Simulation games are a classic for players who enjoy a relaxing slice of life activity or manage a business or other jobs through gameplay. As a result, there’s no denying the vast array of different activities sim games have been made around over the years, ranging anywhere from running a farm to power washing the neighbors’ backyard.
For some, however, there’s more to the game than just what it’s simulating. Whether it’s story-rich world building, dynamic characters, or hidden secrets nestled into easily overlooked places, plenty of players looking for lore and simulation together are sure to find something that fits what they’re looking for.
10 Stardew Valley
Stardew Valley is one of the most popular farming sims out there currently, and for good reason. As a calming and colorful farming sim in a town with lively characters to befriend or romance, the players aren’t left wanting for things to do.
Even beyond what readily meets the eye, however, a much more thorough backstory on the valley, magical creatures and their factions, and even hidden facts about the characters can be found by players willing to put the time and energy into digging for them (both figuratively and literally).
9 Planet Zoo
Planet Zoo’s lore is far easier for many players to overlook, as it’s only present in the career missions for the player and, because of the way it’s presented, can be easily tuned out even if the player does play through the story.
As a result, it can be surprising just how thorough and complex the story actually becomes as the player progresses, starting at first as a new hire for a famous chain of zoos and sanctuaries and slowly getting drawn more and more when an unexpected (and ethically questionable) change in management and starts to change what the zoos may stand for.
8 Littlewood
A twist on the normal farm and town life games, Littlewood’s story takes place after the hero (the player character) has already stopped a calamity, waking up to find they’ve lost all their memories of their journey prior.
Starting out in a small house in a thick forest, the player is tasked with rebuilding this new village into a bustling town after the destruction wrought upon a world fresh from conflict. The player will gather supplies, pick up new hobbies, and explore diverse regions to help their community all while catching brief glimpses of the life they’ve forgotten.
7 The Sims
For any long-standing fans of The Sims franchise, it comes as no surprise that the worlds of each game have contributed to an ever-growing and elaborate background story for the townies of each game. While the player gets to establish a household of their own and watch their story gradually come to life, so will all the unplayed residents of the household’s world in each game.
Whether this is simply through their interactions with the player’s sims, a thorough backstory in the household’s bio, or simply family names spanning across all their games, The Sims keeps its lore thorough and intertwined across different games.
6 Sun Haven
A newer, story-rich game full of magic, farming, and a diverse set of fantasy races has put a new spin on the typical farming sim archetype in gaming. Sun Haven sets itself apart from other farming sims not only with its unique fantasy mechanics, but with its rich and thorough world-building as well.
Players in Sun Haven will work as a farmer, protector, and go-getter for a charming village guarded by a benevolent dragon. Whether players use their powers of magic to defeat a looming threat from a fabled city of monsters, or tend to their crops and relationships within the town, the world the player experiences will be one full of life, lore, and peril.
5 Gas Station Simulator
This one will likely come as a surprise to many people, as a simple game about running a gas station doesn’t seem like the usual place to find a rich amount of lore or story progression. However, upon starting the game it quickly becomes clear that there’s more to the player’s job than meets the eye.
A mysterious benefactor simply known as “Uncle” makes himself known as the reason the player owns the gas station at all, and a looming and persistent obligation to make sure the gas station prospers becomes apparent, or else the player will be forced to face the consequences.
4 Unpacking
A more unorthodox theme for a sim game, Unpacking centers itself around… well, unpacking. Players will work to organize, tidy, and make room for their belongings in their new home, following the same character over different periods of their life.
Despite using very few words and no characters at all showing on screen, players can glean what’s going on in the character’s life just from the homes they move into, which items are thrown away, and which they hold onto long enough to become worn or broken.
3 Spellcaster University
Fans of magic and fantasy, or anyone who’s a fan of management sims, is going to enjoy the gameplay behind Spellcaster University. Taking place in a medieval-era fantasy setting, players will choose from an assortment of regions to build a magic academy, after which they’ll have to navigate different students’ needs and skills, backgrounds, and even relationships with neighboring communities and ancient gods.
In addition to navigating the different magic types, world-building, and how certain backgrounds and races shape the students, players must work hard to raise a generation of powerful sorcerers to quell the looming threat that has arrived several years too early.
2 Emily Is Away
Emily is Away is a simple, story and character-driven game that is portrayed through an old-fashioned AOL messenger and conversations between two different people over the years of their relationship. Depending on what the player does, how they choose to talk to Emily, and how they react to different information will all shape how the story pans out.
Despite the brevity of these conversations, the authentic dialogue ranging anywhere from deep and emotional conversations to shallow scripting between friends who have drifted apart gives players a thorough glimpse into the lives of the characters in just small snippets of time.
1 Viscera Cleanup Detail
This may seem like an odd choice, as on the surface Viscera Cleanup Detail seems like an unorthodox premise for a cleaning simulator without much story to it, and this is partially true. However, what makes this game’s lore so good is how the player finds it, as it doesn’t come to the player or explain itself.
Rather, the player will only notice if they take the time to properly look at and read what they’ve been ordered to clean up. If they do, they’ll often get hints of what went wrong, journal entries from the beginning of the disaster, and more hints at how many efforts have been made to keep disasters secret, even to the people cleaning up the mess.