Summary
Being a parent can be one of the most rewarding, exhausting, stressful, traumatizing, and heartwarming things we can experience in real life. Even the most unexpected, mundane concepts, like thebest office simulator games, have become some of the most popular, entertaining, and addictive games on the market. From Joel and Ellie to Big Boss and Snake, parent-child relationships in video games have a powerful effect on fans, so it stands to reason thatparenting simulatorsdeserve to be recognized for their incredible storytelling, gameplay and character-building potential.
The joy of parenting simulators is the combination of a management simulator, a cozy, endearing narrative, and the excitement of raising a character from scratch and seeing them succeed (or fail) in the lives their parents (the player) have built for them. Some parenting simulators even incorporate endless cycles, so that child characters grow up to become playable characters and have children of their own for the player to raise, allowing players to build long-lasting legacies that outlive the original parents, such as inThe Sims 4.Whether these virtual parents are super Moms and Dads or at risk of having CPS called, here is a selection ofthe most inventive, enjoyable parenting simulators out there.
6My Lovely Daughter
Horror fans will appreciate this gory reimagining of a parenting simulator,My Lovely Daughter,wherein grieving father Faustus attempts to resurrect his dead daughter by raising homuncli daughters and sacrificing them once they reach their full potential. The simulator incorporates many aspects of a parenting simulator, from giving gifts, spending quality time together, and supervising their jobs in the village. Playing as Faustus, gamers hear the terrible, heartless thoughts he has about his “children,” or sacrifices, and his lack of empathy for their fate. However, players can’t help but feel attached to every daughter, each one a unique creation that they would want to nurture forever if the game didn’t force their eventual murders.
The murders of his homegrown daughters are made even more dreadful by the sad letters they write to him, pleading for mercy, complaining about the cruelties of their existence, or expressing affection for a father who has never truly loved them. Faustus' crimes prove him to be one of theworst fathers in video gamehistory. As a result,My Lovely Daughterdeviates from convention in a parenting simulator that is actually amacabre, disturbing video game, rather than a cozy, comforting foray into fatherhood.
5Volcano Princess
Volcano Princessis a 2023 parenting simulator RPG about raising a Princess from infancy as a single father, guiding her to develop core skills to earn a favorable future out of over thirty different romance and career endings. Players schedule activities to improve their daughter’s Strength, Emotional Intelligence, Imagination, and Intellect skills up until her eighteenth birthday. Early in the game,Volcano Princessgamers must choose a mentor and a Knight Pathto study, which sets players several goals to complete. Players also have over fifteen romanceable companions to meet, befriend, and date if they wish. Depending on which characters players have maxed out their affection for, they can earn monogamous relationships or multiple polyamorous romantic endings.
Some of themini-game style activities inVolcano Princessare more enjoyable than others, from cooking, acting, and fishing to the more challenging gambling, combat, and socializing sequences. Even learninghow to catch and race horses inVolcano Princessrequires a guide or tutorial. However, the myriad of options gives players the freedom to customize their playthrough to suit their desired endings, becoming a crime boss, cultist, knight, Queen, or Goddess, and beyond. With some translation issues, typos, and a few underdeveloped stories,Volcano Princessis not a flawless parenting game, yet this rough-around-the-edges title from Chinese developer Egg Catcher is an addictive life management sim about nurturing a daughter from childhood to accomplished princess.
The 2014 gameOctodad: Dadliest Catchputs a hilarious twist on parenting simulators by using ragdoll physics to make fatherhood even more stressful and ridiculous. Octodad is an octopus who is pretending to be a human man to hide from a crazed sushi chef, while Octodad’s wife and kids somehow have no idea of his true tentacled identity. Originally an award-winning student project titledOctodadin 2010, the student developers became known as Young Horses and producedOctodad: Dadliest Catchas a sequel on Steam in 2014.
The deliberately over-sensitive, clumsy controls cause players to flail, slip, and slide around chaotically as they attempt to complete typical fatherly chores like cooking barbecues, shopping, and saving their family from a raging fire. Potentially the most unconventional parenting simulator game around,Octodad: Dadliest Catchdoes not conform to the usual daily management gameplay and instead embarks on wackier adventures where caring for his children is his biggest goal. This short, silly game is the perfect foray into parenthood for gamers who don’t take life, fatherhood, or being chased by a murderous chef too seriously.
Playable characters don’t need to be human to be a parent, as gamers will discover with theShelterseries, developed by Might and Delight. In the deceptively serene 2013 game,Shelter,players embody a mother badger trying to feed, protect, and lead her five babies to safety across unfriendly terrain. The sequel,Shelter 2,revolved around a mother lynx and her four cubs, again with a similar agenda, except with the progression of seeing her cubs grow up and venture out on their own (if players kept enough of them alive, that is).
In 2021,Shelter 3moves to the jungle as players control the matriarch elephant, guiding her herd with the help of her ancient wisdom and fierce protectiveness. Despite encountering different terrains, settings, and mothers in each game, the tragedy of losing a child hits players hard every single time. It is impossible for players not to get attached to these adorable pixels in a storybook-style setting, but theShelterseries speaks to the core value of any parenting simulator: keeping children safe, fed, and alive in the face of all dangers.
2My Child Lebensborn
Parents Shield Their Child From Bullies And Warfare
Few parenting simulators truly touch upon the challenges of protecting and nurturing the delicate emotional needs of a vulnerable child likeMy Child Lebensborn. In post-war Norway, players adopt a kindhearted child (named Klaus or Karin) who was born and abandoned as part of the Lebensborn scheme to produce Aryan offspring under the Nazi regime. Sarepta Studio developedMy Child Lebensbornin 2018 as an alternative to producing a documentary about the real experiences of innocent children who were abused and neglected by Norwegian communities due to their unsavory Nazi heritage.
Despite the heavy subject matter,My Child Lebensbornis a gentle, wholesome point-and-click management sim. Players control Klaus or Karin’s parent, balancing chores and engaging thoughtfully in dialogue options to keep their child happy and safe by cooking, fishing, sewing clothes, playing games, and reading bedtime stories. Peace at home is disturbed when Klaus or Karin experience severe, heartbreaking bullying, which has a devastating ripple effect on the child’s mental health and worldview. Sarepta Studio are developing a sequel, which copes with the aftermath and healing process of trauma for a parent and child.My Child Lebensbornis a tender game about raising a hopeful, sweet child in unforgiving circumstances.
Sims have always been able to have children, from the first baby inThe Simsin 2000, but over timeThe Sims 4franchise has become one of the most detailed life and parenting simulators on the market. In 2018,The Sims 4: Parenthoodexpansion revolutionized toddlers and children, introducing Character Values that can be taught to children, including empathy, manners, conflict resolution, responsibility, and emotional control. For the first time, parents could implement rewards, discipline, and curfews, as well as engage in special aspirations, traits, multiple choice pop-ups, and activities that help to shape a child’s personality.
Having positive or negative Character Values at the end of childhood results in Sims earning traits that they carry into adulthood, meaning Simmers can really feel like their parenting choices have an impact. In 2023, the franchise expanded on itsunpredictable family-orientated gameplay withThe Sims 4: Growing Together, where new aspirations, milestones, and events bring more joy and meaning to Sim families. Rather than NPC babies that only have a small set of interactions, the new infant lifestage requires constant nurturing; each infant has unique quirks like “hates being held” that make the parenting experience both personal and challenging. By interacting with their children in a positive or negative pattern, Sim parents earn supportive, strict, or difficult family dynamics.The Sims 4has improved family gameplay so much that the classic Sim faux pas of putting a newborn baby on the floor and walking away is no longer the height of Sim parenting.
