Another, but distinct type of resource management and decision making genre, Episodic Sims differ from Real Time Strategy Sims in that they are ‘turn based’. An episode of action and events will occur and then the player is given their ‘turn’ to make a response. Typically, the player will have unlimited time in which to consider and formulate a response. Events in the 3D Simulation will not progress while the player deliberates. The player can then deploy resources, specify actions etc before ‘pulling the lever’ to submit the chosen actions. The simulation assimilates these actions, calculates the consequences and modifies the scenario in response.
This is a popular format when the scenarios under observation are long-term or where a task involves interpreting data over time. An example is for business simulations where players are given resources, asked to make decisions, submit their answer to run the simulation and see the consequences of their decisions. There is usually a system engine or model running in the background.
