SIM News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

We knew Call of the Wild: The Angler was heading to PS5 and PS4 at some point, but it turns out it was quietly launched last week. Yes, the open world fishing sim is now available on consoles, arriving back on 30th August, and frankly, we only just noticed.

This was inevitable. FromSoftware's fanbase is flooded with talented people—something about the studio's habit of making textured, detailed worlds and iconic characters has set fire to artist's imaginations time and time again. Even the lore videos have professionally-rendered animatics now.

Amazon's Prime Gaming offers several free titles throughout the month of September, including Football Manager 2023 and the winemaking sim Hundred Days.

Life By You might be a game that’s technically within the life simulator genre, but it could just as easily be a god game. Yes, it’s challenging The Sims’ crown, and many people will surely play it as a drop-in replacement, but this game’s design is so inherently customisable and mod-able that you barely have to play within the “rules” if you don’t want to. At every stage, you can inject your whims and desires into Life By You for the ultimate in role-playing fantasy.

Cities: Skylines 2 aims to improve on the previous city-building game with a massive simulation upgrade that gives life to every single citizen in your city and lets you go full surveillance state on their major life events.

Saber Interactive has made a name for itself within the niche world of hardcore simulation games. Having made Mudrunner and SnowRunner, publisher Focus Entertainment has just announced the follow-up: Expeditions. Coming to PS5 and PS4, this looks to be opening up the offroading experience even more.

An unexpected fourth instalment in the Train Sim World franchise will coast to PlayStation consoles starting 26th September, as Dovetail Games has announced a sequel to its popular rail simulation series. The game – which promises a “train load of new features” – aims to leverage the creativity of players, by incorporating new photo mode and sandbox options.

We're thrilled to announce the return of GamesBeat Summit Next, hosted in San Francisco this October, where we will explore the theme of «Playing the Edge.» Apply to speak  here  and learn more about sponsorship opportunities  here . 

A little over three years after acclaimed construction and automation sim Factorio left its lengthy early access with a 1.0 release, developer Wube Software has shared details of its first expansion, Space Age, which will be picking up right where the base game stops.

Dave The Diver sees you heading underneath the waves to hunt for various fish and sea life, turning them into delicious sushi dishes as you scramble to run a restaurant by night. While that's a ton to juggle on its own, the game has only just begun to surprise you with its in-depth minigames (Seahorse racing?!), varied characters, and wild plot.

Some people took up gardening in the first months of the pandemic. Others learned to cook, built Lego sets, or got buff. My pandemic fixation was SnowRunner, the sequel to off-road trucking sim MudRunners that's essentially Death Stranding with killer mud deformation tech. It's a challenging, gorgeous, and surprisingly tranquil driving game that we wholeheartedly recommend, but my eyes are now firmly fixed on the next entry announced yesterday at Geoff Keighley's Opening Night Live stream—Expeditions: A MudRunner Game.

Having worked behind the bar in many a pub over the years, I've often fantasized about running my own - and with Tavern Keeper I'll be able to test my abilities. Without all that financial burden. 

The eSIM technology is evolving and more and more smartphone companies are adopting it. At present, only premium smartphones offer the eSIM functionality, but it could trickle down to the lower segments too if this growth continues. Apple made a shocking move last year as it announced that the iPhone 14 handsets sold in the US will be eSIM only, removing the physical SIM slot altogether. Thus, it left people wondering whether the upcoming iPhone 15 series would make this move globally.

At Gamescom Opening Night Live, SnowRunner developer Saber Interactive announced Expeditions: A MudRunner Game, a new driving sim focused on the wonderful activity: off-roading.

Dovetail Games has announced Train Sim World 4 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC (Steam, Epic Games Store). It will launch on September 26.

This Hogwarts Legacy-style management sim lets you build the magical school of your dreams, and it's out on consoles next year.

We are reporting on some early Starfield previews, but this comes with a word of warning.

In an effort to curb fraudulent activities conducted via multiple SIM cards, the Government of India on Thursday announced a crackdown on the provision of bulk mobile connections. SIM card dealers will now have to go through a mandatory police verification before being allowed to deal in the same, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced.

This upcoming monster-catching farming sim plays precisely like how I'd imagine a Stardew Valley and Pokemon mash-up would. 

Now here’s a game I didn’t know I needed. Space colony management sims aren’t exactly a rare breed, even after you cross them with survival elements. However, I never realized that the one thing they were missing was the SDF-1.

The creator of Stardew Valley is releasing an official cookbook which will be full of recipes from the farming sim. 

Way back in the dingy darkness of 1997 I played a property management sim called Constructor, in which you could do things like bury rivals in their own cement, and have your foreman take down the other guy's hooligans with a shotgun. I've never played any property sim that's quite as nasty, but I do get a similar vibe from Mirage Game Studios' Space For Sale, published by THQ Nordic, in which one or two players throw together budget rentals for aliens on a decidedly unfriendly planet. We caught a glimpse of it at a presentation a few days ago, and despite my better nature I am keen to dig in.

Let's Build a Zoo, the cheerful tycoon game with a thing for DNA splicing, is almost ready to swim with the fishes; its previously announced Aquarium Odyssey DLC finally has a release date and will be making a splash on PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch next Thursday, 17th August.

This upcoming farming sim puts the JRPG into Stardew Valley as it plays just like the life sim but is set in the rural Japanese countryside.

I am but a stripling level 4 sorcerer in Baldur's Gate 3, still learning to distinguish my Magic Missiles from my Chromatic Orbs, my Cantrips from my Colour Sprays (or at least, restore my memories of these concepts from my long-ago Baldur's Gate 2 playthrough). I've just discovered the finer applications of Mage Hands, which are a great antidote to goblin archers - simply spawn one behind the offender, use it to hurl them from the cliff they're standing on, and chuck a nearby crate after them for good measure. Magical indeed! Or so I thought, before I read about the real spells that lurk at the top of the level-up ladder in the D&D player handbook.

This upcoming building sim is the perfect mix of The Sims 4 and House Flipper, and it's out as soon as next month.

Cozy MMO Palia launches into Closed Beta today, opening up its world for players to explore, build together and uncover the mysteries of Palia, and maybe do a bit of fishing together along the way.

Crossovers in video games are nothing new, and at this point, they’re basically expected for certain games and genres. But most importantly, if a show, movie, comic series, or something else outside the gaming space feels that they can collaborate to bring attention to their property, they’ll do it. One such example is coming soon, as the movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mutant Mayhem arrives on August 2nd. Why is that important for gamers? Because the skateboarding video game Session Skate Sim will have a crossover with them via a free update that’s coming soon.

This gorgeous RPG will have me raising a family of adorable animals, and I can already tell I'm going to need someone to rein me in.

A former Stardew Valley developer is now working on their own life sim game, this time set in a bustling California city instead of Grandpa's farm.

Two Point Campus is one of 2022’s most delightful games. This tongue-in-cheek management game is the follow-up to Two Point Hospital, the modern reimagining of Theme Hospital built by developers from Bullfrog Productions and Lionhead Studios who had worked on the original back in the mid-’90s. Now, as it prepares to leave PC Game Pass, Two Point Campus is briefly free on Steam for the weekend, with a nice discount if you decide you want to keep playing afterward.

Education, as I am reminded every time I'm overcome by a wave of masochism and log in to the Student Loans Company website, ain't free. Except this time it is, because Two Point Campus—last year's comedic university management sim that took pride of place as our own Katie Wickens' personal GOTY pick—is letting you play it for free this weekend on Steam.

Next month is absolutely packed with games big and small, but hopefully your hard drive has space for another fantastic-looking one because Jumplight Odyssey is zooming into early access on August 21st. It’s a mix between starship management and roguelike planet hopping from developer League Of Geeks, the studio behind strategy gem Armello. Check out its pretty ‘70s anime-inspired trailer below.

We've seen a lot of Stardew Valley-likes over the years, but this adorable farming sim might be the ultimate dupe. 

When I enter my 23rd solar system, I know this is the end. My small crew of exiles is running out of faith — a pillar of their monastic identity, as well as a core game mechanic. At a glance, the planetoids in this region of space don’t have the resources or land masses for me to build critical outposts or craft key items. I don’t have enough stasis — a liquid matrix that enables the exiles to survive the excruciating hibernation process between solar systems. Eventually, they will grow weary and lose the ability to perform any actions, which is tantamount to curling up in a ball and waiting for death.

The Steam Sim Fest is the latest genre-specific event, discounting dozens of games about emerging cities, dad hobbies, tactical warfare, and other stimulating simulations. Heavy hitters such as Disney Dreamlight Valley and the newest Bus Simulator are enjoying nice discounts, but as always, some hidden gems require a little bit of scrolling. The sales last until July 24th, so here are some good old recommendations from the event.

Krillbite Studio, the people behind Among the Sleep and Mosaic, have announced their next game. It’s Fruitbus, and it’s here to fill the massive, truck-sized hole in my heart.

Simulation games might not be the most popular out there, but they help bring out-of-reach experiences to players, and thus deserved to be tried.

Project Winter was a snowbound social deduction multiplayer game that had you questioning and/or betraying your friends to hilarious effect. Developers Other Ocean Interactive are now taking that hidden roles formula and chucking some zombies into the mix with the newly announced The Walking Dead: Betrayal. Its reveal trailer sums up the survival and betrayal tug-of-war quite nicely. Though the heartbroken screams of “NOO NOO” arguably steal the show. Take a first look at the backstabbing below.

Ah, the 1980s. We all remember them. (Note: I was born in 1992.) Those days where you could just spend the day making it big on the stock market, before heading out into town to bet on horses, try your luck at pachinko and take it easy to a soundtrack of smooth city pop. Well, I’m guessing that’s what it was like anyway - and given how chill retro life stocks-slash-life sim STONKS-9800 makes it all seem, I’m happy enough to bathe in virtual nostalgia.