The Thrill of Simulation Games

Honestly, most people lead mundane lives.  Lives of repetition.  This rhythm of life is what has lead to the enormously successful entertainment industry filled with pastimes and original stories that transport the viewer/player into a new world.  A world of bliss and, to some extent, ignorance.

Simulation games are popular for much the same reasons that many MMOs are so popular; sim games allow you to step into a new life, a new skin.  In this simulation of life whether it be fantasy, science fiction, or based on real-life, you are granted the ability to craft your own destiny, something that many people feel is out of their reach.  Regular, ordinary, people are given god-like powers to customize, control, and perform incredible acts of kindness, power, or even cruelty.  The possibilities really are endless, at least as long as the player's imagination is intact and the game continues to receive updates.  Furthermore, such bouts of rage, showcasing of power, and acts of benevolence cause no, tangible, repercussions.  Sure your character may be sent to jail for two weeks, thirty minutes real-time, but you aren't actually going to jail and your life will continue as normal the next morning, assuming you haven't played into the early hours of that same morning.  Running rampant through the city won't get you shot at, or thrown into the judicial system for that matter, though such illicit activity may bring about the timely appearance of a tight-wearing superhero.  But when it comes down to it, it isn't the fantasy creature, beautiful graphics, or tear jerking audios that cause the "thrill of simulation games", no, it is the chance to live another life, another way, without regrets, responsibilities, well maybe to your king, but definitely not your boss, or hard ships.  You are simply living the life of someone else, doing what you want to do, when you want to do it, without the burden of society resting on your shoulders.  The experience really is liberating, you should try it sometime, in fact some might argue it is therapeutic, but that's for a different discussion, in a different piece of writing.

To sum it all up, the thrill of simulation games flows out of the simulation experience itself, the donning of a new skin, a new persona, even if it is only for a couple hours at a time.


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