What are some mundane activities that would make good simulator games?
I’ve been dog sitting on and off these past few weeks, and also obsessing over the recent Densha De Go!! release, and during my time walking the dog (3 times a day morning, afternoon, night), I was really struggling to find balance between walk time (average 45 minutes) and getting back to work.
It made me think about Densha De Go!! and all the ways it monitors how you get your train to the next destination. A Densha De Go!! style dog walking sim would be the most ideal mundane simulator for me.
The idea would work around getting the ideal walk time in, while also not overshooting the time you need to get back home/to the office. But during this time, you have to plan a route, and find the best way to manage your dog’s direction on that route.
Things to be monitored would be:
- Time on the walk and how much over or under you are (unlike Densha, being under is still good).
- How far you strayed from the route.
- How much you let the dog stop to smell pretty much anything and see the signs of whether it’ll be “productive”.
- How many times you have to be firm with the dog (pull away from strangers/other dog walkers, if it’s a smaller dog, picking them up to put them back on the right path, etc).
The dog’s feelings would also be put into check. If you stop with your dog to maybe admire a spot they’re sniffing around, their affinity will go up. If you let them meet another dog on the trip, their affinity will go up. But if you’re too firm with them and avert their attention to stay on the walk too much, it’ll go down and you might risk a “Shut Down” where the dog will just stop and you have to convince them to keep going to avoid the risk of a “Walk Over.”
Your affinity with the dog will also determine how well the next walk might go.
EDIT: I forgot to mention “Leash Control.” It would kind of work like gears on Densha, only the gears would be how short and close or long and far you are away from your dog. This is important for smaller sidewalks and traffic. Shorter gives you more control but limits your dog and could risk lower affinity. Longer is faster, but if your dog is distracted at a certain point on the route, might slow you down more and risk overshooting your time.
BONUS EDIT: Here’s a photo of the dog I was taking care of, Amelia. She’s the best, but also stubborn in a weirdly human way.
