The Hardest Management Simulation Games

Much like beauty, difficulty is in the eye of the beholder. Just because one person finds a game difficult doesn't mean someone else will. There are some games, however, that stand out as being especially difficult. Every genre has its Dark Souls or Sekiro.

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By  Harry Ted Sprinks

Management simulation games are no different. These games come with a lot of moving parts and even the easiest entries in the genre can be daunting. Of course, that's half the fun. Management sims are all about being the boss and nobody ever said being in charge was easy.

10 The Sims 4

You Can't Manage Free Will

Taken at face value, The Sims 4 might not seem all that difficult. But beneath the game's casual exterior lies a surprisingly complex heart. Success in The Sims 4 requires juggling a not-insignificant number of systems.

Yet that's not what makes the Sims games difficult -that's the Sims themselves. Sims have some semblance of free will, and it often feels like they're taking the player's commands as "suggestions". Sims often make dubious decisions (like swimming when chronically tired) which can lead to progress-consuming consequences.

9 Surviving Mars

Putting Out Fires On The Red Planet

Playing Surviving Mars is like spinning plates during an earthquake. Part of its difficulty lay in the sheer act of survival in the harsh Martian environment and players will spend much of their time simply making sure their colonists have enough food and water.

That's rarely an easy task in and of itself, but then the game will throw curveballs at gamers in the form of some of the most brutal random events in management simulation history. Depending on the split-second decision the player makes, these events can make or break their settlement.

8 Banished

Supply And Demand

In Banished the player must help a group of medieval exiles build a new life. Gamers must strike the perfect balance between growing their fledgling city while providing for its residents (the player's primary resource) with everything they need.

That might sound like every other city-builder out there but Banished stands out thanks to its intense focus on resource management (which its devs based on real-world economic theories). There's never enough to go around and the next depression or starvation event is always just around the corner.

7 Two Point Hospital

A Race Against Death

With its cartoon graphics and slow-paced beginning, it's easy to be lulled into a false sense of security by Two Point Hospital. That would be a mistake. This is a hospital sim, and in a hospital, death lurks around every corner.

It's around the time the game has introduced the last of its systems that players will realize there aren't enough hours in the day. Budget prioritization and time management are key and players must decide who lives and who dies. Let too many patients expire and watch as everything collapses. Try and save everyone and go bust.

6 RimWorld

Easy To Learn, Hard To Master

It doesn't take that long to learn the basics of RimWorld and coming out of the tutorial, players will be feeling confident. That's until the raids start and their colonists either start dying or losing their minds. To succeed in RimWorld it's important not to get too attached to anything or anyone.

The game features difficulty levels that adapt to how one plays. Play badly early on and the difficulty will adjust slightly to make sure the game isn't too difficult for newcomers. Start playing like a pro though and the game becomes brutal.

5 Cities: Skylines II

A Lesson In Complexity

The original Cities: Skylines was an immensely complicated management simulation but its sequel dials everything up to 11. Players must try to build a metropolis while also managing the day-to-day difficulties of running a city. This means providing for their residents' every need and the kinds of services many of us in the real world take for granted.

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By  Abbie Sharp

The sequel has more systems than ever before and it can be a lot to take in. Running a successful city gets pretty stressful and takes a lot of micromanagement/busy work. Those of us who can't multitask will quickly find they've bitten off more than they can chew.

4 Factorio

Automation, Automation, Automation

Factorio is a game that doesn't do much hand-holding and things can get complicated extremely quickly. It's all too easy to see the impressive factories other players have come up with and try to jump straight into the deep.

Success in Factorio means taking things one step at a time. If players start out focusing on resource gathering and then on automation, they'll gradually learn the game's quirks. If they rush into things they'll walk away with a migraine and a factory about to burst into flames.

3 Dwarf Fortress

A Steep Learning Curve

Dwarf Fortress was in development for a famously long time. Not because it's the best-looking game on PC (it's not) but because it's a complex one. Gamers looking to get the most out of Dwarf Fortress will spend as much time reading wikis as they will building their fortresses.

To do well in Dwarf Fortress fans will need two things. The game demands an almost encyclopedic knowledge of its systems and superhuman patience. Two things that, for many, make it incredibly difficult.

2 Oxygen Not Included

Going Back To School

Most management sims don't require fans to actually know anything. Cities: Skylines doesn't require a civil engineering degree and someone doesn't need to have had a career in hospital administration to play Two Point Hospital. However, Oxygen Not Included works a little differently.

Its difficulty stems not just from the game's deep and complex systems. Players will also need to bring (or learn) some science knowledge to the table. Failure to do so will see colonists dying unpleasant deaths and progress stalling.

1 Frostpunk

Git Gud Or Die Trying

Is Frostpunk the Dark Souls of the management sim world? A look at online forums will show players either bemoaning its difficulty and stating they gave up on it or arguing that its difficulty is the whole point. It's one of those games where much of the advice out there amounts to "Git Gud" memes.

Frostpunk is almost like a puzzle game - look for the problem a settlement is facing and find the solution. That solution is usually more resources, but getting them will mean making morally dubious decisions that leave players feeling dirty. It's unapologetically hard, and most fans love it for it.

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