, capture asteroids. With the addition of mods, you can even test warp drive, set up a communications network, colonize a planet, mine for resources and much much more. It can even simulate our solar system (the in-game one is very similar, although smaller to encourage new players. Learn orbital mechanics. Inspire yourself to learn about space and space travel history of human. This game is not only fun - it is inspiring. The game is under heavy development but is already playable (and gives a ton of fun!). Works very well under Linux (64bit as well). See More

Top Con

Steep learning curve

Kerbal Space Program is not really a pick up and play title. There is much to learn before grasping the core concepts of the game, See More

DependableNyamiNyami's Experience

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Top Pro

Huge modding scene

There's a plethora of mods available that can change every single aspect of the game. See More

Top Con

Graphics are not the most detailed

The graphics of KSP are not the most detailed but they work non the less. See More

Top Pro

Motivates you to learn

Kerbal Space Program puts into perspective how amazing the advancement of the human race is. It inspires you to learn our history, how we got here, and what we can do proceed. See More

Top Pro

Fun sandbox mode to experiment with rocket designs

The rocket designer lets you experiment with as many different rocket designs as you can think up. The designer is based on components such as engines, fuel cells, structural elements and various other items such as parachutes. See More

Top Pro

Excellent construction sandbox for building and launching rockets

KSP at its core is a rocket building and launching sandbox. When creating a rocket you can place engines, fuel cells, structural elements, and even parachutes, allowing you to build a rocket in any shape and size. The end result can even look like a giant doughnut, which might be difficult to get it into outer space. Even if you fail, the entirety of the process is really enjoyable. See More

Top Pro

Teaches orbital dynamics & rocket design fundamentals in an accessible manner

The physics engine does a reasonably accurate job of replicating the fundamentals behind both orbital dynamics and rocket design, so by going through the tutorials and experimenting, you're actually learning some real rocket science. See More

Top Pro

Construction sandbox for building and launching rockets

Kerbal at its core is a rocket building and launching sandbox. See More

Top Pro

NASA working on a mission pack for the game

While not released yet NASA is working on a mission pack for the game. See More

Top Pro

In constant development

KSP is a shinning example of early release done right. The currently available game is fun to play, and the developers are constantly adding new major additions. See More

Top Pro

Tons of stuff to do

Build rockets, space planes, space stations, rovers, landers, probes. Explore planets, moons, capture asteroids, set up a communications network, colonize a planet, mine for resources and much more. It can even simulate our solar system. See More

Prison Architect

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Top Pro

Relaxing to play

Building your prison is almost zen like. There are periods of stress when there are riots or things going wrong, but you can always pause to take your time and figure out a good solution. See More

Top Con

Gameplay is poorly explained

The game does a poor job of explaining all the mechanics to the player when they begin the main game which leaves the player guessing as to what they need to do in order to be successful. See More

Jakub “RF” Kalemba's Experience

I never had so much fun building See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Simulation

Top Pro

Great freedom of playstyle

You can run the prison in the way that you see fit. You can put the wellbeing of prisoners at the top of the priority list by making sure their living spaces are comfortable, that they're well-fed, have the opportunity to educate themselves and often get to go outside in the yard to socialize and exercise or you can run the prison with an iron fist by instituting regular shakedowns, putting CCTVs, metal detectors, K-9 units and armed guards in every corner. Whichever play-style you choose, the game will offer challenges that will keep the game interesting. See More

Top Pro

Works great for both long and short play sessions

The gameplay lends itself well to both doing a couple of things around the prison every once in a while or setting up elaborate systems that can take hours upon hours of time. The game can be saved at any time so you don't have to make commitments in one way or another. See More

Top Pro

Developers are releasing free updates and additions to the game

Developers have been updating the game almost every month with new content, improvements and tweaks to the game. See More

Top Pro

Amazing depth

The game consists of a wide variety of overlapping systems that work together to create excellent depth. You have to figure out the layout of your prison, how to manage the needs of your inmates, how to earn enough money to expand and hire new staff, what to do in the case of a natural disaster, a riot or attempted escape and so on. Every decision you make will impact all other elements of the game. For example, instituting regular shakedowns will help prevent prisoners from carrying banned items like forks taken from cafeterias that can be used to dig tunnels, but will also make the inmates more angry and thus more likely to riot. You can decide to instead use tunnel-sniffing dogs set to patrol around the perimeter, but that will cost more money and if the inmates pick up on the patrolling patterns they will tunnel around them. Or you may decide to check each inmate individually to see who's tired from staying up late to dig while everyone else has been sleeping though that approach may not scale. See More

Top Pro

Lots of mods available

A wide variety of user-created modifications to the game are available including mods that change the theme of the game, look of the game, add new objects, grants, programs, scenarios and new mechanics. They're listed in the game's wiki, here. See More

RimWorld

Top Pro

Unique gameplay, high replayability

RimWorld is procedurally generated, and can create very interesting stories. There is a huge diversity of events and things to do in this game, from romance and affairs to natural events and mechanoid raids. There's always a reason to start a new game, even after horrific failure, and no two runs will EVER be the same. Watch the trailer to get a little taste of the gameplay. See More

Top Con

Sexist relationship algorithm

The developer has sexist beliefs about romance and women, and he built them into how relationships are simulated. There are mods to fix this, but if you haven't bought yet, you should really think about not supporting this. See More

Jakub “RF” Kalemba's Experience

Building, losing, building, losing. Fun fun fun See More

Specs

Genre:Sandbox, Strategy, Survival

Top Pro

Robust mod system

Mods are available both manually and through steam workshop, and its system of mod management provides detailed debug logs as well as easy reordering, and doesn't seem to add too much overhead. See More

Top Con

Can be overwhelming to those new to the genre

Anyone who knows Dwarf Fortress and the incredible micromanagement skills it takes can relate to RimWorld. There's a lot to learn, and while you can easily tone down the difficulty and make things nice and slow, if you've never played simulation games this can knock the wind out of you. See More

waterdragon's Experience

rimworld is a great game that you can in it explore places fight functions and have pets and create your own base See More

Top Pro

Highly in-depth combat system

RimWorld actually uses a custom combat engine and can simulate medical details down to shot-off toes, organ failure, bleeding rate, and various diseases/medical conditions. The combat is very diverse and well polished. See More

Top Pro

Good developers

The devteam works hard on this game to iron out bugs, bring new features in and keep everything fresh and fun. See More

Top Pro

Simulates (almost) everything

From psychological aspects to organic and non-organic materials decay, from exposure to hazardous atmosphere to temperature affecting practically anything, RimWorld tries to meticulously simulate anything that's possible for a 2D game. See More

Top Pro

Supportive community

If you have any questions about the game, then the sub reddit or steam community will happily answer with very few toxic individuals. See More

Oxygen Not Included

Top Pro

Realistic game mechanics

For a light-hearted game, Oxygen Not Included takes laws of physics and biology very seriously. Characters, or Duplicants, require regular meals and fresh water. They can hold their breath, but only for a limited time. Extremely cold and hot temperatures hurt them. Given high enough stress level, they can even experience nervous breakdown that causes them to vomit excessively or start binge-eating colonie's food supplies. See More

Top Con

Maps are limited in size, causing you to eventually lose

Since the map size is limited, so is the supply of resources, meaning that sooner or later you invariably loose the game. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Overwhelmingly Positive

Co-Op:Single Player

Top Pro

Loveable, cute characters

Every Duplicant has a name and unique appearance, as well as personal traits. They are very cute and funny, which makes you fully invested in their well-being. See More

Top Pro

Requires advanced planning

This game provides a real challenge when it comes to planning your base's inner layout. You need to take into account gas and fluid dynamics to ensure that your Duplicants have breathable air and aren't intoxicated by contaminated water. See More

46 Other Games Considered

The Long Dark

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Top Pro

Realistic survival elements make you feel a part of the world

You'll feel like you're living in true survival situation, and the game does an excellent job of placing the player in the role. This game features elements of survival that are very close to the real world, creating an enriching gaming experience for those who want a realistic survival challenge. You will have to keep an eye on your calorie intake, monitor your body temperature, and even craft and wear clothing appropriate to the harsh arctic environment. Staying outside too long after dark can kill you via hypothermia. The wildlife is dangerous and can injure or kill you - as the animals are starving too. You can starve to death if you forget to eat, or run out of food. Death in this game is permanent, and will require you to start the game over. See More

Top Con

No jumping or climbing

You cannot jump or climb over fences, rocks, or other obstacles meaning sometimes you will have to take the longest route possible to reach your destination. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:First-Person Survival, Sandbox

Top Pro

Story mode adds a new way to play

For those who desire a story to go with their survival gaming, The Long Dark offers a fully voiced-acted, five chapter story mode called "Wintermute" complete with cutscenes. It features all the survival gameplay aspects of the sandbox version, as well as story quests and character development, making it an engaging, new way to experience all the game has to offer. In the story, you'll assume the role of a man trying to survive in the harsh Canadian wilderness after crashing his plane during a geomagnetic disaster. Rather than just a no-bones survival situation, you'll be working through an actual storyline as you head for safety. As you progress the story, you'll have the opportunity to do quests, watch voice-acted cutscenes, and interact with other characters who are fighting for their lives as well. This pulls you even deeper into the game world since you now have a real goal to work for - escaping the harsh wilderness alive. Story mode adds a deeper layer of immersion via storytelling than the sandbox mode, which is only about surviving as long as you can. Though currently not all of the chapters are available as they are released episodically over time. See More

Top Con

No multitasking

Most actions in the game have a small wait time, and you can only perform one action at time. For example, if you search an item, boil water, repair your clothes, or salvage anything, you will have to stop and wait until the action completes. See More

Top Pro

Good balance between surviving and exploring

There is a delicate balance between exploring and surviving, and every aspect of gameplay is closely related. The amount of activity the player performs and the distance they can travel and explore, are balanced around certain metrics such as time, warmth, and calories - and all of these game systems are closely related resulting in a finely tuned experience. For example, eating food replenishes calories, but in order to find food, you have to explore and salvage which causes you to burn calories in the first place. The player must watch how many calories they burn, even when sleeping, and make sure they find or hunt enough food to keep themselves going. On top of this, the player needs to seek shelter from the cold, make sure they are wearing the appropriate clothing, and build fires to stay warm and cook food. During your explorations to salvage supplies and look for food items, you will need to explore carefully as to not get stuck without a place to sleep for the night. See More

Top Con

No tutorial

There is no tutorial or learning mode. When you start the game, you have to figure out how to survive in this harsh world on your own. Some say this adds to the experience, but for many, this can be overwhelming especially in a survival game where everything can -- and will -- kill you. See More

Top Pro

Four difficulty levels to suit all skill levels

Regardless of your skill level, you will be able to find a difficulty level that suits you and satisfies your craving for a good challenge. This game features four different difficulty levels, making it accessible to a broad range of players. The easiest mode is Pilgrim and it offers a gaming experience suitable to all players where dying is a rare occurrence. For beginning players, Voyager is recommended as it gives you a forgivable way to learn the basics. After that, the difficulty takes a strong curve upwards into the remaining two modes: Stalker, and Interloper - with the latter being considered a very challenging gaming experience only recommended for expert gamers and those who desire a true video game survival challenge. See More

Top Pro

Complete freedom to explore the open-world

The game features a massive, open-world sandbox mode in which there are no quests to gate your progress, or artificial boundaries to exploration. The only goal is to survive as long as possible, and to do it by whatever means possible. This free-exploration, open-world design offers plenty of space to roam for those who want to enjoy a more open playstyle without the hindrances of time gates or quest mechanics. Whether you choose to salvage for supplies, hunt the local wildlife, start cooking fires, or simply just take in the view - the freedom to explore and interact with the world in your own way is endless. See More

Crusader Kings 2

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Top Pro

Freedom to play how you like

The game allows for one to make their own choices with there being many "win" conditions in that you can choose to progress how you like. Want to take over all of Europe, that is possible, want to create a successful lineage of a family that keeps to themselves, this is also possible. See More

Top Con

Extremely complicated

Crusader King II is a very complicated game that seems overly complex at first and may take a while to really learn as there are quite a lot of things to not only balance in the game but also figure out how to do either through in-game tutorials or reading online. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Grand Strategy

Top Pro

Massive online multiplayer

Crusader Kings II has a whopping 32 player online multiplayer mode. Something not often found in games of this sort which can make for a very intense and strategic gameplay session. See More

Tropico 5

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Top Pro

Allows for choice in play

There is a mission mode (which is great for those that want to learn the ins and outs of the game through progression) and a sandbox mode (which is more like a city builder where it is up to you how to create your civilization). This makes for a good choice of different play depending on what the user wants at the time. There is also a multiplayer mode that works through competition (who can export more cigars, build a bigger plantation, etc.) that can extend the endgame content when the player feels they have experienced all the single player has to offer. See More

Top Con

Poor representation of changing times

The art in the game does not represent different time periods very well. The game starts out in the early 20th century and eventually builds up to the modern era. It does not matter what time period the player is in, little in the design of the games is representative through graphics changes. See More

Sebastiano Pessotto's Experience

Same as 4 See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Assetto Corsa

Top Pro

Mods, mods, mods

One of the best features of Assetto Corsa is its mod support. The unlimited variety mods bring for car and track selection is already astounding and will only get better with time. See More

Top Con

Single player is a bit lackluster

The single player mode for Assetto Corsa has all the expected components for a racing game, earning medals in one tier of racing to advance to the next, but still all in all feels a bit thin. Being that the official release is only 1.0, hopefully there will be more added to the game in the future. See More

InsightfulJuturna's Experience

This game has very good drive experience. Many mods with cars and tracks for different landscape and dicipline. A good community and many online Server. Suppport for steering wheel with force feedback. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Controller Support:Partial

Top Pro

Force feedback

Support for steering wheels with force feedback. See More

Top Con

No other options for weather or time of day

No different weather. No drive by night. See More

Top Pro

Supports 900 degree rotation of gaming wheel

Assetto Corsa supports gaming wheels and 900 degree rotation while using them. What is even more enjoyable is that the cockpit view animates 1:1 with the rotations of the players gaming wheel while used. See More

Top Pro

Partially supports VR

While missing some components like screen overlay Assetto Corsa is not fully playable while using VR, though it is still a coll concept to toy around with. See More

Punch Club

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Top Con

Fights aren't interactive enough

The fights themselves are computer controlled, with the player only choosing the moves they want to use on a round by round basis. The player is then forced to sit and watch the computer control the entirety of the fight, resulting in a boring fight experience. See More

Top Pro

Satisfying management challenge

Each and every day in-game revolves around how well you are able to handle and manage your time and resources. Only by keeping a close eye on your health, happiness, hunger, and mood will you be able to progress your character and beat new opponents. A fine balance will have to be maintained through such things as working out, earning cash, completing quests, keeping your girlfriend happy, and making sure to stay well fed and rested. You most likely won't have time to do all of that in one day, so it's up to the player to determine which aspects are most important at any given time and act accordingly. If you put too much effort or time into one area, you'll lose out in others, resulting in a satisfying challenge that really boils down to how well you can multitask and manage the various aspects of gameplay. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mostly Positive

Top Con

All punch and kick animations are the same

All the punches and kicks look exactly the same, even when using special moves, which is a huge let down after grinding out a new skill and expecting some fancy animations. See More

Top Pro

Branching storyline adds more depth to the simulation aspect

Punch Club follows our hero as he attempts to solve his father's murder. This may not sound too interesting on the surface. However, the story is far more than just superficial - it goes deep by featuring multiple branching paths which are heavily reliant on the player's choices and actions. This is a great addition in a game that is otherwise simulation-based. The choices you make, such as which fighting leagues you decide to participate in, will lead to interactions with different characters. All of these characters have their own view on the mystery surrounding your father's death, which sends you down a variety of different story arcs. These different stories will result in various dialogues, quests, and side plots, giving the game a nice degree of replayability just through its story alone. See More

Top Con

Not a great gaming experience for the first hour

The game takes an hour or so to really get the player into a groove, and tends to start out rather slow paced while the player adjusts to the nuances of play. More of the game unlocks and becomes available later on, but that first hour tends to lean on the boring side as not everything is available from the start. See More

Top Pro

Varied and unlockable skill trees offer a lot of depth

The game features a very in-depth skill tree that unlocks a wide variety of different fighting moves that you can unleash during the game's simulation fights. Skill points are earned via gameplay, and then used to learn new fighting techniques that are based around your character's strongest stat. Depending on which stat you focus on (strength, agility, or stamina), you will gain access to different skill trees that provide both offensive and defensive moves, techniques that help to recover energy during fights, and wear your opponent down over time. This helps keeps the fights feeling fresh as you are constantly learning new moves that you can use to fine tune and adjust your fighting strategies. It also encourages multiple playthroughs as you can focus on a different stat each time you start a new game and experiment with new skill trees and techniques. The end result is a very deep skill tree with plenty of variety, builds, and ways to defeat your opponents. See More

Top Con

Music is repetitive

After a while, the same, washed out chipset music starts to get old. The same short tracks are looped over and over, and lose their appeal quickly. See More

Top Pro

Draws heavily on pop culture

Much of the game's story and characters are steeped in pop culture relating to video games, movies, and martial arts, and make references to such things as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Bruce Lee, Fight Club, Street Fighter, and more. The game's major characters are based on people such as Tyler Durden from Fight Club, Rocky's trainer from the Rocky films, and various action movie characters played by actors such as Steven Seagal and Jean Claude Van-Damme. Some of the environments are based on other fighting games, with one of the fights taking place over a backdrop that draws heavy inspiration from Mortal Kombat. See More

Top Pro

Great art style

Punch Club is a joy to look at. The pixel style art is retro and colorful, resulting in plenty of eye candy for players. The backgrounds and various areas of the game are highly detailed with shadow and light, and it's clear that a lot of work went into getting the most out of each and every pixel. Character animations are nicely done, with a good variety of movements and frames. Even the text on the menu screens and during the fight sequences are retro, resulting in a true old-school gaming look painted onto the frame of a modern game. See More

Don't Starve Together

Top Pro

Uniquely atmospheric art style

Don't Starve has a very unique art style, using two dimensional or 2d characters and items in a 3d world gives a very interesting artsy feel to the game. The hand-drawn look and feel to the graphics are a nice change of pace from ultra-realistic games, but it doesn't take away from the suspense. See More

Top Con

Can get repetitive

You'll have to repeatedly collect a lot of basic materials like twigs, grass, and ore. This is because most of the starting recipes share the same required materials. Even later in the game you'll be doing many repetitive tasks. Gathering enough firewood for winter is especially bad because you have to chop down dozens of trees. All of this is made worse by the limited inventory space, causing you to make the same trip multiple times. See More

Specs

Genre:Roguelike, Survival, Horror

Co-Op:2-4 Player Local

Top Pro

Fun crafting system

You need to learn how to craft a variety of things, from farms to ensure a steady supply of food to items like weapons and armor so you can survive the various evils you encounter while exploring. The crafting system has a lot of depth to it and there are hundreds and hundreds of things to make. See More

Top Con

Steep learning curve

The first few attempts will last only a couple of in-game days. This is because the game has various punishing mechanics, which you can only learn through trial and error. One such mechanic is the darkness, which will kill you in under a minute if you don't have a light source. Followed by packs of hounds that randomly spawn to kill you. In most cases preparation is key and you can't prepare without knowledge. See More

Top Pro

There's never a dull moment

As the game progresses, it offers more and more mechanics that require constant attention to function properly. It becomes a constant re-evaluation of risk and reward. See More

Top Con

Much grinding

The game requires quite a lot of grinding in order to gather materials that can be used to craft needed items. It is a slow process that may get repetitive as it will have to be repeated any time the player dies. See More

Top Pro

Lots of replayability

With randomly generated (customizable) levels, different characters, ever-unfolding story elements, and permadeath, the game offers a lot of variety within the goal of constantly striving to survive longer. See More

Top Con

Constant restarts can be drawn out and boring

The beginning of a playthrough starts out pretty slow, which is exacerbated by the fact that the player will need to restart many many times as the game is a rouguelike, so permanent death is something that will be encountered often. See More

Top Pro

Couch co-op makes the game even more fun as you all learn together

Getting together a group of friends to play Don't Starve Together adds a lot of enjoyment to the game. If you're all first timers, learning how to survive as you go along is amazing, since you get to share in the learning process and the experience together. As you craft and build your own forts, farms, and more, you find more and more ways to learn how to survive, making things less daunting than if you play the game alone. See More

Top Pro

Pleasantly twisted sense of humor

Random quips from characters, infotext and the world itself (such as the existence of werepigs) show glimpses of a dark sense of humor throughout. See More

Top Pro

Easy to get started but has a lot of depth

The game starts out easy, with very little in terms of mechanics, and the single objective of not starving. Then, over time, new mechanics are introduced as you explore more of the game world. The game provides very little guidance, leaving players to figure out how things work for themselves. In addition to game mechanics, even goals and story elements are unveiled organically over time. See More

Top Pro

Easily customized to adjust difficulty

The game gives you a lot of world customization options. You can change the length of day, weather patterns, how much of each monster or resource spawns, etc. This effectively allows you to adjust how difficult you wish the game to be. See More

Top Pro

Rewarding roguelike gameplay

The basic gameplay revolves around gathering resources for crafting in a wilderness where the flora and fauna are constantly trying to kill you. Levels are procedurally generated. See More

Top Pro

Great story generator

Goals and story elements are unveiled organically over time and they are different in each playthrough. See More

Top Pro

Very active modding community with numerous mods available

Using the Steam Workshop, Don't Starve has a very active modding community. With nearly 800 mods currently available, there are unlimited ways you can change your Don't Starve experience. See More

Papers Please

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Top Pro

Great stylized graphics and music/sounds

Top Con

Weight of moral choices diminished by unbelievable and clichéd worldbuilding

For a game relying entirely on the enjoyment of immersing yourself in the no-win moral dilemmas of a xenophobic dictatorship, the worldbuilding's insistence on painting the enemy as an unbelievable Red Scare-era communist caricature instead of a more believable fascist empire takes away from the immersion and instead only inappropriately serves the developers' obvious uncalled-for and out-of-place anti-socialist agenda. See More

DynamicShezmu's Experience

Despite the interesting premise, the focus on tired Red Scare propaganda ultimately turned me off from the game in frustration after a few hours of gameplay. Much potential is wasted by shoehorning in out-of-place anti-socialist preaching instead of focusing on a more believable worldbuilding. Abandoned after 6 hours. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Overwhelmingly Positive

Top Pro

Endless mode

Once the main story is beaten there is an optional endless mode for those that want to see how long they can play without losing. See More

Top Con

Simplistic gameplay mechanic

The gameplay itself, once the player gets a grasp of it can get repetitive pretty quick due to there really being not much deviation from a singular gameplay mechanic. See More

Top Pro

Unique puzzle solving through clue based deduction

Papers Please has a unique puzzle solving element. Instead of using mathematical logic, or quick matching thinking, the puzzles in Papers Please involve checking people's background information to make sure everything matches the immigration requirements and following clues to find anything amiss. See More

Top Pro

Will require making ridiculously hard decisions

There is a fine line to walk while playing, whether it is worth following the rules and ruining lives or bending the rules at the risk of getting caught in order to help destitute people. The moral choices in the game are often difficult and require hard decisions. See More

Dwarf Fortress

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Top Pro

Renowned for depth of simulation and emergent gameplay

The ultimate goal of Dwarf Fortress is no less than a total fantasy world simulator. Its simulated systems include geology, metallurgy, fluid pressure, temperature, combustion and phase transitions (melting, evaporation, etc.), shear and tensile strength, ballistics and gravity, anatomy and tissue damage, growth and maturation of animals and plants, emotional states, life goals, and alcohol dependence. See More

Top Con

Controls are complex and often counterintuitive

New players are advised to read the Quickstart Guide. Dwarf Fortress takes a lot of patience to learn. Even something as basic and early as world creation might take a guide to understand the first time around. It doesn't really matter how experienced of a gamer you are; if you try to play this game without a guide, you're going to have a hard time. See More

Specs

Top Pro

"Starter Pack" offers a streamlined introduction

The DF Starter Pack, formerly Lazy Newb Pack, is a collection of community-created enhancements to the interface and visual presentation of Dwarf Fortress. Find it here. See More

Top Con

ASCII text-based display (alternatives available via mods)

Top Pro

Lots of ways to die, no ways to win

Starvation, riots, goblins raiders stealing your babies, goblin war parties stealing your lives, elephants, vampires, werewolves, werebears, werebadgers, carp, digging into an aquifer, digging into lava, digging into the nesting area of a Forgotten Beast, selling wood to hippies, insanity, drowning in knee-deep water, and being attacked by your own dismembered finger. There are a lot of ways for dwarves to die. Age really isn't one ever heard of. After playing this game long enough, you'll realize why dwarves don't like going outside. Everything from harpies to dangerous man-eating carp is everywhere. Some of them are humorous, but most are a lesson. The entire game acts as a massive learning experience. Don't tell your dwarves to fish; they don't know how to swim. Wall off your fortress or a necromancer will make your lunch attack you. Don't dig too far down, or something scary will follow you back up. There is no victory, only glorious deaths. What goals you set in the game are up to you. Make small, simple goals that you know you can complete. "Surviving for 100 years" is like "curing cancer". Not technically 'impossible', but it might just be easier to settle on building a bridge for now. See More

Top Pro

Massive randomly-generated worlds persist across multiple games

Estimating one meter per tile, the smallest possible Dwarf Fortress world is roughly 13 kilometers on each side, and about 400 layers deep. The largest world is about 197 kilometers (123 miles) on each side. Each world has its own randomly-generated history with thousands of notable figures, warring factions, and numerous settlements of various races. Any number of fortresses and/or adventurers can be played in a particular world, though only one at a time. See More

Top Pro

Base game is free (supported by donations)

From the Bay 12 Games donations page: Bay 12 is dedicated to providing original games free of charge, but that doesn't mean it is free for us to make them. We've been online since December 2000, and you can help Bay 12 Games continue to thrive. If you've enjoyed any of our games, and you are able to give, we accept financial support. See More

Top Pro

Sim-like "Fortress" and roguelike "Adventurer" modes

Dwarf Fortress offers two primary ways to play. In Fortress Mode, the player oversees a small group of dwarves who embark to build a new settlement. Individual dwarves cannot be controlled directly; instead, the player supplies objectives and constraints and the A.I. decides exactly what is done by whom. Adventurer Mode presents a more classic roguelike experience, wherein the player controls a single character and can explore the entire world (including previous player-made fortresses). Two secondary modes are also provided: Legends Mode, which allows you to browse through all of the notable people, places, objects and events in a particular world's history; and the Object Testing Arena, where AI combat scenarios can be played out with any arbitrary combination of creatures and weaponry. See More

Top Pro

Continuous active development is planned for decades to come

Dwarf Fortress was started in 2002 and first released in 2006. Tarn and Zach Adams, its creators, have estimated that version 1.0 will be done in "about twenty years" and development will continue beyond that point. See More

Space Engineers (Early Access)

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Top Pro

Destructible ships

Players are able to smash ships into each other with satisfying destruction physics. See More

Top Con

Servers are a "lag hell"

Due to the nature of physics simulation of custom-built ships, the game requires newer hardware to host the game, still making it a "lag hell" if there are more than 10 players. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Top Pro

Prefabricated ships available in game that are modifiable

For those that do not want to build a whole ship from scratch there are prefabricated ships available upon start that are also modifiable so users can customize to their liking. See More

Top Con

Still not a whole lot to do

Being an early access game there is still a lot of missing features such as missions, thus leaving no much to do other than the free building mode. See More

Top Pro

Easy to build

Space Engineers makes it easy to build any items or objects making sure any skill level can easily have fun in game. All one needs to do is select what they would like to build from the menu and then choose the parts they would like to add. See More

Project Zomboid

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Top Pro

True sandbox gameplay

There are no missions in Project Zomboid, meaning the player can do anything they can think up at anytime they want. See More

Top Con

Slow development prone to setbacks

Projest Zomboid development has been going on for several years now and has hit quit a few snags that have set back it's full release. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Survival / Open World

Controller Support:Partial

Top Pro

Weather systems

There is randomly generated weather in the game which can effect your character such as getting sick from being wet and cold. See More

Top Con

Difficult

Survival in Project Zomboid is pretty difficult, which makes advancing in the game something to be relished when accomplished. See More

Elite: Dangerous

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Top Pro

Very realistic representation of space & star systems

Elite Dangerous uses publicly available real world star maps that we have of the Milky Way consisting of 150,000 star systems. Although in the current beta, full access to the entire galaxy is limited, in the final game, you will be able to visit any of the 400 billion stars in our galaxy on a 1:1 scale. Stars that we do know of are properly mapped in place and are of the correct type given the information we have about them. Stars we haven't collected data on are procedurally generated which allows you to explore any of the 400 billion of them. Star systems are intelligently simulated using the "Star Forge", a generator that simulates the creation of a star system forming from its nebular cloud to determine what celestial bodies appear and what orbits they have. This feature leads to many varied and unique star systems possibly with planets that can co-orbit around each other, or with binary star systems, and infinitely more possibilities. See More

Top Con

Really complicated to learn

Looking up faqs and trade routes from first hand users will be the norm for figuring out many aspects of Elite: Dangerous. On top of this notes will have to be taken, which is made more difficult by the fact the game does not support in game not taking. So a pad and paper is recommended to remember all of the minutia of the game. See More

Marcus Oakenshield's Experience

boring same old thing over and over it is amazing it has lasted this long, planets are look the same, copy and paste at it's best. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mostly Positive

Genre:Space Sim / Open World / MMO

Co-Op:Multiplayer

Controller Support:Full

Top Pro

Great Oculus Rift integration

Elite Dangerous has very good integration with the Oculus Rift thanks to its cockpit view only gameplay philosophy. All ship UIs are part of displays that appear on each side of you that appear when you turn your head, so accessing the navigation or ship menus happens seamlessly just by looking in their direction. The game also uses the direction you are looking in for targeting, so your lock on target is whatever you're head is pointing at. By sitting in the cockpit of a ship, you are given a stationary frame of reference that helps prevent motion sickness associated with movement in game when you aren't actually moving. See More

Top Con

"Mile Wide and an Inch Deep"

The game has a serious problem with depth and requires the user to repeat the same few fun actions over and over again. The world is massive and beautiful but feels empty. The game gets stale quickly despite being visually stunning. See More

Top Pro

Built with future expansion in mind

When Elite Dangerous come out, development wont stop. To build a game with the huge scope of Elite Dangerous, not all of it can be done at once, so the developers have adopted an approach of incremental improvement. Various game play elements are being designed as a foundation for later features. For example, although planetary landings aren't going to be available until a later update, the engine has been designed to be able to support going from lightyears away to meters away. See More

Top Pro

Exploration at every level of detail

Full exploration of the galaxy is planned, allowing you to be able to jump from star system to star system, and fly around within a solar system from planet to planet, eventually going all the way down to a planet's surface at a 1:1 scale in a later update. Planetary landings will require a lot of details to be developed and designed, but you can still see the level of detail shift in action when flying into a planet's rings, where getting close enough show the individual asteroids within, which you can then interact with through mining, or by having a battle among them. See More

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