Best Simulation Game of 2025 - Article

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The four titles that made it onto this year's shortlist for Best Simulation Game show that, despite the genre's traditional reputation for being a bit staid, there's plenty of creativity to be found if you cast around with an open mind. This year's final nominees include a theme park-style construction simulator with a prehistoric twist, a relaxing slice-of-life farming sim, a virtual power washer, and, perhaps most unusual of all, a cosy but intricate tea shop sim.

The Shortlist:

PowerWash Simulator 2

Wanderstop

Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar

Jurassic World Evolution 3

The Runner-Up:

Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar

A thoughtful remake of the DS title Harvest Moon DS: Grand Bazaar, the core of Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar is as content-packed and rewarding as it was back in the DS era, but it now boasts lovely 3D visuals, quality-of-life changes, new gameplay features, and it's the first fully voice-acted entry in the series. These changes combine with the original foundations to make for a wholesome farming life sim that's packed with personality.

The Winner:

PowerWash Simulator 2

There's something oddly satisfying about cleaning away grime with one clean line of pressurised water at a time. FuturLab proved that's not just the case in real life but also in video games too, winning our award for Best Simulation Game of 2022 with the original PowerWash Simulator. Well, it's two wins in a row for FuturLab, as the sequel has won this year's award. It builds on the original title by expanding the multiplayer features to include split-screen local multiplayer and shared campaign progress; adding a range of different locations spanning cities, towns, and the countryside; and including a customisable home base, filled with fluffy cats - could it be more zen-like?

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