The best simulation games, according to hackers
14 simulation games were recommended on Hacker News between November 2025 and November 2026. We rank them by how many separate people recommend each one, and 3 earn the Hacker Approved badge.
Top picks
The three most recommended simulation games with the badge. Each figure is 5 people. RecommendsCriticizes One comment
Deep emergent systems and simulation
Praised as a deep, emergent simulation that rewards imagination and long play; critics agree its interface is hard to learn.
Assembly code tuned for old hardware
People recommend it for its efficient code, which ran well on limited hardware, and for the countless hours of play it gave players as kids. It still runs on modern systems.
Emergent stories and colony drama
Recommended for emergent storytelling, dense generated worlds and deep mod support. Critics note weak procedural generation and some regressions after the 1.7 move.
All 14 simulation games, ranked
Select a column heading to sort. Approval share is recommenders out of everyone who gave an opinion; the tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs. Months counts the months, out of 13, in which someone recommended it.
| Rank | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dwarf Fortress | 74 | 29 | 72% | 12 | 11 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| 2 | Airport Simulator | 41 | 8 | 84% | 1 | — | — |
| 3 | Firewood Splitting Simulator | 32 | 11 | 74% | 1 | — | — |
| 4 | RollerCoaster Tycoon | 21 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Tied 5 | RimWorld | 19 | 1 | 95% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Tied 5 | Train SIM | 19 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
| 7 | Arma 3 | 13 | 7 | 65% | 4 | — | — |
| Tied 8 | Silent Shark | 9 | 3 | 75% | 3 | 1 mo3 owners | — |
| Tied 8 | WWII submarine simulator | 9 | 3 | 75% | 1 | — | — |
| 10 | Railroad Tycoon | 8 | 2 | 80% | 4 | — | — |
| Tied 11 | Euro Truck Simulator 2 | 6 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
| Tied 11 | Operation Flashpoint | 6 | 1 | 86% | 2 | — | — |
| Tied 11 | Blend and Haul: Fertilizer Blending Simulator | 6 | 1 | 86% | 2 | — | — |
| 14 | OpenRCT2 | 5 | 3 | 63% | 3 | — | — |
How we rank
Rank is the number of separate people who recommend a product in a Hacker News comment over the past year. Someone who praises the same simulation game in five threads counts once.
The badge goes to simulation games that at least 10 people recommend, with recommenders outnumbering critics at least 2 to 1, recommended in at least 4 of the 13 months.
Rankings are never for sale. We may earn a commission when you buy through our links. It never changes the order.