One of the earliest tentpoles of PC gaming was the flight simulator genre, with the first acknowledged example, Sublogic FS1 for the Apple II and TSR-80 systems, debuting in 1979. Suddenly, millions of would-be pilots could satisfy their curiosity and desire to be free of terra firma just by turning on their computers. The early entries were extremely crude by today's standards, but realism was always at the core of the endeavors, and the seeds had been planted for a vibrant future.
As home computer technology quickly improved, and along with it the realism of control systems, the genre blossomed into one of the largest in the PC space. This growth peaked sometime in the 1990s, but it still thrives thanks to a few dedicated developers and a huge modding community. The focus of these entries is realism, of the highest order, in both the graphics and the aircrafts represented on screen. Both old and new simulators now dot the landscape, and with both combat and civil aviation represented, there is truly something to be found for every taste
Updated on November 7, 2021, by Jeff Drake: Flight games (or sims) are an interesting type of game. Unlike most games, where the challenge of the game is the focus, flight games are more about the experience. Many players enjoy flight games because they don't have stages or storylines. There are no boss fights, or spells to memorize, or inventory management - just the pure experience of soaring amongst the clouds in your own personal airplane. Nothing dulls this experience more than a flight game that doesn't immerse the player in a realistic environment; at that point, you might as well play Ace Combat or GTA (not that there's anything wrong with the Ace Combat series).
14 Rise Of Flight
Rise of Flight is a very realistic flight sim set during World War 1. As you can imagine, this isn't a game where you take your Cessna out for a leisurely flight. In Rise of Flight, you dogfight in the wooden planes of the early 20th Century.
This flight game boasts incredibly realistic graphics, real-world physics, and historically accurate plane models. Since there are no jets or modern ordnance, this game is not as flashy as most of the others on this list. However, this means you must rely more on your piloting skills to be successful.
13 War Thunder
Okay...okay...admittedly, this isn't the most realistic of flight games - at least when it comes to real-world physics. Yes, this game does have a slight arcade feel to it, and yes, this is more than just a flight sim (there are land and sea battles as well). It does look fantastic though, and there are numerous crafts to fly. The available planes in War Thunder span almost a century of technological development.
This game is perfect for those wanting to get into flight sims. For one, this game is free to download and play. Second, War Thunder looks and plays great. If you like it, then you can decide to upgrade to one of the other games on this list.
12 Prepar3D
This game is the opposite of War Thunder. This is less of a game and more of a sim. It's also one of the most visually realistic flight sims available. It was developed by Lockheed Martin using the Microsoft Flight Simulator ESP platform, so you know it's going to be extremely accurate.
Here's the problem with Prepar3D, its price tag. This is not a cheap game, and when you see how much it costs you might suffer from sticker shock. This is the Adobe Photoshop of flight sims - in terms of quality, and price.
11 ProFlightSimulator
In appearance and gameplay options, ProiFlightSimulator is very similar to Microsoft Flight Simulator in that it is much more of a sim than a true game. This sim is not as well-known as many of the titles on this list; however, it is able to deliver a realistic flying experience as well as any of the other games listed here.
ProFlightSimulator has over 100 aircraft to fly, over 20,000 real-world airports, impressive physics, and very realistic weather effects and terrain.
10 Microsoft Flight Simulator X (FSX)
Released in 2006, FSX would become the de facto standard-bearer in the realism category for almost 15 years. Despite the limitations of technology at the time, the flight models were top-notch and the world looked as realistic as it possibly could have. Major cities were modeled more completely, with the rest of the world being painted as just detailed texture maps, but that didn't stop players from breathlessly flying over their favorite parts of the globe.
The modding community stepped in very quickly and released hundreds of add-ons to keep the experience fresh and relevant over those 15 years. Flight mapping apps, realistic weather, flying challenges, and more were added over time. For those who don't have a strong enough PC to handle the newly released version of Microsoft's aviation opus, FSX is still a great option.
9 DCS World
The only way players will get closer to flying real combat jets is to join the military of their home countries. Digital Combat Simulator World has painstakingly modeled nearly 30 of the world's most famous combat planes of today and yesterday, along with missions and entire campaigns to use their might against.
With fully realized 3D cockpits and so much detail that even taking off is a huge accomplishment, DCS is not for the faint of heart. But for those willing to put in the work, and a lot of time watching YouTube tutorials, there is no more realistic combat flight sim anywhere in the digital world.
8 Battle of Britain 2: Wings of Victory
To many enthusiasts, dogfighting is the truest form of air combat, and for those who prefer their sims of the WW2 variety, none do it better than Wings of Victory. This is the most well-regarded simulation of the desperate air battle fought by the Royal Air Force against Germany's feared Luftwaffe. The prize was no less than the existence of Britain itself, as the air war was to have been a precursor to the German invasion of the home islands.
The game features spot-on simulation of the planes and the battles in which they fought. A dynamic campaign mode creates tense, ever-changing scenarios for players to fight through, all while telling the tale of what really happened in the skies over land and the English Channel. This one is not to be missed.
7 X-Plane 11
A challenger to Microsoft's civil aviation simulation hegemony, X-Plane debuted in 1995 and has been a staple of the genre ever since. The game has had its ups and downs like anything else, but the 11th version, which debuted in 2020, is the best one yet.
Features include 3D cockpits in all default planes, more than 30,000 real-world airports, and a collection of aircraft that ranges from jumbo jets to gliders. Until the release of the newest Microsoft Flight Simulator, X-Plane held the throne and still has legions of fans who swear by it.
6 AeroFly FS
Aerofly is a game that aims to be everything to everyone. Available for PC, mobile, and VR platforms, almost anyone on the planet can take this simulator for a spin.
The game possesses some of the most convincing terrain and cityscapes outside of Microsoft's newest iteration. With a catalog of airframes that ranges from jumbo jets to military craft and even a helicopter, this one will surprise gamers who may scoff at a mobile simulator.
5 Wings Over Flanders Fields
For virtual pilots who yearn for the days when air combat meant a clash between two pilots with only guns with which to win the day, this is the game to play.
Featuring one of the best dynamic campaign generators (which acts as a sort of Fighter Pilot Career Mode), players will progress through the whole of World War I on the Western Front. Amping up the realism, the game models morale, distance from home country, and fatigue when determining the skill of AI pilots. You'd better rest up.
4 FlyInside
A new-ish entry to the genre, FlyInside is designed for VR but works on desktop machines as well. Cockpit realism is the focus here, as players will be closer than ever to the buttons, dials, and displays that will keep them in the air.
The game has an innovative system to pull in scenery data from multiple sources, resulting in some excellent virtual-Earth scenes out there. FlyInside is innovative in a technical sense too, taking advantage of multi-threaded processors and even letting players create (and sell) their own add-ons for the simulator.
3 Falcon 4.0 BMS
Falcon 4.0 has one of the most tortured development stories in PC gaming history. With ownership of the game's developer changing hands multiple times through the 1990s, the game was eventually rushed to market ahead of Christmas in 1998. Predictably, it was a buggy mess, practically unplayable at times. The game's complexity, and its famously massive instruction manual, made it nigh impenetrable for those who could even get it working.
Beneath all the problems was a fantastically realistic flight engine for the F-16 Fighting Falcon jet, an incredible dynamic campaign based on a modern Korean War, and industry-leading graphics. A fortuitous source code leak in 2002 allowed the community to have a crack at making the game better, which many did. The best of those came from Benchmark Simulations, who have continued to improve the game through the years, leading to the widely acknowledged "true" version of the game today being Falcon 4.0 BMS.
2 Il-2 Sturmovik
One of the very few flight sims to focus on a Soviet or Russian airframe, IL-2 Sturmovik is nevertheless one of the best there is. Dating all the way back to 2006, the game is still one of the examples held up by the community for its realism and faithful representation of air and ground combat in World War 2.
The Sturmovik was a multi-role fighter, meaning it undertook air-interdiction and ground attack missions. The latter role is an emphasis in the game, something many sims have struggled with over the years. Sturmovik gets it right though, which is responsible for a lot of the respect it gets in the community, even all these many years later.
1 Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020)
The once and future king, Microsoft Flight Simulator once again undeniably rules the genre. Released more than 14 years after the last iteration (FSX) of the series, the 2020 version is a stunning accomplishment of realism. The flight models and airframes always looked like the real thing back then, and that's still the case today. But even the most ardent fans had to admit that the world they flew in was often flat and uninspiring.
Microsoft has flexed its considerable muscle this time around, leveraging the strength of its Azure artificial intelligence and Bing mapping capabilities to draw the majority of Earth in loving detail. Players can fly over the largest cities or the house they lived in during 3rd grade and expect to find everything just where it's supposed to be. Add in GPU-crushing graphical capabilities, more than 37,000 real-world airports, and a massive roster of planes, and Flight Simulator give air-heads everything they've ever thought they might want. All hail the king.