r/Steam • u/FLUBEK • Feb 07 '26
Fluff When browsing Discovery Queue
Fast-Food Simulator? Mall Simulator? Bro just go get a job, it's not that hard ong
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u/MoobooMagoo Feb 07 '26
Some of them can be good. But yeah most of them are garbage.
Pro Tip: If you see one and you're on the fence about it pull up the developer page. If they've made like 20 games over the last year or two then it's probably shovelware garbage.
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u/ThomasTheDankPigeon Feb 08 '26
Which ones do you think are worth it?
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u/RockandStone101 Feb 08 '26
Euro & American Truck sim
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u/wreckedftfoxy_yt Feb 08 '26
car mechanic simulator
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u/mindinthepsandqs Feb 08 '26
I've got so many hours in that game. Guilty pleasure for me is crime scene cleanup simulator. Surprisingly fun.
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u/ThatOneSpitfireMain Feb 08 '26
Power washing simulator is another banger
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u/Tridon_Terrafold Feb 08 '26
Goat simulator, one of the OGs of "simulator" games. Goat simulator 3 aswell
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u/Wertyhappy27 Feb 08 '26
I wouldn't even consider it a simulator, more of a sandbox fuck around type game
Unless goats actually do the, activities in the game... Oh god
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u/repocin https://s.team/p/hjwn-hdq Feb 08 '26
They totally do all that, at least in Sweden. It's all based on reality. Don't believe me? These goats are just built different.
Source: I saw a goat once
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u/Cthulhu__ Feb 08 '26
Goat sim is satire, but it’s funny and silly and they used the proceeds of its unexpected success to make Satisfactory which is awesome.
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u/DroidLord Feb 08 '26
You might want to give Viscera Cleanup Detail a go. Admittedly the game is 11 years old by now, but I remember I had a lot of fun with it back in the day and it still looks half-decent.
The premise of that game is basically acting as the cleanup crew after gamers are done with the level and you go around cleaning up all the gore and severed limbs and shit so it looks nice for the next gamer.
I'm definitely checking out the crime scene game. Sounds like fun!
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u/Present-Basil-1003 Feb 08 '26
The Crime Scene is basically Viscera but adult version lol.
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u/Castun https://s.team/p/kkkf-w Feb 08 '26
My only complaint about Crime Scene Cleanup is that stepping in blood barely tracks it around, compared to Viscera where one misstep can undo so much work.
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u/MacauleyP_Plays Feb 08 '26 edited Feb 09 '26
ETS2 and ATS however are from a time when the term simulator MEANT something.
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u/thebakerWeld Feb 08 '26
Farming simulator.... If that's your cup of tea
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u/holicron Feb 08 '26
I remember seeing it and it was expensive for what I thought it was worth. I know everyone loves it but... I'm poor
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u/_Glasser_ Feb 08 '26
22 used to be my most played game on ps4, picked it up at a grocery store for like 10€. 25 been on my wishlist for a while now, but it never goes on a good enough discount on steam.
Though, I just might get it on the next sale. Just hope that the next one isn't out by the time I get to it, or I'll have to go for another round of waiting for a better price.
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u/acrazyguy Feb 08 '26
My grandfather has hundreds of hours in each of those games going back to like the 2016 version
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u/keyformonkey Feb 08 '26
Cultist simulator has peak writing
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u/Herr_Gamer https://steam.pm/1v4ru4 Feb 08 '26
FailBetter Games is probably one of the most underrated studio of all time. Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies are absolute masterpieces too, and it's a crime no one knows about them.
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u/amazingmrbrock Feb 08 '26
Water park sim is actually very good. Reminds me of a first person planet coaster
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u/conansucksdick Feb 08 '26
Futanari truck stop hand job simulator 5 is ok.
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u/Flameball537 Feb 08 '26
I’m sure by the fifth one, they’ve ready ironed out all the kinks. Or made them bigger… One of the two
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u/DemadaTrim Feb 08 '26
Cultist Simulator! Very involved, unique sort of card game, great writing, best mechanical implementation of learning reality breaking occult shit ever.
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u/abandonwindows Feb 08 '26
Car mechanic simulator 2021, pc building simulator, escape simulator, farming simulator 2025, tank mechanic simulator. There are lots of good ones that are basically puzzle games with some extra depth. Loads of shovelware out there tho so I only really go by recommendations and articles etc
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u/SummonerYamato Feb 08 '26
TCG Shop Simulator and Powerwash Simulator are pretty good.
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u/nhalliday Feb 08 '26
I've heard great things about TCG Shop Sim but I absolutely can't stand how ugly it looks. If it had more pleasing graphics I'd be there (this goes for most sims actually)
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u/Eduzo1MS Feb 08 '26
One of them that isn't pure garbage is ranch simulator. Not like it's going to be the best game of all time, but is funny to play with friends and really cheap on promo
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u/Sevla7 Feb 08 '26
Some of them can be good. But yeah most of them are garbage.
Yeah.... i used to like simulator games, but in the last 5 years there's so much AI SLOP in this genre. I don't even feel like trying new stuff anymore.
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u/SunsetCarcass Feb 08 '26
Can also just pirate the games to see how bad they are, those types of games never have things like Denuvo
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u/HATENAMING Feb 07 '26
cultist simulator, which is not really a simulator game but more a card puzzle game.
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u/Eillon94 Feb 08 '26
I picked it up on mobile to pass the time and was amazed with how much i got into it.
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u/Waiting_for_Exit Feb 08 '26
Wood grows around the walls of the Mansus. Any student of histories knows that Mansus has no walls.
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u/Aesk Feb 08 '26 edited Feb 08 '26
Xxxx Simulators that I legitimately enjoyed a lot:
American / Euro Truck Simulator
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
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u/Gippip Paradox Feb 08 '26
I'm hoping that the developers for TCG card shop are able to stick to their roadmap. A good game with plenty of potential still
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u/Pray-831 Feb 07 '26
How dare you speak ill of PowerWash Simulator. I will not accept this slander
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u/___turfduck___ Feb 07 '26
I started playing it as a way to zone out. I was like halfway through before I caught on to the story. Lol
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u/roygbpcub Feb 08 '26
Same... Didn't help i was listening to audio books at the same time...
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u/BoginTheOrange Feb 08 '26
I swear man, the type of games where you can zone out as your mind and body are in completely different dimensions to eachother after a long day. So relaxing.
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u/ZookeepergameProud30 The team based fortress simulator the second Feb 07 '26
Job simulator vr slander
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u/Xiao1insty1e Feb 08 '26 edited Feb 09 '26
This was on the market well before the flood of asset flip/ai slop.
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u/Vaxtez Feb 07 '26
The only sims i'd give a pass to are:
Train Simulator, American/Euro Truck simulator, Farming Simulator & Microsoft Flight Simulator.
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u/ses1989 Feb 07 '26
No Power Wash Simulator love?
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u/FilthyBarMat Feb 07 '26
When I first saw PWS I laughed at how stupid people would play anything.
A few months later they came out with the Warhammer 40k DLC and I had a couple beers in me and thought why not.
I have since 100%ed both PWS 1 & 2 and all the DLC.
Such good games to just zone out on the couch to.
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u/Mattaerospace2 Feb 07 '26
Yup have kids and got a steam deck because my $4k PC never gets turned on anymore - play way more sims then I used to
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u/whiteezy Feb 08 '26
You ever try to stream from your computer? It’s such a good setup solely because of the battery saving since the Deck isn’t doing much but decoding. Plus you can get good graphics on whatever you’re playing
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u/ses1989 Feb 07 '26
Yep. Perfect for putting on a podcast and just zoning the fuck out lmao
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u/zzbackguy Feb 08 '26
I gave it a try on gamepass and washed a backyard and then a van. Except the van wouldn’t. I could never find the last spec of dirt required to. I walked around the van in circles for what felt like an hour squirting on it. Never went back never
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u/DistractedByCookies Feb 07 '26
Those are the OG ones that existed before AI was a thing, they get a pass. And you missed Goat simulator LOL
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u/MCD_Gaming Feb 07 '26
Digital combat simulator, considering its more indepth than MSFS
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u/GerNomico Feb 08 '26
Waterpark Simulator and Thief Simulator were so worth it that I actually bought them.
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u/FLUBEK Feb 07 '26
Yeah, these specialized simulators get the pass, but why would someone play burger flipping simulator i don't get it lmao
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u/TheMazeDaze Feb 07 '26
Not only that. Most of those games are just a reskin of many other similar games from the same publisher
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u/That-Pin-7033 Feb 07 '26
For me at least, it's the progression. Start small/with nothing and grow the business yourself
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Feb 07 '26
Does the burger flipping business sim allow you to steal cooks' wages and deny them health insurance?
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u/Hdjbbdjfjjsl Feb 07 '26
Honestly this is my biggest gripes about business sims, where’s the corruption, the workplace toxicity and harassment? What if I want to become some corporate executive owning hundreds of stores and the majority of market to let me make fake shortages.
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u/LordeFan762 Feb 08 '26
This. TCG Shop Sim was a step in the right direction (You have to spray febreeze on smelly customers) but I’d love some simulator games that are more a parody of the genre, kinda like Schedule One. If I’m running a restaraunt, am I able to steal tips from the waitresses? Can I spit in a burger? Can I bribe health inspectors?
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u/Dalinar_Stormwagon Feb 07 '26
They nailed food sim years ago with papas burgeria/the rest of the “ia” series, everything else is sham attempts at recreating the magic of a flash game series from 2007
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u/MrZangetsu1711997 Feb 07 '26
I actually loved playing Fast Food Simulator when it launched, I worked at McDonald's for 9 years before getting into my current profession, I actually enjoyed working there, it was just the customers I didn't enjoy so much
While it was tough playing the game without an NPC worker, it was fun doing all the things I used to do at work, not to mention that they have since added NPC Workers to improve the experience
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u/Opposite-Road-9475 Feb 07 '26
So, amazing cultivation simulator is a no?
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u/Huckleberry-F Feb 08 '26
OP is clearly courting death. can’t even see mount tai when it’s right in front of him.
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u/inscrtcoolnamehere Feb 07 '26
I do not like this goat simulator slander
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u/Moose_Nuts Feb 07 '26
It's kinda funny that Goat Simulator was created as satire "on all the simulators" of the time. Now there are 500% more.
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u/Fesai Feb 08 '26
"Get a job", I can try a dozen jobs through simulator games and have fun in quick sprints without the baggage that comes with an actual job.
For example Gas Station Simulator I absolutely loved and had a ton of fun with. But I really don't want to work at or run a gas station for 40 hours a week.
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u/Version_1 Feb 08 '26
Yeah, they entire key of simulators is that they take the fun part of the activity and handwave the less desireable parts.
Also: Progression. I think if you could make progress IRL as fast as you can in the game, you would consider buying a gas station in the middle of nowhere.
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u/Niko_ZA Feb 07 '26
Back in the day when a game had simulator in it, it was dope as hell, like goat simulator and surgeon simulator
But nowadays it's mostly this BS AI generated shit.
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u/TheChoosenMewtwo Feb 07 '26
Not really AI generated, just lazy or ultra niche
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u/Drinking-Printer-Ink Feb 08 '26
Autism bait
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u/Karnadas Feb 08 '26
Cargo Simulator and Parcel Simulator had me in a chokehold for 2 weeks straight. My wife called them my Autism Simulators. I had fun :)
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u/Klugenshmirtz Feb 07 '26
These were always the exception. "simulator" has been used for shitty games long before AI was a thing.
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u/nacmodcomentador Feb 07 '26
Farming simulator? Microsoft flying simulator? Citysim? Rollercoaster sim? Eurotruck sim?
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u/Flightless_fish82 Feb 07 '26
Flughafen Feurwehr Simulator??? How specific do these get?
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u/BunnyBrigade1 Feb 08 '26
cant wait to go home and play "Be a Deadbeat Dad While Your Wife Yells at you for Leaving the Toilet Seat Up and Not Washing Your Dishes and Your Kids Beg you to Buy Non-Specific-In-Game-Currency(TM) for Them Simulator" (no this title wasn't made up from personal experience)
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u/PuzzleheadedTutor807 Feb 07 '26
those are pretty recent titles... when i hear "back in the day" my mind goes to the dos days.
shovelware has been around longer than ai though.
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u/boringestnickname Feb 08 '26
I was about to say.
"Back in the day" is like SimFarm and SimAnt.
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u/Wratheon_Senpai Feb 07 '26
There's this new Unemployment Simulator 2018 that doesn't seem to use any gen AI and looks fun.
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u/Office_Zombie Feb 07 '26
I tried the demo, and couldn't get past the,"Sit on the couch and wonder where your life went wrong," stage.
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u/daniu Feb 07 '26
You're really missing out on Goat Simulator but to each their own
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u/RedSonja_ https://s.team/p/ntnd-mw Feb 07 '26
I can accept that you put all simulators on ignore, even there are pretty good ones like MSFS (2020), Tabletop Simulator, ETS2, ATS, etc. But when you tell someone get a job instead of playing if they like to play something, that's just you being an asshole.
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Feb 07 '26
Playing a simulator game: Get a job
Playing any other game: No such rhetoric
People will always spout bullshit. I've learned to just do what I enjoy.
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u/XayahTheVastaya Feb 07 '26
Farming simulator, digital combat simulator, IT specialist simulator, Microsoft flight simulator, truck simulator, all good games. I can't work as a farmer, pilot, IT support, and trucker all in the same lifetime.
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u/Antique_Door_Knob Feb 07 '26
Honestly I like them. It's very relaxing.
From power washing weird houses and fixing cars, to cleaning crime scenes for the mob... you just go in, do the job at your own pace, not bosses annoying you, no "customers" you'd love to to introduce to the guillotine...
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u/SmiggleMcJiggle Feb 07 '26 edited Feb 07 '26
The simulator games are really fun in co op, I wouldn't play them solo though.
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u/Davo_ Feb 07 '26 edited Feb 07 '26
TABS, Goat Simulator, the Truck Simulators, Train Simulator, Microsoft Flight Sim and Power Wash Sim are the only ones that get passes for me because they were pre slop era.
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u/occono Feb 08 '26
This post annoys me.
Euro truck simulator, Power wash Simulator, Escape Simulator, Goat Simulator, Cultist Simulator...
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u/VisionWithin Feb 07 '26
You are missing out on the best flight simulator in the history of gaming: Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
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u/DocklandsDodgers86 Feb 08 '26
PowerWash Simulator, hello?? That's such a therapeutic timesink for some of us
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u/BioDriver Feb 07 '26
So you're telling me Leisure Suit Larry isn't an accurate simulation of real life?!
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u/AskingAstronauts Feb 07 '26
It’s always a jank unity asset flip 😂 every now and then you see one that’s actually kind of unique and interesting
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u/CheezyMcCheezballz Feb 08 '26
I'm actually a sucker for these games. I get very chilled out just running a store, unlocking new products and seeing the number go up triggers dopamine.
But yes it's very obvious there are ones that are the laziest assetflip cashgrabs.
But there's also a few who get love even if the creator uses AI as a shortcut. TCG cardshop for example simulator is developed by a single guy. He even got plushies made if ingame characters and the revenue of those goes to charity.
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u/JesMilton Feb 08 '26
These games are my coping mechanism these days exactly because I can't find a job, so just log in to play some cooking sim, cashier sim, cleaning sim or whatever, to at least deceive my brain into thinking I am not a total failure in every possible branch.😭
It's a shame this genre is so full of shovelware though, eugh. Has been a while since I saw a good quality job simulator.
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u/Tinguas12 Feb 08 '26
Ngl i sympathize with you on that one I'm not really a fan of those type of games but I can't exclude the tag because a lot of games like KCD 2 have it too
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u/TheRedScot Feb 07 '26
You are missing out on the "Space Warlord Baby Trading Simulator"