It is time-consuming and expensive to become a pilot. It’s equally costly to run your own island, theme park, or movie studio. And it’s hard to imagine the resources you might need to exercise godly control over your neighborhood, or build your own galactic empire. Yet these are all things you can accomplish with clever simulation games for your Mac.

Most games are available for online ordering 24 hours a day, every day.

Imitation of life

Simulations can be divided into two categories: technical simulations and organizational simulations. Although they share a basic concept, they are very different products.

Technical simulations typically allow you to operate an aircraft (military or civilian) or a vehicle. The goal of the simulation is to provide the most realistic experience possible; in essence, a true simulation of reality. Dials, switches, and buttons are faithfully reproduced to provide total control of the craft. Gauges report factors such as speed, altitude, and fuel level. To further the illusion, simulated weather impacts the operation of the craft just as it would in the real world. head winds may make it difficult to steer a small plane, while an icy surface may cause a vehicle to slide uncontrollably when making sharp turn. The uncompromising focus on accuracy and detail makes this class of simulations an ideal tool for educators.

Organizational simulations let you run a small town, develop a network of railways, or even nurture a civilization. These games emphasize broad organizational management rather than minute details. As the head of state, head of the business, or even as a benevolent god, you are responsible for making key decisions for your organization that will ultimately determine its longevity. This may require you to feed your tenants on a regular basis, secure funding for your next construction project, or ensure your civilization has a powerful military. In many cases, these games require a good deal of strategy and careful planning to guarantee success.

The primary goal of organizational simulations is to provide countless hours of entertainment. Many titles function indefinitely, allowing you to play the game as long as it holds your interest.

Or Become One of the Gods

Then there are simulations, such as Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Aspyr Media), that defy easy categorization. Guitar Hero III includes a guitar that you play with the music, pressing its corresponding fret buttons and flicking the strum bar as notes cascade toward you. While the game puts you in the role of guitarist for an up-and-coming fictitious band, its playlist draws from the greatest songs in rock ‘n’ roll history, including Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love,” The Who’s “The Seeker,” The Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black,” and Pearl Jam’s “Even Flow.” You’ll find 71 songs in all.

After your world tour is over, demonstrate your chops by joining a super group: Aerosmith. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (Aspyr) picks up where the previous game left off, giving you the chance to share a stage with singer Steven Tyler, guitarist Joe Perry, and other members of a band that has had its share of multi-platinum successes and internal strife since releasing its debut album in 1973. The gameplay remains the same, but you have 41 new songs to conquer, including such Aerosmith classics as “Walk This Way” and “Sweet Emotion,” as well as plenty of classic tunes: Mott the Hoople’s “All the Young Dudes,” The Kinks’ “All Day and All of the Night,” and more. Rock out in major concert venues from the band’s career, including Super Bowl XXXV and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame.

Guitar Hero III also features eight rock venues, 13 characters, 50 guitars, and plenty of customization options, including new clothing and different guitar designs. Unlockable video content includes Johnny Rotten and other surviving members of The Sex Pistols talking about re-recording “Anarchy in the U.K.” for the game, as well as motion capture sessions with well-known musicians. And if you think you have the chops, enter Guitar Battle mode to take on a live opponent locally or over the Internet.

Evolving New Worlds

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith’s story ends with science-fiction overtones, providing the perfect segue into SPORE (Electronic Arts), an epic simulation from Sims creator Will Wright. Your galaxy-spanning adventure starts, literally, in the beginning: You guide a simple cell through the primordial soup of a nascent world, gobbling up smaller organisms and eventually evolving the ability to crawl onto land.

As a creature roaming the countryside, however, your work has just begun. Now you and your friends contend with other creatures who must be pacified through peaceful or violent means. Success leads to the establishment of a tribe that competes for resources with other tribes. Eliminate the competition — again, by becoming their friends or enemies — and soon you’ll find yourself in charge of a civilization. The nation who wins that stage earns the opportunity to blast off into outer space and embark on an open-ended endgame that includes discovering a secret at the heart of the galaxy. The Galactic Adventures expansion pack adds even more spacefaring fun, including the ability to design your own missions.

The standalone SPORE Creature Creator, which is included in the main game (along with Building, Cell, and Vehicle Creators), allows you to engage in the ultimate monster mash and devise the beast of your dreams. When you’re done, watch it dance to the beat, unleash a mighty roar, and more. You can even share your divine inspiration with other players through the SPOREpedia. The Creepy & Cute Parts Pack offers additional building materials, from floppy ears and adorable paws to piercing claws and mouths full of razor-sharp teeth.

Shades of Gray Welcome

If you’d prefer to keep your focus on one world and adopt more of a top-down view of the action, then Black & White 2 (Feral Interactive) is your game. Assume a deific position over the Greeks, who were driven from their homeland by the Aztecs (remember, this isn’t a history game), and rule through kindness or fear, prompting all villagers to do your bidding in the process. Extend your sphere of influence to bring nearby Norse villages under your control, eventually amassing enough strength to exact revenge on the Aztecs.

As well-known designer Peter Molyneux told us, Black & White 2 features real-time strategy elements, complete with realistic physics. You can participate in the battles, throwing boulders that take out opposing troops and directing the actions of your Creature, a lion, monkey, cow, or wolf that carries out your commands. Your Creature can also behave with malevolence or benevolence toward the villagers as it carries out a specific role: entertainer, gatherer, builder, or soldier.

Black & White 2 also features the Battle of the Gods expansion pack, in which a small group of surviving Aztecs have summoned a god of the undead who wants to tear Eden asunder. You can import your Creature from the main game or adopt a new one — two additional Creatures, a turtle and a tiger, are included. You also have access to new buildings for your village, new miracles for impressing your villagers, and new challenges that prove whether you belong in the pantheon of major deities.

So You Want to be a Movie Star

If you’re really enamored with digital film, take your aspirations to the next level with The Movies (Feral Interactive). Start your own movie studio and decide what types of projects to take on, which actors, actresses, directors, and screenwriters to hire and fire, and how you’ll keep all that talent happy during their downtime. You can even decide the exact placement of your sets, trailers, buildings, and other structures on the studio lot.

Let The Movies’ automatic story creator take care of each film’s main plot points, or dictate them yourself with the Advanced Movie-Maker. You can even use the Post-Production Facility to fine-tune the footage your digital talent creates, deciding where to cut scenes, adding sound effects and voice-overs, and more. Thousands of would-be auteurs have uploaded their works to The Movies Online.

The Movies starts at the dawn of cinema, unlocking new technologies as you progress from black-and-white silent films to effects-laden epics. Each five years of in-game time brings about an awards ceremony during which your studio could take home prizes for Best Acting Performance, Most Prolific Studio, and more. If you’d prefer to just make movies and not worry about studio logistics, switch to sandbox mode, which begins with all the extras unlocked and eliminates the talents’ potential personality problems, such as actors who’d rather get drunk than show up on the set.

If, like us, you enjoy making special effects-heavy films, don’t forget to add the Stunts & Effects expansion pack. It allows you to hire stunt performers and task them with all kinds of death-defying feats, such as leaping from a truck just before it explodes or dashing across a bullet-riddled battlefield. New training facilities help them hone their skills, while new sets, such as city streets and jungles, give you additional storytelling options. Blue and green screen sets let you add special effects later, thanks to the expansion pack’s new miniatures, which include a devastated urban landscape and an alien mother ship.

Fly the Unfriendly Skies

While The Movies: Stunts & Effects doesn’t have an aerial dogfight option, you can enter that realm with WarBirds and FlyBoys Squadron (iEntertainment Network), which simulate World War II and World War I air combat, respectively. Hop into the cockpit of a P-51, a Sopwith Camel, or one of dozens of other realistic aircraft from those eras and take on opponents over the Internet. FlyBoys also includes 12 single-player missions reminiscent of the movie on which it’s based.

WarBirds features several strategy elements, including the ability to bomb and take over opposing bases. While flying over realistic maps of World War II era Europe, Africa, and the Pacific Ocean, you attack and defend against opposing forces with your wingmates. If you prefer, you can even hop in a tank and blast the enemy’s bases. Just watch out for bombers trying to drop their payloads on you.

Sims For the Kids in All of Us

If you and/or your kids are in the mood for a more lighthearted sim, the Petz games (TransGaming) should be a walk in the park. Catz 2 and Dogz 2 feature seven breeds of felines and canines, respectively, with 72 toys, dress-up options, pieces of furniture, and other objects for you to unlock as you train your pet to perform increasingly difficult tricks. In Petz Sports, you race one of 18 breeds of Dogz in 36 contests spread across four cups. Between races, teach your old Dogz new tricks and engage in games of jumping rope and playing fetch.

System Check

Simulations vary greatly in their system requirements. Organizational simulations often make limited use of three-dimensional visuals. Technical simulations tend to be more graphically ambitious. Since these titles fully recreate a three-dimensional environment, they demand faster processors, more memory, and more capable graphics cards. Please inspect the box of any title that appeals to you to ensure that it will run without a hitch on your Mac.

Digital Realities

Simulation games let us experience many things we can’t experience in our everyday lives without great expense (or magical powers). Although the games are no substitute for the subtle nuances of reality, they provide countless hours of compelling entertainment. Pick one up today!