THE IMMERSIVE SIM CALCULATOR

First Person Action

Alternate-Solutions/Multiple-Paths that Includes One Combat Path and One Stealth Path for nearly every major point in the game

NPCs that you can have conversations with and/or buy things from

Multiple Choices that matter and change events that transpire in the game’s story, especially its ending

Skill Trees that you can use to construct a build that facilitates different approaches to how one handles each level. The Skill Trees will have branches for Combat, for Stealth, and something like Magic or Hacking. Instead of numbers that generally increase one’s level, a character upgrades through skill points instead

Physics based objects that you can use to change your methods each time you play, such as boxes that can be stacked, explosives that can be thrown and will explode on impact, knocking down enemies or walls/ceilings/floors, potentially providing a new route

Progress based around world interaction that requires either a Tool, or a skill that one must have upgraded far enough to be able to use. IE: A door can either be unlocked with a Lock Picking Device Leveled to Lvl. 4, Broken Down with a Strength Skill of 10, or Blown-Up with an Explosive Device

You play as a set character with a name you cannot (fully) choose who already has a backstory that NPCs will reference when speaking to you

XP does not come from grinding enemies, it comes from accomplishing a task/quest/objective

With the exception of very few, NPCs can be killed and the main story of the game will not ‘game over’ or make completion impossible

Inventory Tetris

Miscellaneous Food Items such as Sandwiches and Cookies lying around the map can be eaten to give health, or other stat boosts

Miscellaneous Scrap Items such as Copper Wiring and Steel Plates lying around the map can be used to craft things like ammo or armor

Looting Everything from dead bodies, to refrigerators, to bread boxes… if it can be a container, it can be searched/looted

Diplomacy and Persuasion are options in dialog that one can use with NPCs to accomplish objectives and even possibly avoid entire encounters

Exploring is rewarded with different routes, secret rooms, and hard to find items

Individual weapons can be upgraded in a skill tree system

Clothes provide bonuses, perhaps just to armor class, but also to one’s abilities. If not clothes, then ‘mods’ or ‘enhancements’ such as body modifications

Lore is explored through objects such as computer e-mails, audio diaries, voicemail messages, or notebooks

You use both of your hands, and the right is distinguished from the left for multiple reasons. For example: Your right hand holds a sword, and your left hand casts spells

A puzzle whose solution is ‘451’ or ‘0451’

Hacking/Lockpicking Mini-game

There is an NPC that is constantly talking to you in your head or on a radio almost the whole game, giving instructions or providing your objectives

You can manually save your game almost any time you want, with no attachments to save points, and no reliance on Auto-Saves

Dedicated Kick/Slide Attack Button

Enemies can be distracted by environmental sounds, like a rock hitting a wall or turning on/off a piece of technology

Distinction between Lethal and Non-Lethal Takedowns

Not First Person, or contains the option to not be in First Person (Cinematics, Photo Mode, or instances where one drives vehicles need not be included in this scoring)

Contains Survival Aspects of Eating Food, Drinking Water, and other attrition based gameplay

Sandbox without a tangible narrative as the centerpiece of the game’s progression

Exclusively combat moments such as boss fights and enemy waves frequently used as chokepoints for progression throughout the game

Meta-Progression such as offline resource accumulation, the death of the character being used for anything other than a ‘game over,’ or micro-transactions

The ability to practically indefinitely farm for XP

Exclusively Competitive Multiplayer, or Multiplayer only.

No Melee Weapon(s)

Enemies can have a significantly higher level than you

Puzzles can never bypassed

If the game is fairly open world, access to certain areas are blocked off entirely by the lack of having a certain item that can only be acquired later on, much like in the way a Metroidvania would do it. (This is exclusively for an open world scenario, not for Individual Levels. If the thing one needs to access an area is ‘knowledge’ or a specific story item that offers no gameplay value otherwise, then it should not be counted)