7 Best Ship Simulator Games, Ranked

Highlights

• Ship simulators come in three types: single vessel piloting, shipping/trading, and military combat with historical accuracy.
• Old school game Ports of Call simulates trading empire on a tramp steamer; still popular for its charm and gameplay.
• Carrier Command 2 offers detailed naval battles with player control over boats and aircraft; shines in team-based multiplayer.

Simulation games have always been popular with certain types of gamers — those looking for deep gameplay, along with features that mimic real-world scenarios. Space simulators, empire simulators, city simulators, and even truck simulators are all very popular. However, when it comes to ship simulators, the pickings are somewhat slim.

There are three main types of ship simulators. Firstly, those that simply simulate piloting or sailing a single vessel, be this a large ship or a small sailing yacht. Secondly, there are those that simulate shipping in general, involving not just piloting a ship, but also trading goods. Lastly, there are military ship simulators, featuring live action combat and generally a military campaign to complete.

7 Ship Simulator Extremes

Old School Paradox Interactive Sim

• Platforms: Microsoft Windows
• Released: 2010
• Developer: Paradox Interactive
• Genre: Ship Simulator

Before Paradox Interactive became known for quality grand strategy games such as Stellaris and the entire Victoria franchise, it developed and published a fair number of forgotten titles. One of these is Ship Simulator Extremes. This is a game that lets players take control of various sea-going craft, such as a supertanker, a whaler, and a coast guard vessel.

Released in 2010, it is somewhat dated now on the graphics front. The game includes several play modes, including the story mode, specific hand-crafted scenarios, an environmentally focused campaign, and even a multiplayer mode.

6 Ports Of Call

An Excellent But Ancient Shipping Simulator

• Platforms: Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, Linux, Amiga, DOS, AmigaOS
• Released: 1987
• Developer: Dipl. Ing. Rolf-Dieter Klein
• Genre: Ship Simulator

Ports of Call is a very old game, originally released for the Commodore Amiga home computer. It combines text and graphics-based game progression with live-action footage. Rather than purely simulating the piloting of a ship, it simulates a trading empire based around a single tramp steamer.

Gamers might be put off by the fact that this game is almost 40 years old at the time of writing. However, there is a reason it was ported to Microsoft Windows and is still available for sale on Steam. And this reason is that it is simply a great game. Sure, it is a throwback to the days when games were simpler, but this is part of its charm.

5 European Ship Simulator

Cruising The Sea Ports Of Europe

• Platforms: Microsoft Windows, macOS
• Released: 2016
• Developer: Excalibur
• Genre: Ship Simulator

This is a ship simulation game that offers quite a lot. There are over eighty different vessels that can be controlled by the player. The behavior of each ship is carefully modeled. Small ships will struggle in high seas, while larger ships will simply bully their way through even the largest waves.

European Ship Simulator comes complete with its own mission editor, which the player can use to extend the gameplay in ways that are only limited by their imagination. However, only 6 European ports are included in the game, which is a little bit of a shame, as it means the navigable area is quite limited.

4 Task Force 1942

Naval Action In The South Pacific

• Platforms: Microsoft Windows, DOS
• Released: 1992
• Developer: Microprose
• Genre: Military Ship Simulator

The first military ship simulator on this list, Task Force 1942, is an older Microprose title. It pits the U.S. Navy against Japanese forces in the South Pacific during World War 2. This is a vast game, with hundreds of different combat vessels fully modeled and simulated.

There are two game modes in Task Force 1942. Firstly, there is the campaign mode, and the player can choose to represent either America or Japan. This is a fantastic recreation of the war in the South Pacific. Secondly, there are many scripted scenarios based on famous battles of the era that players can try. Overall, this game deserves a place on this list simply because of its huge scope and historical accuracy.

3 Carrier Command 2

Full Naval Battle Simulator

• Platforms: GeForce Now, Microsoft Windows, macOS
• Released: 2021
• Developer: Microprose
• Genre: Military Ship Simulator

The second Microprose military ship simulator on this list, Carrier Command 2 is something of a spiritual successor to the aforementioned Task Force 1942. And while this game does enable the player to take control of a massive aircraft carrier, it offers so much more. Every boat and aircraft launched from the carrier can be player-controlled — or left to operate under AI control.

As military strategy games go, very few demonstrate as many accurate details as Carrier Command 2. Although the player is free to play the game from the scenario viewpoint, where this game really shines is in the team-based multiplayer mode. Opposing teams take control of their own carrier, and team members fly missions from its deck with an impressive range of planes and other military hardware.

2 Sailaway: The Sailing Simulator

In-Depth Sailing Simulation

• Platforms: Microsoft Windows and macOS
• Released: 2017
• Developer: Orbcreation
• Genre: Sailing Simulator

Accuracy is the premise of Sailaway: The Sailing Simulator. Even the Steam page warns that this is not a game in the truest sense, but a detailed sailing simulator that is backed by a huge community of real-world sailing aficionados.

The simulation takes place in the South Pacific, with accurately recreated coastlines, including all the islands, each of which can be visited by the player. Gameplay takes place in a persistent world; this is not an offline game. This means that before a player goes offline, they will need to ensure that they have set their autopilot, and the boat is operating at optimal levels. This game earns a place on this list due to its incredible attention to detail.

1 Sinking Simulator

A Different Take On Ship Simulation

• Plaforms: Microsoft Windows and macOS
• Released: 2013
• Developer: Wicpar
• Genre: Ship Simulator

This game would have earned a place on this list simply for having such a great premise. However, it deserves the number one place because, despite its tongue-in-cheek nature, it is actually an incredibly fun game to play. Even though it was released over a decade ago, it is noted as having one of the best soft-body physics engines ever made.

Gameplay involves taking one of the many included ships, including certain historic ones, and well, trying to sink them. This isn’t as easy to achieve as it may sound, though. These ships are simulated accurately and were originally designed not to sink, even when damaged catastrophically. The player can set certain conditions, such as the type of damage received and where, and then watch how the ship performs. Will it sink or won’t it?