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Best simulation games on GamesNostalgia

Whether you've always dreamed of building your own virtual city, managing a bustling farm, or even piloting an aircraft, simulation games offer an exciting escape from reality. These immersive experiences not only provide entertainment but also serve as a fertile ground for unleashing your creativity and problem-solving skills. Dive into the world of simulation games and discover a universe where your imagination knows no bounds. From constructing intricate structures to making strategic decisions, these games allow you to shape and mold your own virtual reality.

To be part of this group, it's not enough to have some simulation elements. All games try to simulate reality, at least in part. Here we tried to list titles where the simulation is the game's core.

The first simulation computer game was probably Bruce Artwick's Flight Simulator, the first realistic flight sim, released in 1980 for the Apple II. In 1985, David Crane programmed the first virtual life simulator with Little Computer People, the progenitor of The Sims, a success that Maxis would release 15 years later. But the first hit of Will Wright's company was the city-building simulation game SimCity in 1989, followed by SimAnt and SimLife in 1992, SimHealth in 1994, in many others.

Going back to flight simulators, we must mention F-15 Strike Eagle, one of the first games created by Sid Meier, initially for the Atari 8-bit. But other famous titles of the '80s include F/A-18 Interceptor, Falcon, F-16 Combat Pilot, and F-19 Stealth Fighter. In the '90s, we had F-117A Nighthawk Stealth Fighter 2.0, released in 1993, and the Great War Planes series series created by Damon Slye for Sierra/Dynamix, with Red Baron, Aces of the Pacific, Aces Over Europe and others. Planes are not the only vehicles simulated. In Silent Service, released in 1986, you control a submarine; in Gunship, the AH-64 Apache helicopter.

Moving towards economic simulations, in Chris Sawyer's Transport Tycoon, you need to manage a transport company, while in Railroad Tycoon Deluxe, you build railroads and manage trains.

After the successes of his god-game titles, such as Populous, Bullfrog entered the simulation scene with Theme Park in 1994. Theme Hospital was another big hit, but the most successful title was Sim Theme Park in 1999.

It's not always easy to identify simulation games; sometimes, there is a significant overlap with strategy games, especially in business simulations. City-building games like Caesar might or might not be considered simulations. That's why we suggest checking also business simulation, city building, and construction simulation.

Flight of the Intruder amiga

Flight of the Intruder is a flight and combat simulator developed by Rowan Software for PC and published by Spectrum Holobyte in 1990. The following year, Amiga and Atari ST versions were also released.

Year: 1991 Genre: Simulation

3d combat flight simulation flight sim simulation vietnam war

TFX amigados

TFX (Tactical Fighter Experiment) is a flight simulator developed by Digital Image Design and released in 1993 for MS-DOS. Initially, Ocean had planned to release an Amiga version in 1994.

Year: 1993 Genre: Simulation

3d aga combat flight simulation coverdisk flight sim military simulation vehicular combat simulator war

Transport Tycoon dos

Transport Tycoon is a simulation game created by Chris Sawyer and published by MicroProse in 1994 for PC MS-DOS. Chris Sawyer, who had started his career by converting Elite Plus...

Year: 1994 Genre: Simulation

automobile business simulation isometric simulation train transport

Homeworld windows

Homeworld is a sci-fi real-time strategy/simulation game created by Relic Entertainment and published by Sierra in 1999 for Windows PC. The game concept is very straightforward: ta...

Year: 1999 Genre: Strategy

3d real-time rts science fiction simulation space management space sim strategy

Jane's Combat Simulations: Longbow 2 windows

Jane's Combat Simulations: Longbow 2 is a helicopter simulation game developed by Origin Systems and released by Electronic Arts in 1997 for PC. As you can imagine, it is the seque...

Year: 1997 Genre: Simulation

helicopter simulation vehicular combat simulator war

Skyfox amiga

Skyfox is a sci-fi combat flight simulator created by Ray Tobey originally for the Apple II and published by Electronic Arts in 1984. The game was ported to ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, and Commodore 64, where it became a commercial hit.

Year: 1986 Genre: Simulation

apple 2 original game combat flight simulation science fiction simulation vehicular combat simulator

Skyfox II: The Cygnus Conflict amiga

Skyfox II: The Cygnus Conflict is a 2D sci-fi combat game developed by Dynamix and published by Electronic Arts. You can download it for free from GamesNostalgia. The game was crea...

Year: 1988 Genre: Simulation

aliens c64 original game combat flight simulation first-person simulation space exploration space flight

Fighter Bomber amiga

Fighter Bomber (known as Strike Aces in the US) is a combat flight simulator developed by Vektor Grafix. It was published by Activision in 1989 for MS-DOS, Commodore 64, and Atari ...

Year: 1990 Genre: Simulation

aviation combat flight simulation first-person flight sim simulation

Subwar 2050 amiga

Subwar 2050 is a sci-fi submarine simulation game developed by Particle Systems and released in 1994 for the PC and Amiga CD32 platforms. The game is set in the year 2050, where a ...

Year: 1994 Genre: Simulation

aga amiga cd32 naval science fiction simulation submarine underwater vehicle simulator

SimCity Enhanced CD-ROM dos

SimCity Enhanced CD-ROM, also known as SimCity Enhanced Cinematic Multimedia, is a remake of SimCity created by Maxis and released by Maxis and Interplay in 1993 for PC CD-ROM and Macintosh.

Year: 1993 Genre: Simulation

business simulation city building enhanced remakes live actors simulation top-down

Their Finest Hour: The Battle of Britain amiga

Their Finest Hour: The Battle of Britain is the second title in the series of Lucasfilm flight sims set during World War II. The game is the sequel to Battlehawks 1942, and it's ...

Year: 1990 Genre: Simulation

3d aviation combat flight simulation flight sim historical battle military simulation war ww2

Falcon amiga

Falcon: The F-16 Fighter Simulation is a flight-sim developed by Sphere and published by Spectrum Holobyte initially for MS-DOS and Macintosh in 1987. Two years later, it was ported to Amiga and Atari ST.

Year: 1989 Genre: Simulation

2 players 3d aviation combat flight simulation f-16 simulators flight sim military simulation vehicular combat simulator

Moonbase amiga

Moonbase: Lunar Colony Simulator is a strategy/simulation game created by Wesson International in 1990 for MS-DOS and later ported to Amiga and Macintosh. As you can imagine from t...

Year: 1991 Genre: Strategy

city building management science fiction simulation space space exploration strategy

DragonStrike amiga

DragonStrike is a fantasy flight simulator created by Strategic Simulations Inc set in the AD&D world of Dragonlance. The game was released for the Amiga, Commodore 64, and MS-DOS in 1990.

Year: 1990 Genre: Simulation

3d d&d dragonlance fantasy first-person flight sim licensed polygons simulation