Simulated effort
By Tanner Banks
3/4/2016, 8:00 a.m.
Tweet to: @SirJamtrousers
Tell me what these things have in common: Surgeon, Trucking, Goat, Farming, Tabletop. Answer? These are all examples of successful “Simulator” games that did something right. Alright, same question. Tank Dating, Rage Parking, Construction Machines, Mining Industry, Roadside Assistance, Grass, Yohjo. Answer? These were bad simulator games that failed to do anything beyond try to cash in on the recent influx of games that put their marketing into the name “Simulator.”
Simulation games have been popular for a long time. The Sims, Tropico, Football Manager, and Black and White are examples of classic simulation-based games where you take the role of another person and live their life in some form or another. However, there has been an influx of games where “_____ Simulator” is out and you gotta check it out because it’s so crazy, or so life-like, or so… So, what?
The emergence of “Simulator” games has been a pretty recent, and the number of these games are growing. In my recent rant on Street Fighter V and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5, I talked about how lazy big-name developers are because they think that if it has a familiar name we’ll buy it. It seems like the same thing can be said for independent game developers and “Simulator” games. Now, I’m not saying that all of these games are bad, quite the contrary. Goat Simulator is a guilty pleasure of mine, and I’ve been following Bear Simulator since its Kickstarter was announced. But for every good/great “Simulator,” there are plenty of trash ones as well.
The issue is that these small development teams are trying to recreate the magic of games like Surgeon Simulator and Goat Simulator. With Surgeon Simulator, the controls were bothersome and frustrating, but it made sense, and was one of the first to do it. With Goat Simulator, there wasn’t much like it when it came out. It was new, weird, and original. There are still updates that bloat my download queue for Goat Simulator, and Coffee Stain Studios has continued to add to the game.
They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but that doesn’t excuse these game makers from being lazy and trying to make a cheap and easy game and pretend it’s art. Games like Yohjo Simulator and Grass Simulator try to get away with having extremely little to actually do, but having quirky mechanics like dubstep cows, or flying pig tails. Construction Machines and Roadside Assistance try to be like Euro Truck Simulator, but fail to do anything truly noteworthy.
And then there’s Train Simulator 2. This game has the audacity to have, as of March 2, 2016, over five thousand dollars’ worth of DLC on Steam. And I gave EA a hard time for DLC…
The problem with these small development teams is that they’re trying to make buggy games that are meta, pseudo-surreal, or stupid for the sake of stupid games. Now, stupid can be great if done right. Saints Row and Goat Simulator are proof of that. But the difference is that they did something new and original. They knew what they were doing. It’s like making abstract art. Before you can really break the rules, you have to know the rules.
When I peruse the crowdfunding websites looking for the next Kickass Kickstarter, every other week a new “Simulator” of some kind will pop up. Most don’t even get $100. Some do incredibly well and prove they were worth the investment. It’s looking like Bear Simulator is the next success story. But if small developers keep stunting their growth and releasing buggy, unfinished games, they won’t amount to much more than a pathetic cash grab. The difference between indie games and big names is supposed to be about how indie games are for the love of it. Not because they haven’t sold out yet.
