Are there any general contractor simulation games?
January 24, 2018 1:33 PM Subscribe
This may be my dumbest question yet. Exactly what it says in the title. Are there any GC simulation games?
I am not a game player. I play solitaire and occasionally four dots. So, I am pretty ignorant about games.
AND!
I have begun a very exciting new personal project of working towards becoming a general contractor! I am taking classes and diving into the world of trades. Which got me thinking, with all the games out there, are there any games that simulate being a general contractor? A building game where you are responsible for supplies, scheduling, logistics and all the rest? Is that a thing? I have a PC laptop, an Ipad, and an Iphone, if that is relevant.
Gamers and GCs, school me please.
I am not a game player. I play solitaire and occasionally four dots. So, I am pretty ignorant about games.
AND!
I have begun a very exciting new personal project of working towards becoming a general contractor! I am taking classes and diving into the world of trades. Which got me thinking, with all the games out there, are there any games that simulate being a general contractor? A building game where you are responsible for supplies, scheduling, logistics and all the rest? Is that a thing? I have a PC laptop, an Ipad, and an Iphone, if that is relevant.
Gamers and GCs, school me please.
This is the first thing that came up on Google: Construction Simulator 2015. I'm not sure how much it dives into being a general contractor though. I love sim games and something like you're describing doesn't ring a bell.
posted by AppleTurnover at 3:47 PM on January 24, 2018
posted by AppleTurnover at 3:47 PM on January 24, 2018
I just want to come in to say general contracting can be fun! There really are pros and cons to every profession. Anyway, a game that came to my mind is Sim City. I haven't played any recent versions but if you and I have similar personality types you might really enjoy it. Any game that helps you fine tune your skills for watching moving parts, not dropping any balls, switching back and forth, balancing details while keeping your sights on the big picture goals should be beneficial.
Apart from a game, I'd suggest you go to local zoning board hearings if that's a possibility in your area. You can learn so much just from observing.
You could also gain a lot by learning how to manage people and their emotions. Communication and getting everyone on the same page is one of the primary things you'll have to do.
posted by belau at 4:58 PM on January 24, 2018
Apart from a game, I'd suggest you go to local zoning board hearings if that's a possibility in your area. You can learn so much just from observing.
You could also gain a lot by learning how to manage people and their emotions. Communication and getting everyone on the same page is one of the primary things you'll have to do.
posted by belau at 4:58 PM on January 24, 2018
A building game where you are responsible for supplies, scheduling, logistics and all the rest?
Well it's farming oriented rather than contracting but Hay Day (available on ipad and your phone) kind of requires you to do those sorts of things. It's a very cutesy game but it really improved my patience with budgeting since there is no credit card or banking in the world of hay day and I had to work to earn the coins to buy things. Plus you can collect cute pixel pets.
posted by kitten magic at 8:17 PM on January 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
Well it's farming oriented rather than contracting but Hay Day (available on ipad and your phone) kind of requires you to do those sorts of things. It's a very cutesy game but it really improved my patience with budgeting since there is no credit card or banking in the world of hay day and I had to work to earn the coins to buy things. Plus you can collect cute pixel pets.
posted by kitten magic at 8:17 PM on January 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
This is probably a little bit outside of what you're thinking of, but I think the closest actual game to what you're thinking of is Dwarf Fortress.
You oversee a band of dwarves as they establish a new outpost in a procedurally-generated world. You give them general instructions, like "dig out a new room here" or "Set up a woodworking shop here" but it's up to the dwarves themselves to carry out your instructions. You manage their supplies, assign roles and tasks, determine what should be done when, and defend the outpost from monsters. The interface is somewhere on the far side of "Inscrutable" but there's a huge community and a lot of guides to help you get into it.
As far as games about managing a team and building something go, you're probably not going to find much better than Dwarf Fortress, although I've heard good things about RimWorld, which is a Sci-Fi take on Dwarf Fortress's fantasy world.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 8:40 PM on January 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
You oversee a band of dwarves as they establish a new outpost in a procedurally-generated world. You give them general instructions, like "dig out a new room here" or "Set up a woodworking shop here" but it's up to the dwarves themselves to carry out your instructions. You manage their supplies, assign roles and tasks, determine what should be done when, and defend the outpost from monsters. The interface is somewhere on the far side of "Inscrutable" but there's a huge community and a lot of guides to help you get into it.
As far as games about managing a team and building something go, you're probably not going to find much better than Dwarf Fortress, although I've heard good things about RimWorld, which is a Sci-Fi take on Dwarf Fortress's fantasy world.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 8:40 PM on January 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
I don't know of any games that are straight-up General Contractor sims, but there are a several games that encapsulate aspects of GC work.
City/Town/Basebuilding games such as Dwarf Fortress and RimWorld mentioned by Mr.Encyclopedia. Oxygen Not Required is a 2d basebuilder where you try to help settlers survive in caves on an unfriendly planet.
There's games with more specific construction themes like Prison Architect or Transport Fever
There's logistics games like Infinifactory, Factorio and their ilk which are a little more like designing/programming assembly lines.
Infra is a game where you play a structural analyst dealing with some sort of corruption and intrigue with your city's water/power infrastructure. You wander around and take photos and figure stuff out. I've heard good things about it.
posted by JauntyFedora at 10:58 AM on January 25, 2018
City/Town/Basebuilding games such as Dwarf Fortress and RimWorld mentioned by Mr.Encyclopedia. Oxygen Not Required is a 2d basebuilder where you try to help settlers survive in caves on an unfriendly planet.
There's games with more specific construction themes like Prison Architect or Transport Fever
There's logistics games like Infinifactory, Factorio and their ilk which are a little more like designing/programming assembly lines.
Infra is a game where you play a structural analyst dealing with some sort of corruption and intrigue with your city's water/power infrastructure. You wander around and take photos and figure stuff out. I've heard good things about it.
posted by JauntyFedora at 10:58 AM on January 25, 2018
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For a good set of problems that you might encounter, pick up Who Done It? by Len Holm and try to simulate your way through a hundred true and terrible scenarios (heads up, the book might make your reconsider your career choice).
posted by halogen at 2:35 PM on January 24, 2018 [3 favorites]