Mind you, doing things you could do in real life might actually be a major part of the appeal.

Sure, in real life I could grow quality potatoes or power wash a house or drive a truck to a city that's 400 kilometers away. And I'd get a little bit of dopamine from a job well done – after hours, days, or even months of work. Plus what's needed to acquire the tools/land/licence necessary to do it in the first place.

Or I play Euro Wash Farm Valley Simulator 2026 and finish the job within half an hour of gameplay that's just challenging enough for me to feel that I actually did something. While possibly interacting with a cast of charming and/or interesting people along the way.

There's a reason why job simulators are such a popular genre. They take the interesting bits from a job, drop the tedious parts, and greatly accelerate the whole affair. They're like working in real life but better.

Except Desert Bus, of course. That one very deliberately isn't.