If you’ve come across the “immersive sim” description on a game and wondered what this means, it’s a valid question. Like many video game genres, it’s difficult to boil this type of game down to a single sentence.

Let’s walk through what an immersive sim is. We’ll define this game philosophy, discuss what elements should be in place for these titles, and reviews examples of relevant games.

What Is an Immersive Sim?

In one sentence, an immersive sim is a video game that focuses on player agency by offering an open-ended world with emergent systems and consistent rules. While not every immersive sim does this in the same way, the core principles are consistent across these games.

Like roguelikes, which we’ve defined before, immersive sims are less of a specific genre and more of a game design philosophy. This means that they aren’t as easy to identify at a glance as specific genres, like a first-person shooter or a platformer.

While immersive sims are open-ended in ways we’ll see, immersive sims are not the same as open-world games. Open-world games like GTA V allow you to mess around in a sandbox, while immersive sims take place in smaller worlds and give more weight to your actions.

Characteristics of Immersive Sims

To figure out exactly what makes a game an immersive sim, we need to dive further into the key elements.

Player Agency at the Core

An immersive sim gives the player a goal to accomplish, but doesn’t tell you exactly how to do it. This applies to both major objectives and micro-decisions.

For example, a mission might task you with assassinating a target in his mansion. You could choose to approach by sneaking in through the basement and knocking people out, walking up to the front door and shooting everyone, or finding a window that leads right into his room.

To keep all these options from becoming overwhelming, immersive sims often have useful information scattered throughout the levels. These can clue you into potential solutions or dangers if you take the time to find them.

There’s no “correct” solution; the developers create these open-ended areas and let you choose how you want to play. This makes immersive sims highly replayable, as there could be parts of a level you didn’t see, or solutions you didn’t try, on your first attempt.

Immersive Sims Are Built on Systems

A lot of modern games are super-scripted linear experiences. For instance, when you reach a certain point, a cutscene will play to advance you to the next area, or there might be a specific item you have to use to solve a puzzle.

Instead of these one-off moments, immersive sims are built on basic systems that follow clear rules. If you find fire in the world and are able to extinguish it by dumping a bucket of water on it, you’ll know that this is possible with any fire source you find in the future.

Similarly, after observing a guard’s path, you can expect them to keep following it unless disturbed. And the system of a standard guard’s logic might mean that they always run to hit an alarm if they spot you.

Systemic design means that you feel like you’re in a realistic world that plays by its own rules, instead of a location built for a video game. These systems affect the whole game world, instead of specific moments being built for a few parts of the game.

Emergent Gameplay

This term refers to your ability to take advantage of the game’s systems. Thinking critically can even allow you to find solutions that the developers didn’t intend.

For example, once you realize that a guard will always run to the nearest alarm when they see you, you might think to put a mine on the alarm. Then when the guard goes to trigger it, they’ll die from the explosion. You might also find a way to use an item that allows you to move around more freely and skip through certain areas.

The interaction of systems can lead to every player having different experiences with a title, compared to other games that are crafted to be the same every time. As long as it plays by the game’s rules, any idea you have will work.

Consistent and Reactive Design

As a continuation of the above points, immersive sims have consistent rules. You won’t find invisible walls that block your progress because you “aren’t supposed to go there yet.”

In many cases, you can even kill characters who are important to the story. But this doesn’t result in immediate failure like other games; instead, the game carries on and changes to reflect your choice. Usually, the only way to lose is for your character to die.

Finally, immersive sims react to your choices, even minor ones. A character might comment on something you did in the past, or you might have a harder time completing a later mission if you killed someone important in a prior one. In Dishonored, the overall number of people you kill contributes to your “chaos;” if you kill all the time, the world becomes more dangerous.

By judging how you choose to play moment-to-moment, these reactions are more organic than the binary “good or evil” morality choices than most other games provide you with.

Examples of Immersive Sim Games

While a list of the best immersive sims is beyond the scope of this introduction, we can consider a few popular immersive sims to round out our discussion.

The trailblazing immersive sim titles were developed by Looking Glass Studios. 1992’s Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss was the first example of what would come to be called an immersive sim. Later titles built on its ideas, including Thief (1998) and its sequel, System Shock (1994) and System Shock 2, and the original Deus Ex in 2000. Warren Spector, who was involved in many of these early titles, coined the term “immersive sim” when looking back on Deus Ex.

Due to having niche appeal and not being as marketable as other kinds of games, modern immersive sims are uncommon. 2011’s Deus Ex: Human Revolution and 2012’s Dishonored (along with their sequels) are two of the biggest modern entries in the genre. Other recent immersive sims include Prey 2017 and Deathloop (to an extent).

Immersive Sim Elements in Other Games

Even if a game doesn’t qualify as an immersive sim because it isn’t built around all the elements discussed above, it can still use the same principles that make immersive sims so enjoyable.

For example, in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s systemic open world, rain has effects ranging from extinguishing enemy torches to making it harder to climb. There’s also plenty of room for emergent solutions, such as throwing a sword at enemies and having them pick it up, resulting in them getting struck by lightning because they’re holding a metal object during a storm.

The modern Hitman trilogy is close to an immersive sim, as these games provide you with wide-open levels where you choose how to kill your targets. Sneaking up while the target is in the bathroom and drowning them is as viable as disguising yourself as a chef and poisoning their food.

And in RPGS like Fallout 3 and New Vegas, you have many ways to approach missions based on your character’s strengths. While these games are still RPGs, they illustrate how all kinds of games can feature immersive sim elements without being a “true” immersive sim.

Dive in and Explore Immersive Sims

By taking a look at the core tenants of an immersive sim and discussing how these elements result in a more engaging experience, you should now understand the basics of an immersive sim. If you’re frustrated by the hand-holding and scripted nature of many modern games, immersive sims offer an excellent antidote by rewarding creative thinking.

There are lots of other game genres to explore in-depth, if you’re interested.