How to make a simulator game

Simulator means two different games. On Roblox it usually means a collect, sell, upgrade loop with pets, as in Pet Simulator 99 by BIG Games. On Steam it often means a job sim, like PowerWash Simulator, where doing a chore well is the fun.

Roam is our app, and the Roam team wrote this page.

The Roblox simulator loop

Collect. Click, swing or walk over things to gather them: coins, snow, honey.
Backpack limit. The bag fills up, which forces a trip back. Bigger bags are the first upgrade people want.
Sell. Stand on a sell zone to turn the bag into cash.
Upgrade. Better tools collect faster, bigger bags hold more.
Pets. Buy eggs, hatch pets, stack their multipliers. Rare pets give players something to chase.
New zones and rebirth. Lock areas behind cost, then offer a rebirth that resets for a permanent boost.

Job simulators

Shop sims. Stock shelves, set prices, serve customers. Supermarket Simulator made the genre a hit on Steam.
Delivery sims. A route, a timer and tips for speed. The fun is the rush.
Cleaning sims. Remove grime and watch a progress percentage climb. PowerWash Simulator by FuturLab is the reference.
What every job sim needs. A visible progress meter, a little time pressure, and one twist, like customers who are aliens.

Build it

In Roblox Studio, the loop runs on Luau: a value for bag contents, a sell part that pays when touched, a shop GUI for upgrades and DataStores to save progress. Studio runs on Windows and macOS.

Job sims suit Unity or Godot if you want first-person 3D. Start with one job done well before adding a second.

On iPhone, describe the sim to Roam: the job, the place and the twist. It comes back playable, and you tune it by talking, for example "customers get angrier faster" or "add a pet that helps sell".

Play it on Roam

Create your simulator with Roam

Pick the job and the twist. Roam makes it playable on your iPhone, then you change it by asking. Roam is rated 13+ on the App Store.

Try: "car wash simulator on Mars, aliens bring weird ships, clean them before they get angry, upgrade hoses"

Create it with Roam Pre-register on Android See Roam

Roam ("Roam - Make Games" on the App Store) is an iPhone app where you play games and make your own by describing them or from a photo. It is free to download and play, and making games works without a subscription; optional Spark and Reality plans and credit packs add more creation. Android: pre-register on Google Play.

Questions people ask

How do you make a simulator game on Roblox?

Build a collect, sell and upgrade loop in Roblox Studio with Luau: a backpack value, a sell zone, upgrades, pets and DataStores to save.

What is a job simulator game?

A game where the fun is doing a job well, like running a shop, delivering orders or cleaning, with a visible progress meter.

What makes a simulator game fun?

Clear progress you can see, a short loop, and upgrades that make the same task feel faster and bigger.

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