History VideoGameCrueltyPotential / SimulationGames

** One of the cruelest examples of this in the games has to be [[http://chanarchive.org/4chan/v/40679/are-you-read-to-witness-mr-bones-wild-ride-38-hand-picked-riders-free-admission-extensive-design-and Mr. Bones Wild Ride]]. This is what happens when you make an insanely long ride out of a very slow rollercoaster type. Even at the beginning it takes several in-game months to finish the ride, and even then the ride was still expanding. The full ride that resulted had the riders on it for ''an entire year'' of in-game time before they were allowed to leave, with Mr. Bones occasionally taunting them that they are there forever. And the worst part is? The exit path leads right back to a completely sealed off space with an entrance leading right back to the ride they came from.

* In ''SimAnimals'', you get to watch over all sorts of little critters and make sure that they are all happy and healthy. Or you could throw them into each other, dangle helpless squirrels next to hungry bears, drop them in water, starve them, and make it rain on them. If an animal is unhappy enough, they'll even attack your hand.
* ''SimCopter'' puts the player in control of an unwieldy helicopter with which you are expected to carry out various missions, many of which involve human cargo. Forcibly ejecting passengers from the aircraft at high altitude invokes a [[VideogameCrueltyPunishment minor penalty]] for injuring a civilian, silently cancels their original dropoff destination and creates a new medevac mission conveniently located nearby. Completing this new mission gives a reward exceeding the penalty, making it ''profitable'' to injure passengers with inconvenient destinations and instead deliver them to the nearest hospital. (It also stops captured criminals from escaping every time you land to make another pick up.)

* ''[[VideoGame/LifeAndDeath Life & Death]]'' and its sequel, ''[[VideoGame/LifeAndDeath Life & Death II: The Brain]]'' are ''surgery'' simulators. Needless to say, you can do quite a bit of damage to a patient if you're not careful or you're feeling sadistic. For example, you can start cutting before you turn on the anesthetic gas, at which point the game will play an audio clip of a bloodcurling scream, and you will be taken out of the operating room and given a lecture by the doctor in charge.
* Like the aforementioned ''Life & Death'' example, the ''TraumaCenter'' series lends itself to certain abuses. While you can't make your patients scream in agony, there are an awful lot of intentional mistakes you can stack up before they die, like cutting fluffy bunny shapes into their pancreas or stitching "THIS TROPER WUZ HERE" across their brain. In fact, the easiest way to restart a mission that you know you're going to fail is equip the scalpel and tap the stylus/A button rapidly, racking up massive vital losses and death in mere seconds. There's also the perennial favorite of half-removing shards of glass and stabbing them in again, or the more passive method of simply watching the viruses go. Add this to the fact that a lot of your patients are ''kids'' and you start questioning whether the ESRB shouldn't have been a bit stricter with the rating...

* In ''ARecklessDisregardForGravity'' (a game which simulates BASE jumping from buildings suspended in air) the player can aim for, hit, ''and get bonus points off of'' seagulls. Attempting to do so to hovercars is not recommended.

* The ''RollerCoasterTycoon'' games provide a tool which you can use to pick up your guests and put them anywhere in the park. Including dropping them into the water and drowning them. You can also deliberately build certain rides to crash in a horrible, fiery explosion.

* In ''StarWars: {{X-Wing}}'', you'll learn to ''hate'' the [[TheScrappy Gallofree Yards]] [[EscortMission Medium]] [[ThatOneLevel Transport]]. So much so that when you can get away with blowing one up, you probably will.
* ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' allows you to attack villagers with your net and axe (although the latter cannot be used to [[AxCrazy mutilate]] them and is actually rather hard to pull off because it has shorter range than the former, so you'll likely end up accidentally going into a conversation with them[[note]]In the Wild World version for the DS, you can just tap your character with the stylus to make sure you swing and not talk.[[/note]]), which will of course cause them to become depressed or outraged. You can bury pitfall seeds for them to walk over and get stuck in (they'll become unstuck over time or if you talk to them). You can also push them around by walking into them, which has the same effect as hitting them (but with less tears), and talk to them repeatedly so they get flustered. Lastly you can just dig holes around a villager to trap them until you go off-screen, or combine this with the only way out being over a pitfall. ''New Leaf'' also allows you to buy an inflatable hammer, whose ''sole purpose'' is to hit villagers or other players over the head.

** The game is cruel all by itself. Goblins will stab yor guard dogs in the spine and then run away, leaving them permanently paralysed (until the player butchers them in frustration). Goblins will stab your Dwarves in the spine and run away, with the same effect... except you can't (easily) mercy kill the crippled Dwarf and there is NO easy healing.

* ''VideoGame/EvilGenius'', SpiritualSuccessor to ''DungeonKeeper'', gives players a wide selection of ways to "Interrogate" (torture) enemy agents and tourists. It's not unheard of in some circles for players to subject female agents and tourists to the greenhouse in the lab. One of the objectives of the game even requires the player to put an uppity crime boss into a hilariously oversized mixer located in the chow hall.

* ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' allows you to attack villagers with your net and axe (although the latter cannot be used to [[AxCrazy mutilate]] them and is actually rather hard to pull off because it has shorter range than the former, so you'll likely end up accidentally going into a conversation with them[[note]]In the Wild World version for the DS, you can just tap your character with the stylus to make sure you swing and not talk.[[/note]]), which will of course cause them to become depressed or outraged. You can bury pitfall seeds for them to walk over and get stuck in (they'll become unstuck over time or if you talk to them). You can also push them around by walking into them, which has the same effect as hitting them (but with less tears), and talk to them repeatedly so they get flustered. Lastly you can just dig holes around a villager to trap them until you go off-screen, or combine this with the only way out being over a pitfall.

* Half the fun of ''VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram'' is screwing up, seeing the look on your poor kerbals' faces, and watching [[StuffBlowingUp Stuff Blow Up]].

* ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' allows you to attack villagers with your net and axe (although the latter cannot be used to [[AxCrazy mutilate]] them and is actually rather hard to pull off because it has shorter range than the former, so you'll likely end up accidentally going into a conversation with them[[hottip:*:In the Wild World version for the DS, you can just tap your character with the stylus to make sure you swing and not talk.]]), which will of course cause them to become depressed or outraged. You can bury pitfall seeds for them to walk over and get stuck in (they'll become unstuck over time or if you talk to them). You can also push them around by walking into them, which has the same effect as hitting them (but with less tears), and talk to them repeatedly so they get flustered. Lastly you can just dig holes around a villager to trap them until you go off-screen, or combine this with the only way out being over a pitfall.

** Likewise with SpiritualSuccessor ''Rekkaturvat/Truck Dismount''[[hottip:*:available at the same page as Stair Dismount above]], in which you position two ramps and a guy on a truck, and manipulate other factors, in order to cause said guy to fall out and get run over by said truck. And again, you're scored based on how much damage you do to him.

** In ''Island of Happieness'' and ''Sunshine Islands'', Mark and Chelsea[[hottip:*:the male and female player characters. Playing as one gender makes the other a marriage candidate]] respond to all gifts with the "likes" reaction, meaning nothing you give them will give you negative points. Meaning you can raise their love points by feeding them a steady stream of trash (rocks, sticks, weeds, failed cooking dishes, etc.).

* ''SimCopter'' puts the player in control of an unwieldy helicopter with which you are expected to carry out various missions, many of which involve human cargo. Forcibly ejecting passengers from the aircraft at high altitude invokes a [[VideogameCrueltyPunishment minor penalty]] for injuring a civilian, silently cancels their original [[LamePun dropoff]] destination and creates a new medevac mission conveniently located nearby. Completing this new mission gives a reward exceeding the penalty, making it ''profitable'' to injure passengers with inconvenient destinations and instead deliver them to the nearest hospital. (It also stops captured criminals from escaping every time you land to make another pick up.)

* ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' allows you to attack villagers with your net and axe (although the latter cannot be used to [[AxCrazy mutilate]] them, sadly, and is actually rather hard to pull off because it has shorter range than the former, so you'll likely end up accidentally going into a conversation with them[[hottip:*:In the Wild World version for the DS, you can just tap your character with the stylus to make sure you swing and not talk.]]), which will of course cause them to become depressed or outraged. You can bury pitfall seeds for them to walk over and get stuck in (they'll become unstuck over time or if you talk to them). You can also push them around by walking into them, which has the same effect as hitting them (but with less tears), and talk to them repeatedly so they get flustered. Lastly you can just dig holes around a villager to trap them until you go off-screen, or combine this with the only way out being over a pitfall.

* SurgeonSimulator2013 has you acting like a doctor. Of course, you can try cutting the ribs with a power drill, use lasers on their eyes, power drill the brain, and flip them off. There is also an achievement for killing the patient in 15 seconds.

** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMXME2pm83c&feature=channel This video says it all]].
** Continued in ''VideoGame/TheSimsMedieval'', though that game is a little less wide-open and a little more like an RPG, so killing your active Sim rarely helps you. You can still have your Sims be all manner of nasty to each other, with options like dueling to the death and sending to the pit.

* In ''ZooTycoon'' you can do a number of horrible things to both your guests and your animals.
** An obvious example is blocking off the entrance/exit so your guests can't leave
** Your animals, especially the Dinosaurs in the complete collection, can be set free and will eat your guests [[EvilTastesGood Execution Style!]] Not only that, but one of the execution involve having a bathroom and your Dinosaur will [[Franchise/JurassicPark take off the top of the outhouse and eat the guest inside!]]

* Half the fun of ''VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram'' is screwing up, seeing the look on your poor kerbals' faces, and watching [[StuffBlowingUp Stuff Blow Up]].
* ''VideoGame/RapeLay'' is cruel for itself once it's a sex simulator where the character rapes, blackmails and kidnaps three women of the same family making them his sexual slaves.

* VideoGame/Rapelay is cruel for itself once it's a sex simulator where the nameless character rapes and blackmails three women of the same family.

* VideoGame/RapeLay is cruel for itself once it's a sex simulator where the nameless character rapes and blackmails three women of the same family.

* In the original ''{{Tropico}}'', the entire premise of the game is being a Dictator on a tropical island/Cuba Expy which can be anywhere from a Benevolent Dictatorship to one where you use the military to attempt to keep your poor peons in place with bad food, no real medicine, and so on. And of course various edicts you can slap down to see just how far you can push your poor citizens...

* In ''[=AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!!=] - ARecklessDisregardForGravity'' (a game which simulates BASE jumping from buildings suspended in air) the player can aim for, hit, ''and get bonus points off of'' seagulls. Attempting to do so to hovercars is not recommended.

** You can attempt an appendectomy or aortic aneurysm repair without turning on the anesthetic gas first. Cue blood-curdling electronic scream...
** Three words. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sczxk0IkcVY Life & Death]].
* Like the aforementioned ''Life & Death'' example, the ''TraumaCenter'' series lends itself to certain abuses. While you can't make your patients scream in agony, there are an awful lot of intentional mistakes you can stack up before they die, like cutting fluffy bunny shapes into their pancreas or stitching "THIS TROPER WUZ HERE" across their brain. In fact, the easiest way to restart a mission that you know you're going to fail is equip the scalpel and tap the stylus/A button rapidly, racking up massive vital losses and death in mere seconds. There's also the perennial favorite of half-removing shards of glass and stabbing them in again, or the more passive method of simply watching the viruses go. Add this to the fact that a lot of your patients are ''kids'' and you start questioning [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar whether the ESRB shouldn't have been a bit stricter with the rating]]...

** In ''California Games'', flying seagulls were also a target during the Foot Bag contest. Hitting one landed you 1000 points. (Not a whole lot, but still, you were rewarded with some points and a funny message.)

* The ''RollerCoasterTycoon'' games provide a tool which you can use to pick up your guests and put them anywhere in the park. Including dropping them into the water and drowning them. You can also deliberately build certain rides to crash in a horrible, firey explosion.

*** The third game removes the requirement of actually finishing a coaster you have built, so you can build a roller coaster that launches at 100 mph that points directly at a path full of guests. Unfortunately, the guest cannot die. It is quite entertaining to see them fly after being hit by a 300 lb. roller coaster car, though.

** Connect the exit of one nauseating ride [[TheHumanCentipede directly to the entrance of a second]], and vice versa (after plenty of people have gotten in line).

* ''VideoGame/TheSims'': Fits this trope to a T. The base game and its expansions[[hottip:*:notably, Night Life in Sims2 gave players a fire-spewing decoration that sets furniture on fire in the blink of an eye, and University brought out the human-gobbling plant]] allow you to lock your hapless Sims in a room and watch them starve to death, drown them in a pool because they can't get out without a ladder (''3'' allowed them to climb out on the sides, but if you cancel out the action that has them do this, they'll drown like normal), have them launch a firework in the first one indoors and burn the house down, refuse access to the bathroom, and much more! Oh, the internet was filled with all sorts of custom content that be used to sadistic means. Usable guns, seemingly harmless objects that can kill and/or torture in fun ways. For the original game, there was a object that would spread a plague throughout the neighborhood, killing all of your Sims!

** In ''SimAnimals'', you get to watch over all sorts of little critters and make sure that they are all happy and healthy. Or you could throw them into each other, dangle helpless squirrels next to hungry bears, drop them in water, starve them, and make it rain on them. If an animal is unhappy enough, they'll even attack your hand.

** ''SimCopter'' puts the player in control of an unwieldy helicopter with which you are expected to carry out various missions, many of which involve human cargo. Forcibly ejecting passengers from the aircraft at high altitude invokes a [[VideogameCrueltyPunishment minor penalty]] for injuring a civilian, silently cancels their original [[LamePun dropoff]] destination and creates a new medevac mission conveniently located nearby. Completing this new mission gives a reward exceeding the penalty, making it ''profitable'' to injure passengers with inconvenient destinations and instead deliver them to the nearest hospital. (It also stops captured criminals from escaping every time you land to make another pick up.)

--> Mr. Bones: "[[NightmareFuel The ride never ends]]."

* ''VideoGame/TheSims'': Fits this trope to a T. The base game and its expansions allow you to lock your hapless Sims in a room and watch them starve to death, drown them in a pool because they can't get out without a ladder (''3'' allowed them to climb out on the sides, but if you cancel out the action that has them do this, they'll drown like normal), have them launch a firework in the first one indoors and burn the house down, refuse access to the bathroom, and much more! Oh, the internet was filled with all sorts of custom content that be used to sadistic means. Usable guns, seemingly harmless objects that can kill and/or torture in fun ways. For the original game, there was a object that would spread a plague throughout the neighborhood, killing all of your Sims!

** BlackComedy is a part of the game. Two of the [[DeadBabyComedy most hilarious]] threads on the forum discuss inventions such as mermaid bone gathering ([[http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=25967.0 24 pages]] of "won't you just need a room with chained up mermaids that has 4/7 water and a door leading to the airdrowning room for the babies?") and "[[TheSpartanWay Dwarven Child Care]]" ([[http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=91093.0 25 pages worth]] of dwarven kids locked in and defending themselves from animals who go nuts from being stuffed in such small cells).

===> Mr. Bones: "[[NightmereFuel The ride never ends]]."