Let’s get real for a moment – these games are as true to life as it gets!

Sometimes you need a break from all that edge-of-your-seat action and those endless wacky characters that video games churn out. This article goes out to anyone who spends their time in Grand Theft Auto obeying traffic rules, or who refuses to use anything other than a bolt-action rifle in Battlefield 1. 

These simulator games are the most realistic thing you can experience without actually going outside and engaging with the real world (and who needs the aggro, right?). If you’ve got the time and are dedicated enough, the list below contains some of the most rewarding gaming experiences around, so without further ado, let’s get real…

Contents:

• Microsoft Flight Simulator
• Farming Simulator
• Train Simulator
• Euro Truck Simulator
• Kerbal Space Program
• Ace Combat

Microsoft Flight Simulator

The big daddy of hyper-realistic video games, this piloting sim first blew web users’ socks off all the way back in 1979! Since then, it has received countless updates, setting gamers loose in a virtual rendering of the actual world thanks to Google Earth in a whole host of real planes, from the humble Cessna 152 to the mighty Boeing 747. 

The latest edition of the game features stunning graphics and ultra-realistic flight controls, down to communicating with ground control. The game is so gorgeous that it’s not hard to find yourself mesmerised, mouth agape, watching a regular old EasyJet flight from London to Amsterdam (definitely best experienced from outside the plane – just think of all those English tourists).

Farming Simulator

This game does exactly what it says on the tin – it puts you in charge of your very own farm and lays the responsibility for running it firmly on your shoulders. And that goes for absolutely everything. You’ll spend your time fertilizing fields, harvesting and selling your crops, feeding and breeding your livestock, and even taking care of the forestry on your land.

The series features a huge amount of farming equipment from real brands, which means you can kit out your farmstead with all your favourite kinds of combine harvesters and tractors. Is a farm really a farm without at least one mean, green John Deere machine tearing up the soil and yanking out spuds?

Kerbal Space Program

At first glance, this may not look like the most realistic game out there, but don’t let the goofy little cartoony heroes (Kerbals) fool you; KSP is actually based on a highly accurate physics engine that covers planets’ orbits, the amount of thrust and the angles you need to hit the right trajectory for your desired destination.

The way you build your rocket is also crucial, as if it’s not constructed with enough care it can come to pieces at launch or worse – when your brave Kerbal astronauts are already in the vastness of space. So, make sure those screws are nice and tight!

Ace Combat

Ever since 1986’s Top Gun awoke the inner fighter pilot in all of us, we’ve wanted to hop in the cockpit of an F-16 and take to the skies (and take other pilots out of the skies with missiles)! The Ace Combat series lets you do just that with some of the most realistic, yet intense aerial combat ever put to disc. 

The action takes place in “Strangereal”, a fictional universe with its own geopolitics and epic storylines to flesh out the dogfights and mayhem you’ll be unleashing on your foes. The latest entry in the saga, Skies Unknown, features no less than 28 real-life aircraft that you can pitch, roll, yaw and engage in various other aerial acrobatics. Just mind you don’t stall – it’s very bad news in a fighter jet.

Euro Truck Simulator

Have you ever been sat at home and suddenly thought “I wish I was cruising the motorways of Europe in an HGV right now”? You haven’t? Weird. Well, if you change your mind, Euro Truck Simulator 2 is on hand to let you do exactly that!

The game sees you making deliveries across a whole host of European countries, hauling ass down the autobahns of Germany and burning rubber down the M25 (actually, you need to watch your speed as damaging the goods will bring your profits down).

Train Simulator

Like the sound of Euro Truck Simulator but daunted by all that unrestricted movement along the roads? Well, have no fear because Train Simulator is here to plonk you on a set of rails and let you move in one of TWO directions along the tracks. Choose between forwards and backwards, at a range of speeds as you direct your favorite engines along the railways of the world.

Fans of the Tube can even take control of the London Underground and try to keep the Bakerloo Line running nice and smoothly. So, pack your bags, saddle up your iron horse and push the pedal to the metal – just watch your speed as you approach a station. All aboard!