Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
A few educational and simulation games. Clockwise from top left:
Puzzler Brain Games
(Maximum
Games, 2013);
Scribblenauts
(5th Cell, 2009);
Sim City
(Maxis/EA, 2013);
Microsoft Flight Simulator X
(Microsoft Games, 2006).
Simulation Games
A simulation game attempts to re-create the experience of specii c real-
world tasks. A simulation game might take the form of an arcade game, as
in a l ight simulator program, or it may be expanded to a PC application
that, for example, simulates civic modeling for larger structures such as
cities.
Early arcade games in this genre tried to re-create the controls of the
original or provide simple three-dimensional imaging (in the case of
Battlezone
, for example), but the appearance of 4X turn-based strategy
games introduced a realistic management model missing in arcade
games, console games, and even simple computer games.
Around 1990, Maxis began publishing its successful line of
Sim
games:
SimCity
(1989),
SimEarth
(1990),
SimAnt
(1991),
SimCity 2000
(1994),
SimTower
(1994), and the best- selling PC game in history,
The Sims
,
published in early 2000.
Many other examples of simulation games exist. Simulation games
at the PC level may be considered educational because players learn
management, organization, and planning.
