20 Immersive Sims Everyone Should Play at Least Once

One of the more important subgenres of gaming in the last three decades has been the immersive sim. According to legendary developer Warren Spector, who himself coined the term and helped create many of the games that would define its parameters, immersive sim games emphasize player choice. These titles utilize a web of interlocking systems and mechanics to afford players an unprecedented amount of freedom in how they approach various problems in the game world. In an immersive sim, there's never just one solution to reach an objective. Instead, players can balance their unique approaches to character progression and a title's emergent gameplay elements to tackle situations from a variety of angles. And while Spector himself considers 1990's Ultima VI: The False Prophet to be the first immersive sim, Spector's own Thief: The Dark Age and Deus Ex stand as the subgenre's template.

Of course, since the emergence of first-person shooters-turned RPGs in the late 1990s, the title of "immersive sim" has become somewhat nebulous. The generally accepted characteristics of immersive sims — first-person perspective, RPG elements, options for stealth, immersive game worlds, multiple paths to completing objectives — cast a wide net, meaning lots of games get lumped into the "immersive sim" category despite not fully adhering to many of the subgenre's core tenets. So while a game like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has plenty of immersive sim elements, it's not a true immersive sim in the way that the rest of the games on this list are. The following 20 games run the gamut from classics in the immersive sim genre to newer titles that pay homage to those same forebears.

• Release Date — September 27, 2023
• Publisher — Team Fortune
• Developer — Team Fortune
• Genre — Sci-Fi, First-Person Shooter, RPG
• Review Aggregate Score — N/A
• Steam User Rating — 92% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC (Early Access)

One of the newer games on this list, you'd be forgiven for assuming Fortune's Run is another highlight from the immersive sim genre's early 2000s heyday. Initially entering into Early Access on Steam late last year, Fortune's Run has all the hallmarks of a great immersive sim, and it's not even hit its full 1.0 release yet. The highlight of Fortune's Run is its excellent brutalist future setting and its surprisingly deep first-person melee combat. Beyond that though, the title exudes plenty of promise as one of several Early Access titles on Steam that call back to immersive sim highlights such as Deus Ex and E.Y.E.: Divine Cybermancy. There's currently not much on offer in the Early Access build (aside from one major mission with plenty of branching paths), but Fortune's Run is shaping up to be a game that fans of immersive sims shouldn't miss.

• Release Date — June 14, 2024
• Publisher — New Blood Interactive
• Developer — Trey Powell, Jason Bond
• Genre — Noir, First-Person Shooter, Action
• Review Aggregate Score — N/A
• Steam User Rating — 98% (Overwhelmingly Positive)
• Platforms — PC (Early Access)

Much like Fortune's Run, Fallen Aces is another upcoming immersive sim that is currently in its Early Access period. But where Fortune's Run adheres to the dystopian sci-fi template common among many games in the immersive sim genre, Fallen Aces is a stylized detective noir thriller with plenty of humor and an incredible cel-shaded art style. What's impressive about Fallen Aces is how many different options it has for dealing with groups of enemies, with plenty of environmental objects just as handy in dispatching foes as the various weapons in the game's arsenal. The immersive sim genre is prone to moments of unintended humor thanks to emergent gameplay and exploitation of enemy AI, but Fallen Aces proves that a well-written game in the genre can still be intentionally laugh-out-loud funny.

• Release Date — April 24, 2023 (1.0 release September 26, 2024)
• Publisher — Fireshine Games
• Developer — ColePowered Games
• Genre — Noir, Detective, Puzzle
• Review Aggregate Score — N/A
• Steam User Rating — 91% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC (Early Access)

Where Fallen Aces is almost a send-up of the classic detective noir thriller, Shadows of Doubt plays it straight and gives players one of the purest detective fantasies ever seen in gaming. The open-world sandbox of Shadows of Doubt is truly impressive, with each of the city's citizens seemingly going about their day and routines regardless of the player's actions. As a private detective, it's up to the player to hunt down a serial killer before they strike again, all while taking on minor cases to build up your profile and earn some operational funds. As a true immersive sim, Shadows of Doubt is all too happy to let players chase a dead end before they realize (all too late) that they've come to the wrong conclusions on the case.

Other games have tried to fully emulate the experience of being a detective (LA Noire or even Batman: Arkham Asylum), but few capture the essence of deduction and investigation as purely as Shadows of Doubt. And while the game is currently exclusive to Steam during its Early Access period, the 1.0 launch this September will see the title arrive on modern consoles as well.

• Release Date — March 5, 2004
• Publisher — Eidos Interactive
• Developer — Ion Storm
• Genre — Sci-Fi, First-Person Shooter, RPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 80% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Rating — 57% (Mixed)
• Platforms — PC, Xbox

That Invisible War is arguably the worst Deus Ex game and somehow ends up on a list of the best immersive sims should tell you all you need to know about the pedigree of the franchise. Releasing just 4 years after the debut of the original, Invisible War is a phenomenal game that somewhat lets players down thanks to the ways it restricts player expression over the original. Still, it's a worthwhile title that, in hindsight, continues to age better than many of its contemporaries. Ultimately, Invisible War has a greater focus on action and fewer branching pathways to completing objectives than its predecessor. While it features some massive improvements in visuals, HUD, and presentation, it does so at the expense of simplifying the original's timeless immersive sim gameplay.

• Release Date — February 9, 2010
• Publisher — 2K Games
• Developer — 2K Marin
• Genre — Horror, First-Person Shooter
• Review Aggregate Score — 88% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Rating — 88% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — Mac, PC, PS3, Xbox 360

Even without Ken Levine's direct involvement, BioShock 2 is a worthy sequel to one of the greatest games (immersive sim or otherwise) of all time. Unlike Levine's return in BioShock Infinite (which eschews many of the immersive sim qualities of the first two games in the franchise), BioShock 2 has a heavy focus on allowing the player multiple ways to reach the same objective. The initial "wow" factor of seeing Rapture for the first time in the original BioShock might be slightly less effective in the sequel, but the core gameplay loop of using firearms, plasmids, stealth, and environmental hazards to sneak throughout the underwater city is still just as enjoyable in the sequel.

Given that BioShock 2 fills in some important lore gaps for the franchise and allows players to step into the shoes of a Big Daddy, it's a must-play for fans and a solid immersive sim in its own right.

• Release Date — December 5, 2023
• Publisher — Hyperstrange
• Developer — Hyperstrange
• Genre — Western, Horror, First-Person Shooter
• Review Aggregate Score — 80% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Rating — 90% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC

Out of all the newer immersive sims on this list, few give the player the same impressive level of freedom as Blood West. An interesting genre mash-up of Wild West FPS, survival horror, and immersive sim, Blood West balances each of its influences carefully to become something greater than the sum of its parts. What's most surprising about the title is how much of an emphasis there is on stealth. Like another horror-adjacent immersive sim on this list, Blood West places a priority on sneaking and surprise-attacking enemies to get the upper hand, and the large skill tree affords players some agency in how they build out their undead hero to that end. While it might look like a boomer shooter, Blood West is a classic immersive sim through and through that deserves to be played by fans of the genre.

• Release Date — December 9, 2020
• Publisher — CD Projekt RED
• Developer — CD Projekt RED
• Genre — Sci-Fi, Action, First-Person Shooter, RPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 86% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Rating — 83% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox One/Series X/S

Wait, what's this? Cyberpunk 2077 on a list of must-play immersive sims? Yes, for all the talk of Cyberpunk 2077 being an expansive open-world RPG (which, it most certainly is), the game actually embodies all of the classic genre tropes of immersive sims. Where Cyberpunk 2077's immersive sim DNA shines through is in the amount of player expression the game affords through its many builds. If players wish to take a stealthy approach, using Quickhacks and sneaking their way to victory rather than going in guns-blazing, that's entirely viable. Conversely, Cyberpunk 2077 also gives multiple branching pathways to melee-focused players not afraid to enter the fray of combat.

Almost all of Cyberpunk 2077's main and side missions have multiple branching outcomes that are derived from the player's actions and dialogue choices, firmly planting it in the realm of being an immersive sim. And in its current state, it just so happens to be one of the best.

• Release Date — November 11, 2016
• Publisher — Bethesda Softworks
• Developer — Arkane Lyon
• Genre — Stealth, Action, First-Person Shooter
• Review Aggregate Score — 88% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Rating — 89% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PS4, Xbox One

Arkane Lyon had a certified modern classic on its hands with the original Dishonored, so it should come as no surprise that the sequel simply offers more of a good thing. While the story picks up years after where the original leaves off, the core dichotomy between options for non-lethal stealth and full-on lethal combat when taking on missions remains the Dishonored series' greatest strength, and it's on full display in Dishonored 2. There are some changes made over the original (mainly in the visuals and presentation being slightly improved over the original thanks to its launch on 8th-generation consoles), but Dishonored 2 gives players yet another chance to step into the shoes of Corvo Attano, one of the immersive sim genre's best-written and best-playing heroes.

• Release Date — September 14, 2021
• Publisher — Bethesda Softworks
• Developer — Arkane Lyon
• Genre — Sci-Fi, First-Person Shooter, Puzzle
• Review Aggregate Score — 88% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Rating — 77% (Mostly Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S

Speaking of Arkane Lyon, prepare to see multiple games from the acclaimed studio on this list, continuing with the excellent Deathloop. While Deathloop technically takes place in the same universe as the Dishonored games (along with many gameplay characteristics shared between them), it skews more toward being a first-person Metroidvania with immersive sim gameplay rather than a pure entry into the immersive sim subgenre. Deathloop's core conceit, that of trying to solve your own murder through time travel and exploration, takes players across its incredibly designed map and back again, forcing players to unpack the best way to take out the game's targets in one fell swoop.

Certain parts of Deathloop's island open up more at specific times of day, allowing players to get creative in cracking the code to attain revenge. Once that puzzle is solved, Deathloop's immersive sim elements prove to be fairly shallow in comparison to other games on this list, but that initial run ranks as one of the best experiences in the genre.

• Release Date — September 5, 2022
• Publisher — New Blood Interactive
• Developer — Dillon Rogers, David Szymanski, Nate Berens, Thomas Porta
• Genre — Horror, Stealth, First-Person Shooter
• Review Aggregate Score — N/A
• Steam User Rating — 95% (Overwhelmingly Positive)
• Platforms — PC (Early Access)

Perhaps the most promising of the immersive sims currently in Early Access on Steam, Gloomwood is about as close as we'll ever get to a modern Thief (not counting the not-so-great 2014 reboot). Better yet, some gothic horror elements on display in Gloomwood help give it an atmosphere not unlike FromSoftware's Bloodborne, making it something of a dream come true for fans of immersive sims and soulslikes. Like Blood West, Gloomwood places a strong emphasis on stealth while also giving the player plenty of options to dispatch enemies should the need arise. While a sneaky approach and going quiet are almost always preferable to an all-out assault on the creatures haunting Gloomwood's streets, the protagonist is anything but helpless once all hell breaks loose.

• Release Date — August 23, 2016
• Publisher — Square Enix
• Developer — Eidos Montréal
• Genre — Sci-Fi, Stealth, RPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 84% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Rating — 76% (Mostly Positive)
• Platforms — Linux, Mac, PC, PS4, Xbox One

The tragedy of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is that we will likely never see a sequel or follow-up. The final game in Eidos Montréal's run on the series, Mankind Divided successfully builds on the promise of Deus Ex: Human Revolution to deliver the franchise's best game since the original. Like in the original Deus Ex, protagonist Adam Jensen has multiple different pathways that he can take to solve problems. Stealth is always viable, but so is using his cybernetic human enhancements to tear foes to shreds. The beautifully realized vision of near-future Prague makes for one of the best hub cities in gaming, and the way players can discover helpful shortcuts (depending on their abilities) that link disparate parts of the map together is one of its many immersive sim highlights.

• Release Date — March 20, 2007
• Publisher — GSC Game World
• Developer — GSC Game World
• Genre — Post-Apocalyptic, Open-World, First-Person Shooter
• Review Aggregate Score — 82% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Rating — 94% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PS4, Xbox One

Seventeen years later, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. remains the preeminent post-apocalyptic immersive sim. While it would influence other immersive sim-adjacent games like the Metro trilogy, the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and its two expansions still reign as one of the best spiritual successors to the gameplay from both Thief and Deus Ex. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s world is somehow incredibly open and free while also feeling claustrophobic, eliciting the kind of terror most commonly reserved for survival horror games when players venture into parts of the Zone they shouldn't be. Like Deus Ex or even Dishonored, the mix between the supernatural and fantastic metahuman abilities and solid gunplay makes the moment-to-moment action in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. feel incredibly satisfying, but it's the game's excellent story and fully-realized world that will stick with players.

• Release Date — June 16, 2021
• Publisher — Consumer Softproducts
• Developer — Consumer Softproducts
• Genre — Satire, Surrealism, First-Person Shooter
• Review Aggregate Score — 89% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Rating — 97% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC

The absolute fever dream of Cruelty Squad is a game that takes the core elements of the immersive sim and ratchets them up to 11. While at first glance the game might appear to be something from the mind of a madman, playing Cruelty Squad quickly reveals the genius behind the game's many interlocking systems, each of which work together in concert to make the game one of the purest immersive sims in the subgenre. The amount of freedom that players have in Cruelty Squad is nigh unmatched, which more than makes up for the game's somewhat garish visuals and almost antagonistic attitude toward the player. When you can leverage a decision made in the early part of the game to kill the final boss without lifting a finger, you know you're dealing with a hall-of-fame immersive sim.

• Release Date — August 21, 2007
• Publisher — 2K Games
• Developer — 2K Boston
• Genre — Horror, First-Person Shooter
• Review Aggregate Score — 96% (Universal Acclaim)
• Steam User Rating — 94% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — iOS, Mac, PC, PS3, Xbox 360

The spiritual successor to System Shock 2 and one of the most important games of the 7th console generation, BioShock is nothing short of a masterpiece. The game's world of Rapture is one of the most impressive and beautifully realized environments in gaming, replete with a host of secrets to uncover and interlocking paths that allow players to forge their own path through its hallways. While it's not even close to being one of the first immersive sims, BioShock builds on the formula that its director Ken Levine helped design, ultimately delivering one of the best games in the subgenre. The original BioShock is in a league all its own both among first-person shooters and immersive sims, and its breathtaking setting and philosophical commentary help elevate it to being a game that everyone should experience at least once.

• Release Date — October 9, 2012
• Publisher — Bethesda Softworks
• Developer — Arkane Studios
• Genre — Action, Stealth, First-Person Shooter
• Review Aggregate Score — 88% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Rating — 97% (Overwhelmingly Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PS3/PS4, Xbox 360/One

One of the only games to directly compete with the genius of BioShock during the 7th generation is none other than the original Dishonored. Releasing during the window between the launch of BioShock 2 and just before Ken Levine's return to the franchise in BioShock: Infinite, Dishonored originally appeared to be something of a "BioShock" clone taking place in a Victorian, Steampunk setting. The reality is that Dishonored is as close to a spiritual successor to Thief as players had seen, incentivizing stealth and creativity in its problem-solving and mission design more than any of its contemporaries. The world and atmosphere of Dishonored would continue to be built upon in Arkane's successive games, but the original entry in the series still holds a place as its greatest.

• Release Date — August 11, 1999
• Publisher — Electronic Arts
• Developer — Irrational Games, Looking Glass Studios
• Genre — Horror, First-Person Shooter
• Review Aggregate Score — 92% (Universal Acclaim)
• Steam User Rating — 94% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC

Although age has not been kind to System Shock 2's visuals or inventory management, the title still holds up as one of the greatest immersive sims ever made, even in the face of modern titles in the subgenre. Once again taking on the vicious AI Shodan, System Shock 2 ups the ante over its predecessor in terms of horror elements and gore, delivering one of the first true horror FPS titles while also pushing the envelope in terms of what was possible in an immersive sim.

The genius of System Shock 2 comes through in the player's ability to tackle the same problem from multiple angles (a hallmark of the immersive sim genre), and that each of them is equally as valid or preferable as the other. There are no easy answers or decisions to make in System Shock 2, and the complexity of its interlocking systems makes it a game almost without peer.

• Release Date — November 30, 1998
• Publisher — Eidos Interactive
• Developer — Looking Glass Studios
• Genre — Action, Stealth, First-Person Shooter
• Review Aggregate Score — 92% (Universal Acclaim)
• Steam User Rating — 92% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC

Warren Spector himself credits Ultima VI as being the first immersive sim, but there's every case to be made that the genre truly begins with Spector's Thief: The Dark Project. Revolutionary for its time, Thief completely removes nearly all restrictions on where players can go or what they can do when they get there, even going so far as to famously give players a grappling hook that could bring them to just about any part of its incredibly detailed and immersive maps. Thief's stealth mechanics would also set a new bar for both the stealth action and immersive sim genres, going on to influence games like the Splinter Cell series along with several other entries on this list in terms of offering non-violent pathways to completing objectives. It would eventually be outdone by later games in the genre, but Thief is still a masterpiece worth playing.

• Release Date — May 30, 2023
• Publisher — Prime Matter
• Developer — Nightdive Studios
• Genre — Sci-Fi, Horror, First-Person Shooter
• Review Aggregate Score — 78% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Rating — 91% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox One/Series X/S

It might come as a surprise to see my recommendation of the System Shock remake over the original, but what Nightdive Studios has accomplished with its 2023 reimagining of the 1994 PC classic deserves to be applauded. Smoothing over most of the original's rough spots (especially its menus, HUD elements, and inventory management) and giving the game an absolutely gorgeous visual overhaul, Nightdive's System Shock remake is how one of the greatest games in the immersive sim genre deserves to be experienced for the first time. As a remake, it retains enough of the core gameplay of the original to be considered faithful while also modernizing it in important ways so as to avoid frustration, simultaneously preserving and introducing one of the best PC games of all time to a brand-new audience.

• Release Date — May 5, 2017
• Publisher — Bethesda Softworks
• Developer — Arkane Austin
• Genre — Sci-Fi, Horror, First-Person Shooter
• Review Aggregate Score — 79% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Rating — 90% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PS4, Xbox One

As the story goes, Arkane was working on a project that it had hoped would be System Shock 3 when the order came down from the studio's publisher, Bethesda, to turn that game into a sequel or soft reboot for an IP that Bethesda already owned. So while the name of the game is confusingly Prey (not to be confused with the 2006 3D Realms FPS of the same name), the core conceit and gameplay of 2017's Prey is very obviously an homage to Looking Glass Studios and Irrational Games System Shock 2. Prey is one of the greatest immersive sims ever made and a visually stunning title with plenty of horror elements, pushing players' resolve to its limit. And with Arkane now effectively shuttered, that we won't be getting a Prey 2 makes it all the more important that immersive sim fans play this unrivaled classic.

• Release Date — June 22, 2000
• Publisher — Eidos Interactive
• Developer — Ion Storm
• Genre — Sci-Fi, Stealth, First-Person Shooter, RPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 90% (Universal Acclaim)
• Steam User Rating — 94% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — Mac, PC, PS2

If Thief was the first step toward defining an immersive sim, Deus Ex would come through just 2 years later and establish the genre's blueprint. Almost 25 years later, Deus Ex remains a masterpiece of game design whose complexity needs to be experienced to be believed. The amount of freedom that players have is still impressive a quarter century later, with no shortage of viable options in how players go about completing objectives and missions.

Every decision that players make in Deus Ex matters — from which items they choose to pick up in the environment, to how they level up their character, to which notes lying around they choose to read — and the cumulative effect of those choices has a lasting impact on each playthrough, showcasing how intricately connected each of Deus Ex's systems and mechanics are. If you play one immersive sim in your life, make it this one.