20 BEST Simulation Games of 2022

Sometimes it’s nice kicking back and playing a simulation game. Whether it’s based around different jobs, lifestyles, historical settings, or just wacky concepts, you’ll find a simulator based on it. In this list, we will highlight a few new simulation games that are slated to release this year. Don’t put too much focus on ranking here. We won’t know how these games will really rank up until they release. Some of these games might even slip past the 2022 calendar year. Regardless, check out some of these new upcoming games slated to release this year.

Disclaimer: Kerbal Space Program 2, Medic: Pacific War, and Men of War II, Cowboy Life Simulator, Outlaw Driver Simulator, I am Jesus Christ, Thief Simulator 2, Night is Coming, Viking City Builder, The Ranchers, Occupy Mars: The Game, Frostpunk 2 were removed from the list.

#20 Against the Storm

Developer: Eremite Games
Publisher: Hooded Horse
Platform: PC
Release date: November 1, 2022

Most city-builder titles have you focusing on one city or town and building it up over time. But in Against the Storm, your goal is different. You play as a leader of a people who has endured a terrible cataclysm and must attempt to rebuild their kingdom.

To do so, you must go into a legendary forest full of opportunities and dangers. The key factor here is that you must build multiple settlements and then ensure they stay connected so they can all thrive.

While you do this, nature won’t make things easy for you. Storms will ravage the homes of your people, and other threats lurk within the woods. Will you be able to survive it all?

#19 Football Manager 2023

Developer: Sports Interactive
Publisher: Sega
Platform: PC Xbox One XSX|S Switch
Release date: November 8, 2022

The World Cup happened not too long ago, and as the final game proved, it takes every player to make a big victory happen.

Football Manager 2023 will allow you to participate in the soccer/Futbol world by picking a club you want to build up and then letting you run it. Your job is deep, and you’ll have to work with the team owners, players, and fans to help ensure success.

But what is success? Is it simply being a winning team? Or is it making the team a brand name that makes money no matter what? Dive into the deep management system and find out how good a GM you can be!

#18 Coral Island

Developer: Stairway Games
Publisher: Humble Games
Platform: PC
Release date: October 11, 2022

Are you ready for a new life on an island far away from the big city? If so, then get Coral Island. The title puts you on a small island waiting for you to build your dream farm on it and help revitalize the community. Start small with basic crops, then slowly expand until you have a farm you can call home.

But don’t miss out on the opportunity to enjoy life with the island’s residents. If you’re lucky, you might even find someone to spend the rest of your days with.

You can even dive into the local waters and help restore the reefs surrounding the island!

#17 Construction Simulator

Developer: weltenbauer.
Publisher: astragon Entertainment
Platform: PC PS4 Xbox One PS5 XSX|S
Release date: September 20, 2022

Construction is one of the more consistent businesses in the world for a fundamental reason: there’s almost always something to build.

In Construction Simulator, you’ll have the opportunity to participate in that business by starting your own construction company. With help from your mentor, you’ll take on small jobs to learn the ropes and see what you can accomplish. Once you have a handle on things, you’ll expand your fleet of vehicles and take on new jobs.

Work with your clients to achieve the best results and see how far you can push your company! Do you think you can be one of the best builders in the land?

#16 Police Simulator: Patrol Officers

Developer: Aesir Interactive
Publisher: astragon Entertainment
Platform: PC PS4 Xbox One PS5 XSX|S
Release date: November 10, 2022

While the “popularity” of the police has definitely waned in recent years, there’s little doubt that they do many jobs in their communities and cities. Police Simulator: Patrol Officers allows you to take on the role of a new cop in a fictional town and attempt to do good there.

You’ll start with “grunt work,” then through hard work and dedication, you’ll slowly get more jobs to do. Throughout the title, you’ll experience what it’s like to work with the community and help them through their ordeals. So what kind of officer of the law will you be when you put on the badge? Jump into the game and find out!

#15 PC Building Simulator 2

Developer: Spiral House
Publisher: Epic Games
Platform: PC
Release date: October 12, 2022

As many of you know, it’s not enough to “Just have a PC to play games” anymore. You must have the best parts possible to run the “ultimate gaming setup.”

Only some people are qualified to do such things. But with PC Building Simulator 2, you’ll have the chance to learn as you grow your own PC building/repair business! Start small as you learn the ropes, and then slowly expand your craft as you pick up more skills. There are over 1200 real-life components for you to use to build a PC. See which ones give you the best results to please the customer!

#14 Dwarf Fortress

Developer: Bay 12 Games
Publisher: Kitfox Games
Platform: PC
Release date: December 06, 2022

Dwarf Fortress is a unique worldbuilding/roguelike title where you’ll attempt to maintain a population of dwarves in a fully fleshed-out world that is begging to be explored, built upon, fought in, and more.

The name of the game is survival. You’ll start with your dwarf clan and then help them over the years to become an empire, and then slowly die off due to various circumstances.

Learn from what happened in one playthrough, and then try to do better in the next one! Each time you play, the circumstances of the world and your dwarves will be different. So jump in and see what adventure awaits you!

#13 The Wandering Village

Developer: Stray Fawn Studio
Publisher: Stray Fawn Studio, WhisperGames
Platform: PC Xbox One
Release date: September 14, 2022

What if you lived in a world slowly killing its population due to poisonous plants? Then, the only way for that world’s population to survive was to live on the back of a Titan known as Onbu. What would that be like?

You’ll find out in The Wandering Village. You’ll take control of people who have made it on top of the Titan and must learn to survive on its back. The good news is you’ll have room to grow and expand. But you’ll also have to adapt to the world as Onbu travels through it.

What will you do to survive in this dangerous world?

#12 Settlement Survival

Developer: Gleamer Studio
Publisher: Gleamer Studio
Platform: PC
Release date: October 24, 2022

Are you looking for a fun yet challenging city-builder title? Settlement Survival might scratch your itch if so.

In the game, you’ll play a “god” who is trying to build a settlement for some people. You’ll pick a spot of land, then shape it to your desires. Make it full of resources or close to things like rivers for easy access. The choice is yours.

Once the land is ready, start making your settlement! Start small, then slowly expand it so people can be happy and have all they could ever want! But be warned! Random events will test you and your settlement! So you must overcome them to survive.

#11 Session: Skate Sim

Release date: September 22, 2022
Developer: crea-ture Studios Inc.
Publisher: Nacon
Platform: PC PS5 PS4 Xbox One XSX|S

Are you ready to have some fun at the skate park? If so, then getting Session: Skate Sim might just be your jam.

One of the ways the game differentiates itself from other skateboard titles is the control system. Your character’s legs are tied to the two control sticks. So you’ll need to learn how to use your balance and skills correctly to pull off major moves.

Once you have it down, head to the skate parks and start making 90s-style videos so that you can show off how greater a skater you are! So get on that board and shred like there’s no tomorrow!

#10 Farthest Frontier

• Release date: August 9, 2022
• Developer: Crate Entertainment
• Publisher: Crate Entertainment
• Platform: Microsoft Windows

Would you be able to rebuild your life if you had to go to the farthest parts of the map? In Farthest Frontier you’re going to find that out quite quickly.

Because in this title, you’ll be guiding a set of settlers to the edge of the known map, and asked to build a new home for yourselves there. You’ll need to get resources from the land, build farms to grow food, and develop your home from settlement, to town, to major city.

The game has some very advanced systems, including the farming system where you’ll have to pick and choose the crops you grow. As well as having your villagers live actual lives as you grow their homes.

There’s even a Pacifist Mode to ensure that combat doesn’t touch your home.

#9 Sweet Transit

• Release date: June 9, 2022
• Developer: Ernestas Norvaišas
• Publisher: Team17
• Platform: Microsoft Windows

There are a lot of city builder games, but the best ones take unique twists on how they’re allowed to go. Sweet Transit is a great example of that. In this game, you’ll start out by making a humble village, and then start making a train track so you can try and grow it.

The trains in this game are the only way for you to grow and expand, so the better the trains and system you have, the better your towns and cities will be.

And as you grow, you’ll progress through the various eras of technology to see how grand your trains, and train systems you can have.

#8 F1 Manager 2022

• Release date: August 25, 2022
• Developer: Frontier Developments plc
• Publisher: Frontier Developments plc
• Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows

There are a lot of sports games out there, but the manager ones are a different beast if you’ve been willing to play them.

Because a lot of us THINK we can “run the show”, but can you? For example, in F1® Manager 2022 (which is coming in late August), you’ll get to pick your own F1 team to go and control. At times, you’ll be racing in the series to try and get to the top position, or at the very least, close to it.

Then, in between the races you’ll control every single detail of your team in order to make sure it’s the best-managed F1 team out there.

So put your money where your mouth is and see if you can come out on top.

#7 WWE 2K22

• Publisher: 2K Games
• Developer: Visual Concepts
• Platform: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox One, PC
• Release Date: March 2022

WWE 2K22 gives players a real sense of life as a wrestling superstar, with highly dynamic visuals and an immersive gameplay structure. An exciting and enjoyable take on the long-running wrestling game franchise, WWE 2K22 brings wrestling simulation to life with a huge (and growing) roster of superstars and legends from the world of WWE and beyond. Character models are vastly improved in this instalment of the wrestling game, which gives players a much more authentic simulation experience while playing. All in all, WWE 2K22 is a great wrestling sim game for fans of fighting games that have a strong connection with real-world entertainment.

#6 Spaceflight Simulator

• Developer: Stefo Mai Moronjna
• Publisher: Stefo Mai Moronjna
• Platform: PC
• Release: 2022

Spaceflight Simulator is more focused on building up rockets and getting them out into space. It’s a bit bare-bones compared to the Kerbal Space Program franchise, but if you enjoy building up rockets and trying new designs, this might be a thrilling simulator for you. Players will build up rockets, launch them into space and attempt to get these creations to land back on the ground safely. We know that this title is launching this year, but it will launch as an early access game. Players can expect this title to receive several updates and features as the developers continue building out the game for its full launch later on.

#5 Not For Broadcast

• Publisher: tinyBuild
• Developer: Not Games
• Platform: PC
• Full Release: January 25th, 2022

While it’s true that video games many times follow a “basic mold”, it’s also true that sometimes they break that mold to deliver a new kind of experience. Not For Broadcast is a great example of this.

Because in this title, you’ll be in the “news box” if you will controlling a nightly news program. Your job is to keep things entertaining while also making sure you keep your higher-ups and sponsors happy. You’ll need to monitor content as it happens before you, censor what needs to be, put ads of the “best quality” forward, and to ensure you don’t lose audience interest.

The game is darkly comedic, and a great example of what it’s like to be in TV today behind the scenes in certain ways. So try it out and see if you can keep the station lights on.

#4 Slime Rancher 2

• Release date: September 22, 2022 (Early Access)
• Publisher: Monomi Park
• Developers: Monomi Park
• Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X/S

Slime Rancher 2 is packed full of colorful adventures as players step back into the role of Beatrix LeBeau. As the sequel to the surprise hit original Slime Rancher, players will get to enjoy the strange yet satisfying mash-up of slime collection and mystery solving. This time, Beatrix is leaving the Far, Far Range and heading over the Slime Sea to the secret-filled shores of Rainbow Island. This adventure will appeal to those who enjoy a bit of relaxing farming mixed in with their action and features a number of new and exotic slimes to add to your growing collection on the ranch. At the heart of the game lies a new island to explore and mysterious ancient technology to decode. It looks as though Slime Rancher 2 could have equal, if not greater success than its predecessor.

#3 Terra Invicta

• Developer: Pavonis Interactive
• Publisher: Hooded Horse
• Platform: PC
• Release: 2022

Terra Invicta is an upcoming 4X grand strategy game. This game is based on a science fiction narrative. Humanity learns that an alien invasion is coming, and nothing is turning it around. With this news breaking, factions are quickly formed in how they will handle the situation. You have factions that are either scared and looking to flee the planet, factions that want war and fight off the invaders, or even factions that want to welcome the invasion with open arms. You’ll go through and pick one of the various factions available and attempt to keep your group on top. It will be a fight for power, resources, and even control points. A few years after a successful Kickstarter campaign, it looks like fans will finally get a chance to jump into this title within 2022.

#2 Isonzo

• Developer: BlackMill Games
• Publisher: M2H
• Platform: PC, PS5, PS4, X/S, XBO
• Release: 2022

Isonzo is actually a military war game that’s based within WWI. Set within Italy, You’ll battle against the opposing forces in different scenic locations. However, since this is a simulation game, there is more of a focus on making the game more historically accurate. Fortunately, the developers are known for bringing out historical war games, including Tannenberg and Verdun. As a result, you can expect the game to be accurate from the different uniforms, weapons, and locations. Furthermore, being a war game, you can enjoy some online PVP where players can join online for some more competitive matches.

#1 Two Point Campus

• Developer: Two Point Studios
• Publisher: Sega
• Platform: X/S, PS4, PS5, XBO, NS, PC
• Release: 2022

Two Point Campus comes from the makers of Two Point Hospital. You’ve likely heard of this game already. Much like Two Point Hospital, players are building up and running their own unique university. However, it’s a lighthearted game where you’re building up funny makeshift schools. These schools will range from teaching students to becoming knights or excellent cooks. Then there’s the need to build up dormitories along with buildings for entertainment to those on campus. At the moment, players can expect to play the role of a school dean sometime later this year.