Sim games are commonplace on mobile, console, PC, and cardboard. World and city simulators like Tropico and Civilization effectively let players build and manage entire societies. Disaster simulators like Frostpunk task the player with managing groups of people through certain disasters. Business simulators enable players to take on the management of specific businesses or, in some cases, take on the role of an entrepreneur managing multiple businesses.
Casino games
While casino games may not be directly related to business management, they do teach you a lot about risk management. They teach you how to budget wisely, use time to your advantage, and interact with opponents.
Two Point Hospital
In Two Point Hospital, players are given the role of hospital administrators and are tasked with establishing, building, and managing hospitals in different regions. Every region has its own set of unique challenge, and as you progress through the game, new illnesses will be uncovered, along with new doctors and treatment centers. The game starts off quite sedately but the difficulty ramps up as you progress. Two Point Hospital is available on PC, Mac, and consoles.
RollerCoaster Tycoon
RollerCoaster Tycoon enslists players to help design and develop theme parks. As well as attempting to create appealing rides, including the eponymous rollercoaster, players need to keep visitors happy by providing them with food, drinks, and merchandise. The park needs to be kept looking clean, too, and the game is especially suited to min-maxers who spend time eeking every last dollar of profit out of their burger stands.
Railroad Tycoon
The original Railroad Tycoon was co-designed by Sid Meier, who also created the genre-defining Civilization series of games. In Railroad Tycoon, he created what was a very enjoyable simulator, but it would be some years before a sequel was released, building on the first game’s success. Railroad Tycoon 3 launched more than 20 years ago, in 2003, but it remains an excellent game. It is available on Windows, Mac, and Steam and has 16 scenarios set between the years 1840 and 2080. For those looking for a slightly newer variant, Sid Meier’s Railroads was launched in 2006 and is available on Steam.
Farming Simulator
When the first Farming Simulator launched in 2008, it was viewed as being a bit of a quirk. However, there have now been 9 main titles in the series, as well as a host of mobile versions and dedicated versions for other platforms. The franchise has sold more than 25 million copies and is popular for its farm management elements as well as its animal husbandry and tractor driving. The game also has multiplayer modes, as well as some beautiful spreadsheets.
The video game development industry has suffered a very challenging couple of years with considerable layoffs and a host of difficulties. Despite that, running a game development business is still the dream for many people. Game Dev Story has basic graphics but, in many ways, that adds to its charm, as you attempt to build your game studio up from a handful of employees to making your first million game or launching your very own game console. It is a surprisingly deep game that goes into everything from licensing to training staff.
Fast Food Simulator
Fast Food Simulator is the ideal game for anybody who has ever considered opening their own burger joint or buying a McDonald’s franchise. Initially, you will be able to make burgers, and it will take some time before you can even start to add slices of cheese to them, let alone offer ice creams or coffee. You are tasked with everything from ordering the food and unloading the truck to clearing up tables, although, for some reason, you aren’t in control of the pricing for the food you serve.
YouTubers Life
Becoming a successful streamer and continuing to profit from the gig is a serious business. It takes dedication and at least some degree of business acumen, whether you choose to stream video game content or become a culture streamer. In YouTubers Life, you get some basic recording equipment and have to grow your budding content channel. As well as managing aspects of the business like social media marketing, you also have to manage your mental health, which means ensuring you maintain a social life.
Fiz
Fiz is a mobile tycoon game in which you run your own microbrewery. There is a somewhat deep game behind the dated-looking graphics. Create your own brews, fine-tune them to make the perfect beer, and then attempt to win awards for your latest offerings. You are also responsible for the management of your brewery business, which includes setting prices and running market research.
F1 Manager
Formula 1 is an incredibly rich sport with drivers who earn millions, teams that spend tens of millions, and deals worth even more. F1 Manager gives you a bit of a sneak peek behind the F1 curtain and lets you take the reins of a Formula 1 team. The series started in 2022 and made good leaps forward in 2023. The game, although not necessarily the sport itself, benefits from the income disparity between teams, because managing a team with a slimmer budget will be far more challenging, and in different ways, than managing the likes of Red Bull, with its seemingly limitless pot of money.
Conclusion
Whether you want to manage a fictional YouTube content channel or your own microbrewery, there is a business simulator out there for you. Because these games are simulators and are based on business management, they typically have quite in-depth mechanics and can require some serious min-maxing from players, although the difficulty level can be changed on most titles to provide assistance with certain elements and ensure you still have fun.
