Summary
Simulator games take a little bit of the escapism of larger-than-life action games and turn them into meditative,calm, and cozy tasks that can be repeated to progress. While the most popular simulator games let players see their progress, like inPower Wash Simulator, many other games bring the mundane to fans' fingertips and let them work menial jobs in new settings, make a difference from their desk job, and poke fun at the typical office work-life.
While some of these games tackle bigger issues, others are lighthearted and relaxing and make for perfect entries into the best simulator games lineup. These are some of the best office simulators that gamers should try out.
Papers, Pleasemight be the game that popularized the data-checking formula. Releasing in 2013, the game puts fans behind the morally dubious desk of a checkpoint official in an authoritarian country where slipping up could mean more dissent at the border. Players are paid based on how many people they check accurately and must ensure their family has enough to get by. The game presents players with decisions that will have them questionhow much the government in control really knows, and how much they can go along with evil overlords when their loyalty is unrewarded.
While doing the job gets more and more complex, it becomes necessary to triple-check immigrants to avoid any freedom fighters or spies, lest players' bosses come down hard on them.
2Death And Taxes
Reaper Desk Job Simulator
Another desk job in a peculiar setting,Death And Taxessees players taking on a pile of pending fates in a behind-the-scenes look of our mortal coil. Playing as a customizable Grim Reaper, players will be given vague instructions like, “Two Humans have to die, Spare anyone with a food service background.” Then a stack of identities will make its way onto the desk, each with a pair of tick boxes on the bottom where players will have to stamp each record with either “LIVE” or “DIE.” It’s quite macabre and dark,but the humor comes from the nonchalance with which these choices are treated.
Players can break guidelines, with a little bit of leeway before they upset the big boss, so if sparing someone is in the rules but the player thinks they deserve to be one of the day’s deaths they can make an exception. The quirky writing works well with the sinister office and the tedious repetition of a normal job making for a great addition to the genre.
3Orwell
Desktop Investigation And Observation
Fully realizing the vision of George Orwell’s1984,Orwelllets players be the investigators who skim through the messages and internet searches of the people of “The Nation.” Becoming part of “Big Brother,” players will build up profiles of citizens to get to the bottom of a series of terror attacks, passing on information to law enforcement. The game acts as a desktop that the player can use and peruse to look through data and discover more and more about the people they are looking into.
Despite initially appearing simple, the game becomes a question as the player can choose what information is relevant and can help to frame evidence in the right way to achieve their own desired outcome.Orwellis data management and filing taken to the world of political dystopia and feels important and insightful.
4Not For Broadcast
An 80’s Television Editing Gig
The old editor of a massive news station has left and now the Janitor has to step in and sit in the editing booth to work on the broadcasts before they air.Not For Broadcastis an experience unlike any other, where the player is in control of public perception, able to censor viewpoints that they think shouldn’t make it on air, and alter opinions on a massive scale.
As the government pushes further into questionable actions, fans have control over whether to show the good or the bad.Stacking up ads, and choosing programs that will directly benefit themselves, players will get a taste of the potentially corrupt and inevitably powerful position of public television editor. Sitting at a workstation and managing what appears on the screen has never felt so tense and important!
For any fans of VR,Job Simulatorpresents another strange reality to get players into a desk job where they can live out their wildest and most childish fantasies. With gleeful digital disregard for a more realistic simulator, the player will enter into an artificial intelligence’s idea of what a job was before robots took over all the jobs in the world.While there are options to cook, work at a retail store, or work as a mechanic, the most relevant job that players will find is the Office Worker role.
In this segment of the game, players can photocopy a stapler, throw the whole computer at their cubicle into the shredder, and even toss stacks of paperwork at their boss. The game’s limitless sense of humor makes for an exciting escape from office life and finds fun in the woeful workplace.
6Office Management 101
A Survival Sandbox That Rewards Cutthroat Business
Currently in Early Access, and performing well on Steam,Office Management 101lets players design their office from the ground up. With randomly generated characters to hire, and the ability to work these employees to the bone, the game serves as an impressive spearing of corporate culture while still providing a challenge.
Forcing workers back to their desks to allow for tactical backstabbing against other corporate allies means that there is a strategy and devious planning involved for those who want to succeed. The constant crunch of the office environment is a perfect platform to see presented in thebrutal and omnipotent genre of tycoon games.
