Last year forced many to suspend a variety of real-world activities, and simulation games provided a much-needed chance to explore. Part of Twinfinite’s game of the year awards, here are the best Management/Simulation games of 2020 voted by our staff.
Best Management/Simulation Games of 2020
Honorable Mention: Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin
Contributor Cameron Waldrop: While the main facet to progression in Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin is undoubtedly the platforming and exploration, without the simulation and management that comes from growing (and eating) rice, you would never get anywhere.
The game is certainly a farming simulator, but that description isn’t enough and doesn’t tell the whole story.
It’s not the type of farming game where you plant seeds and then periodically water your crops. Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin goes several steps beyond that while displaying great respect for the tradition of growing rice.
It does this to the point of changing movement controls around so you are required to interact with the rice as would a real-life rice farmer.
As for your duties, it is in every way your rice. The player is tasked with tilling, planting, adjusting the water level, fertilizing, harvesting, threshing, and milling.
As you progress, new tools can be introduced which streamline the process. This becomes an almost therapeutic routine, but at no point does it stop being intensely satisfying to have the fruits of your labor given back to you.
The end result of the rice each cycle is what provides stat boosts. It’s an RPG where the love put into the simulation aspect is what makes you, in turn, better at the game. There might be only one crop to grow and manage, but it provides one hell of an experience once you get the hang of it.
Best Management/Simulation Games of 2020
Second Runner-Up: Spiritfarer
Guides Editor Chris Jecks: Spiritfarer may not be what you consider to be a complex or in-depth management sim, but that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. The gameplay loop revolves around you picking up souls, building them a room on your ship, upgrading their interiors, and embarking on quests to let them find peace in the world before they move on into the afterlife.
A lot of this sees you traveling the seas, visiting various islands to gather materials, and building new buildings to refine said materials so you can build more buildings and so on.
Oh, and you’ll need to keep them happy and well-fed, too, just to add to things. It’s an incredibly compelling gameplay loop, and also one of the most meditative, relaxing games I played in 2020.
If you’re looking for a management sim that’s absolutely gorgeous and a little bit more chilled than your usual affair, I cannot recommend Spiritfarer enough.
It’ll hit you right in the feels with its writing, and contemplative thoughts on death, and have you desperate for more time with Stella and Daffodil by the time the credits roll.
Best Management/Simulation Games of 2020
First Runner-Up: Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Reviews Editor Zhiqing Wan: Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the game of 2020. It might not be the best game of 2020, but it certainly is one of, if not the most important. During a time where everyone’s been forced to stay at home and quarantine, New Horizons gave us the escape we needed.
It’s not a game that you can binge for hours at a time, a la Stardew Valley or other similar farming type games.
Instead, Animal Crossing moves in real-time, and when you plan or build something, you have to wait till the next day before you can see your efforts come to fruition.
It can feel like a painstaking effort at times, but Animal Crossing is all about planning and looking forward to things, and it feels even more rewarding as a result.
While the game is still limited by various inexplicable Nintendo-isms (Why can you only have eight inclines, and don’t even get me started on the online experience), Animal Crossing: New Horizons still manages to charm its way into players’ hearts with how earnest it is, and how wholesome its NPCs are.
Your villagers and your island react to you in sometimes unexpected ways when you check in too often (or if you haven’t checked in enough), and it’s truly the comfiest simulation game you can play on the Switch right now.
Day-to-day life on an isolated island feels cathartic and relaxing, and with consistent updates from Nintendo, Animal Crossing is a game that you can keep coming back to over and over.
Best Management/Simulation Games of 2020
Winner: Microsoft Flight Simulator
News Editor Giuseppe Nelva: The Microsoft Flight Simulator series has been dormant for a long time, with other developers content to keep the genre confined to a small niche of hardcore enthusiasts.
Yet, the king is back, and developer Asobo made a great effort to make parts of the sim accessible to many, if not all. While the tutorials could be better and more extensive, it’s still very possible for everyone to jump into an aircraft and explore the world.
Microsoft Flight Simulator didn’t just bring a genre that had fallen into obscurity back under the spotlight, but it significantly pushed it forward after years of stagnation and recycling thanks to advanced technology that delivered the most complete and impressive representation of the whole planet to date.
In a year in which a global pandemic prevented most from traveling, this is the game that allowed everyone to fly home, almost literally, or to explore areas of the world both familiar and unknown.
Yet, for those who want to do more than simply fly home on a Cessna, Microsoft Flight Simulator offers a depth of complexity that is almost unparalleled and is continuously evolving thanks to regular and sizable official updates on top of tons of additional content both payware and freeware.
Mods like the A32NX by FlyByWire and the Citation CJ4 by Working Title are already starting to provide the complexity of simulation that can satisfy hardcore enthusiasts quicker than any simulator before.
While it’s winning awards in 2020, for many Microsoft Flight Simulator will be a game of many years.
Flight Sims are long-term affairs that consistently improve and evolve, providing a platform for learning and dreams alike. With the Xbox version coming in the summer alongside DirectX 12 for PC, Asobo and Microsoft are just getting started.
Welcome back, Microsoft Flight Simulator. I have missed you.
About the author
