Welcome to Save State, where we escape our 9-to-5 jobs by pretending to work at other 9 to 5s. Since GiN’s Save State columnist Vincent Mahoney is feeling under the weather, I will be sliding over on the page from my Fresh Look column and helping out with Save State this week. Just like when Vincent is at the helm, we will be looking at a couple of interesting titles this week around a theme, which in this case is simulation games. I have actually been on a kick of playing cozy games and light simulations while I am finishing up my move to a new home, so this topic worked out perfectly. Eventually, I will get back to my normal rounds of JRPGs, turn based strategies, and trying to finish Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (I’m coming for you, Simon).

Last week, I mentioned how I built a new gaming computer with my friends’ help, and it’s the first one I ever constructed for myself. This inspired me to try out a somewhat older title from 2019 called PC Building Simulator.

Even though it is an older title, it’s kept well-updated and is available on Steam for just a few dollars.

I treated PC Building Simulator like I do my Yu-Gi-Oh titles. They let me get a fix on the subject and experience it without having to shell out hundreds in cash. This is especially true with RAM prices hitting the stratosphere. Sure, I would love to buy computer components and do cheap builds with my bare hands, but that just is not financially feasible because building a single game computer nearly wrecked my budget.

Luckily, PC Building Simulator allows me to work on many systems without my German Shepherd’s fur getting into every component.

Playing this simulator after building my own new computer was really helpful. Had I not built my own system, I would not have known where many of the components were located or how they went together. Instead, I was able to jump in and start fixing people’s computers as the owner of a simulated repair shop. One aspect I enjoyed is how there are real and licensed authentic parts to put into your builds. This allows you to drop Nvidia GPUs or Corsair RAM strips to replicate your devices. It can sometimes be difficult to deal with angry customers who come into your store, but that’s mostly just because I still have bad flashbacks from working retail.

Speaking of simulated customers that you want to throw screaming out a window, the top of that list has got to be drunk ones. Tavern Manager Simulator, which is also available on Steam, is a little bit newer and was released in 2024. I’ve really been playing this a lot and enjoying it. In Tavern Manager Simulator, players are given a fantasy tavern (I named mine Last Light – from Baldur’s Gate 3). You then start simply by pouring beer. Soon, I was ordering sausage, making soup, renovating the tavern, and scrambling to keep all the dishes clean.

This is a simulation where everything scales up in a way that feels overwhelming until you find your groove. Trying to keep up makes me appreciate the real servers at my local diner.

Even though Tavern Manager Simulator is over a year old, it’s still getting frequent updates. One More Time are the developers, and they’ve done a great job providing a lot of fun content. It’s satisfying when you see your first high society client walk in after spending multiple days tossing drunks out the front door. I love how in Tavern Manager Simulator you can use your best weapon (an iron skillet) to smack obstinate drunks and chase off beggars. You eventually can hire some really awesome fairy helpers to automate tasks, and that lets you focus more on talking with your upstanding clients and keeping them happy.

While I chose these two Steam titles in an effort to attempt a poor imitation of Vincent’s more verbose column writing, I wanted to sneak in here at the last second with another recommendation, and that is TCG Card Shop Simulator. As a longtime player of Magic: The Gathering, it’s amazingly fun to pretend to run a big card shop. I briefly ran a side business selling collectibles too, and this simulator made me see what it would have been like to become wildly successful. House Flipper also made my short list of honorable mentions because it has a simple, repetitive gameplay loop that kept me distracted for hours.

So, there is my replacement column for Save State this week. I hope I did all of Vincent’s fans justice, as he will be back soon. Next week I will be back over on my side of the page for a Fresh Look at the key titles I am most looking forward to playing in 2026.

Until then, happy holidays everyone!