What is Fields of Mistria? A magical new obsession for fans of Stardew Valley
Since Stardew Valley rejuvenated the farming sim genre a decade ago, games like Fields of Mistria are capitalising on its popularity with their own special touches
July 2026
What is Paralives? The creative life simulator game that could rival The Sims
With players leaving EA’s series once life there felt like a grind beset by ethical concerns, this quirky new sim promises a better life elsewhere
May 2026
Forza Horizon 6 review – classic open world racing sim roars beautifully into Japan
‘Nurse, the joypad!’: the eight greatest medical video games
April 2026
What my zen week with a virtual power-washer taught me about gaming – and life
Imogen West-Knights
Some of the most popular simulator games are outlandishly boring. But curiously, it’s satisfying to complete pointless tasks when the stakes are so low, says writer Imogen West-Knights
March 2026
Stop the world, I want to get off and run a video rental store in the 1990s
Dominik Diamond
Retail sims aren’t my thing, but the tactile, nostalgic pleasures of hit indie title Retro Rewind have me yearning for the era of physical media, smoking indoors and uncomplicated geopolitics
January 2026
‘I didn’t have anything to prove’: what Traitors finalist Jade Scott learned about survival from video games
Accused, isolated and constantly under scrutiny, The Traitors contestant drew on years of social deduction gaming to stay calm under pressure
November 2025
A PowerWash Simulator sequel is exactly what we need right now
Ellie Gibson
Football Manager 26 review – a modern sim for the modern game
August 2025
Tiny Bookshop review – a truly cosy escape made with readers in mind
Real titles from Shakespeare to John Green line the shelves of your seaside shop in a rhythmic, mellow management simulator worth relaxing into
June 2025
The Alters: unintentionally the realest game about parenting I’ve ever played
Dominik Diamond
This imaginative sci-fi survival game is a work of art. But looking after the needy clones of myself I’d made to help run a space base, I was reminded all too clearly of my limitations and failings
May 2025
Farm Simulator: 16bit Edition review – the simple joy of ploughing your own furrow
It may be seem horrendously old-fashioned, but the seemingly dull repetition of working your wheat fields has a nostalgic pull like a combine harvester
April 2025
Skin Deep review – kitty rescue immersive-sim is slapstick fun in a cartoony playground
This attempt to cosy-fi an immersive sim game is full of ‘zany’ gags as you rescue cats from a spaceship, but it gets a bit too saccharine
March 2025
Two Point Museum review – curate your own fun in this museum management game
This humorous management game puts you in charge of cultural institutions, creating entertaining displays on everything from natural history to the paranormal
February 2025
The Sims at 25: a terrifying facsimile of life, death and the endless cycle of work
Wait! The Sims is a lot bleaker than I remember
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 review – it’s a hard-knock life in medieval Bohemia
Civilization VII review – your empire strikes back in glorious new detail
October 2024
Apartment Story review – an entrancing slice-of-life game about the monotony of modern adult life
This voyeuristic life simulator depicts Arthur’s lonely life in his unassuming flat as he gets dragged into danger – but you’ll get the biggest thrills just from washing his dishes
July 2024
Summer games previews
The Dark Souls of climbing games: Cairn leans into the challenge of mountaineering
A deceptively simple control system underpins this alpinist adventure set on a single deadly massif
