Best Sim / Strategy Game at The Game Awards 2025: All Nominees

This year’s contenders are:

The Alters

– A narrative-driven survival sim where players manage alternate versions of the protagonist, each with unique traits. Systems focus on resource pressure, emotional decisions, and time management.

FINAL FANTASY TACTICS – The Ivalice Chronicles

– A modern tactical remake with layered job systems and positional combat. AI behavior adapts to player formations, rewarding long-term planning.

Jurassic World Evolution 3

– A park-management sim built around dinosaur behavior, risk control, and ecosystem balance. The AI-driven wildlife systems shape player decisions constantly. Visual fidelity makes each environment feel alive.

Sid Meier’s Civilization VII

– A global strategy game centered on civilization growth, diplomacy, and cultural paths. AI personalities create unpredictable long-term campaigns.

Tempest Rising

– A classic-style RTS with modern controls, faction depth, and fast tactical decisions. AI aggression shifts based on map control. Visual clarity helps players read battles quickly.

Two Point Museum

– A management sim about building themed museums with guest flow, staff management, and exhibit planning. Systems reward smooth layouts and creative displays.

Which Games Are Nominated for the Best Sim / Strategy Game in 2025?

The best sim / strategy game 2025 lineup highlights six titles that blend depth, smart systems, and long-term decision-making.

The Alters

The Alters

stands out for the way it turns survival management into a story shaped by your own choices. The game follows a lone worker who creates alternate versions of himself, each with different skills, emotions, and flaws.

These alters react to your decisions, forming relationships that influence productivity and stability on the base.

Pro tip

Focus on creating alters with complementary emotional traits early on – conflicting personalities can cause morale breakdowns that are hard to fix mid-run.

The pressure of balancing resources, time, and morale gives every action weight. Because each playthrough can generate a different combination of personalities, replay value remains one of the strongest parts of

The Alters

, making it a memorable nominee in this year’s lineup.

FINAL FANTASY TACTICS – The Ivalice Chronicles

FINAL FANTASY TACTICS – The Ivalice Chronicles

brings classic tactical combat back with modern clarity and deeper strategic decision-making. The expanded job system lets players mix abilities in flexible ways, creating squads that respond to changing battlefield conditions. Enemy AI behaves more intelligently around positioning, terrain, and flanking, which makes each encounter feel earned rather than scripted.

Pro tip

Use terrain height to your advantage – archers and casters gain both range and accuracy when attacking from elevated positions.

The updated visual style improves clarity while maintaining the series’ identity. With its blend of customization, tactical depth, and strong replay value, it stands out as one of the most complete strategy experiences of the year.

Jurassic World Evolution 3

Jurassic World Evolution 3

expands on the park management formula with more dynamic dinosaur behavior, smarter guest systems, and layered crisis management. Players must balance profit with ethics, securing safety while pushing scientific boundaries. AI-controlled dinosaurs now react in more lifelike ways – escaping, forming herds, or disrupting enclosures based on stress levels and environmental changes.

Pro tip

Keep multiple backup power sources online – dinosaur escapes often coincide with storm damage that disables your primary grid.

Visual details and biome variety make each park feel alive and unpredictable. With multiple campaign paths, sandbox options, and adaptive challenges, the game rewards planning and flexibility.

Tempest Rising

Tempest Rising

brings back the feel of classic real-time strategy with tight controls, base-building depth, and fast-paced tactical combat. Inspired by the golden era of RTS games, it features three unique factions, each with distinct units, strengths, and tech trees.

Pro tip

Scout constantly – enemy AI in higher difficulties punishes blind spots with flanking raids and base harassment.

The AI adjusts its aggression based on your map control and unit composition, keeping each match dynamic.

Clear visuals and responsive UI make battlefield decisions feel immediate and impactful. With skirmish, multiplayer, and a branching campaign,

Tempest Rising

offers strong replay value and a focused experience for players who enjoy real-time strategic pressure.

Two Point Museum

Two Point Museum

transforms cultural management into a lighthearted yet tactically layered simulation, where players design and operate a successful museum from the ground up. From exhibit curation to guest flow and staff training, every system feeds into overall reputation and revenue.

Pro tip

Place restrooms and food stalls between major exhibits – visitor satisfaction dips fast if they have to backtrack for basic needs.

AI visitors react to layout, theming, and queue times, forcing players to tweak and improve constantly.

Humor blends with mechanical depth, making it approachable without losing challenge. With scenario variety, creative freedom, and subtle complexity,

Two Point Museum

captures the spirit of the genre and earns its spot in this category.