113 articles
Micro Machines
Micro Machines: Galoob's miniature toy vehicle line launched 1986 (11 themed sets, Clemens Hedeen concept, over $1 billion US retail sales), plus Codemasters' 1991 top-down racing game series set in oversized household environments; revived by Hasbro in 2020.
Microsoft Flight Simulator
Microsoft Flight Simulator: long-running flight simulation series (debut 1982), now built by Asobo Studio, simulating Earth as a streamed digital twin from Bing Maps and Azure data; MSFS 2024 is the 12th release.
Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020 video game)
Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) is an Asobo Studio/Xbox Game Studios flight sim released 18 August 2020 on PC, streaming a 2.5-petabyte Bing Maps digital twin of Earth via Azure, with live weather and air traffic; over 2 million users in six months.
Microsoft Flight Simulator X
Microsoft Flight Simulator X (FSX) is ACES Studio's 2006 Windows flight simulator, tenth in the series, with 24,000+ airports, SimConnect SDK, missions, and multiplayer; later revived as Prepar3D and FSX: Steam Edition.
My Summer Car
My Summer Car (Amistech Games, 2016 Early Access, 1.0 in January 2025) is a permadeath car-building and survival simulator set in 1990s rural Finland, where players assemble a Satsuma from hundreds of parts; sequel My Winter Car launched December 2025.
NBA 2K
NBA 2K, annual basketball simulation video game series by Visual Concepts, published by Sega (1999) then 2K/Take-Two; debuted on Dreamcast November 10, 1999 to rival EA's NBA Live; known for MyCareer, MyTEAM, The City, and ProPLAY.
Need for Speed (2015 video game)
Need for Speed (2015) is Ghost Games' reboot, the series' 20th main entry, released November 3, 2015 on PS4 and Xbox One. Night-only Ventura Bay street racing, Five Ways to Play, live-action cutscenes, always-online requirement, mixed reviews.
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010 video game)
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010) is a Criterion Games-developed arcade racer for EA, released November 16, 2010, reviving cops-versus-racers chases in Seacrest County and introducing the Autolog network; it scored 88 on Metacritic and was remastered in 2020.
Need for Speed: ProStreet
Need for Speed: ProStreet is a 2007 racing game by EA Black Box, the eleventh in the series, built around legal race-day events and realistic damage.
Need for Speed: Undercover
Need for Speed: Undercover (2008), twelfth NFS game by EA Black Box. Open-world racer set in Tri-City Bay with an undercover-cop story, Heroic Driving Engine, and police pursuits; Metacritic 64, mixed reception.
Open world
Open world (also sandbox) game design: players freely roam a large virtual world and choose when to pursue objectives. Traces to Colossal Cave Adventure (1976) and Elite (1984); GTA III (2001) defined the 3D form; market projected at $67.26B by 2035.
Overcooked 2
Overcooked! 2 (2018) is a chaotic co-op cooking game by Ghost Town Games and Team17, sequel to Overcooked. Adds online multiplayer for up to four players, food throwing, and dynamic shifting kitchens; Metacritic 81.
Papers, Please
Papers, Please (Arstotzka) is Lucas Pope's August 8, 2013 indie dystopian document thriller: an immigration inspector in fictional communist Arstotzka, 1982, checks papers under daily rules, feeds a family, and faces 20 endings; acclaimed (Metacritic 85) and widely used in ethics and law teaching.
Plague Inc.
Plague Inc. (Ndemic Creations, 2012) is a strategy simulation where players evolve a pathogen to wipe out humanity before a cure; over 180 million players, iOS Metascore 80, CDC attention.
Planet Coaster
Planet Coaster is a 2016 theme park construction and management sim by Frontier Developments for PC, with Career, Sandbox, and Challenge modes, Steam Workshop blueprints, and a 2024 sequel, Planet Coaster 2.
Planet Zoo
Planet Zoo (Frontier Developments, PC 5 Nov 2019; PS5/Xbox Series 2024) is a zoo management simulation with animal welfare, genetics and inbreeding systems, off-grid building, franchise-mode Conservation Credits trading, 20 DLC packs, Metacritic 81, and 5.4 million copies reported sold.
Playboy: The Mansion
Playboy: The Mansion is a 2005 lifestyle simulation game by Cyberlore Studios for PC, PS2, and Xbox, in which the player plays Hugh Hefner, builds the Playboy magazine, and hosts parties; GameSpot scored it 6.3 Fair.
Prison Architect
Prison Architect (Introversion Software, 2015; Paradox Interactive since 2019) is a top-down 2D prison construction and management simulation with campaign, sandbox, escape, and multiplayer modes; over 2 million copies sold, BAFTA winner, with a delayed 3D sequel.
Pro Evolution Soccer 2017
Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 (Winning Eleven 2017) is Konami's football simulation released September 2016 on PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC, and mobile, known for Real Touch, Adaptive AI, and a Metacritic 85.
Pro Evolution Soccer 2019
Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 (PES 2019) is Konami's football simulation released August 30, 2018 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC Steam, with 11 new skill traits, Visible Fatigue, a revamped myClub, and ICC-licensed Master League.
Project CARS
Project CARS: racing simulation series by Slightly Mad Studios (CARS = Community Assisted Racing Simulator), WMD-crowdfunded, launched May 2015; sequels 2017 and 2020; delisted, series ended under EA/Codemasters.
RollerCoaster Tycoon World
RollerCoaster Tycoon World (RCTW), 2016 theme park sim by Nvizzio Creations and Atari, fourth mainline RCT entry; spline coaster editor, Steam Workshop, launched one day before Planet Coaster to Mostly Negative reviews (26% of 1,980).
Sandbox game
Sandbox game: open-ended video game genre with no fixed goal, exemplified by The Sims, Grand Theft Auto III, and Minecraft; distinct from open-world games, top Steam genre by hit rate (27.3%).
Satisfactory
Satisfactory is a first-person open-world factory automation game by Coffee Stain Studios, set on planet Massage-2(AB)b for FICSIT. Early Access June 8, 2020; 1.0 September 10, 2024; consoles November 4, 2025; distinct from Factorio's 3D freeform building.
Seaman (video game)
Seaman (シーマン) is a 1999 Dreamcast virtual pet game by Yoot Saito's Vivarium, published by Sega: players raise a rude human-faced fish, talk to it via a microphone, with Leonard Nimoy narrating; over one million sold.
Second Life
Second Life: 3D online virtual world launched June 2003 by Linden Lab, founded 1999 by Philip Rosedale. User-built world with Linden Dollar economy; $3.2 billion spent in first decade; still operating with mobile beta.
Sim racing
Sim racing: racing video games played with wheels, pedals, and force-feedback hardware, from iRacing to Gran Turismo 7. Grew from Papyrus's 1989 Indianapolis 500 simulation into FIA-sanctioned esports with F1 Sim Racing and national championships.
SimCity
SimCity (originally Micropolis) is Will Wright's 1989 Maxis city-building simulation where the player-mayor zones residential, commercial, and industrial land; it spawned a series, The Sims, and widespread classroom use in urban planning education.
SimCity (2013 video game)
SimCity (2013) is a city-building simulation developed by Maxis Emeryville and published by Electronic Arts, the first mainline SimCity entry since SimCity 4 in 2003.
SimCity 2000
SimCity 2000 is Maxis's 1993/1994 isometric city-building simulation, sequel to SimCity. Sold over 300,000 copies in four months, topped world charts for half a year, and was ported widely.