The top transport simulations: Even better than the real thing

Bus Simulator, £19.99

Bus Simulator 2008 was released in May to mixed reviews from gamers, who found it inferior to its rival title, Bus Driver. Combining driving and business simulation, it asks the budding bus mogul to run a bus company in the fictional Megacity. The object of the game is to build a good reputation by providing a punctual, fairly priced service to as many suburban passengers as possible. As your bus business takes off, you can purchase bigger, better buses, move onto the city centre patch, and even generate cashflow by renting advertising space on the sides of your vehicles. Mowing down pedestrians is, unsurprisingly, bad for business.

Flight Simulator, £29.99

The original and best of all simulator games is now more than 25 years old. Its latest incarnation, Microsoft Flight Simulator X, allows you to take off from more than 24,000 airports worldwide. New planes include the dehavilland DHC-2 Beaver floatplane and the AirCreations 582SL Ultralight, and players can take part in new missions including the Red Bull air race time trials and aid drops to African refugees.

Ship Simulator, £34.99

The new edition of Ship Simulator allows players to take the helm of the world’s biggest ships and sail them through light and heavy weather to well-known ports across the globe, inlcuding Rotterdam, San Francisco and Marseille. Among the ships in the showroom are tugboats, oil tankers, high-speed powerboats and the Titanic.

Rail Simulator, £25.99

Rail Simulator gives players the controls of steam, diesel and electric trains in two countries – one, Germany, where trains (and, indeed, all other things) are famed for their efficiency; and another, the UK, where they are not.

Glider Simulator, £19.99

Glider simulator allows you to take to the skies without even a virtual engine, perfectly recreating the two soaring techniques of true sailplane enthusiasts, known as thermalling and ridge lift. It also includes a competition element, should you wish to fly against your fellow glider club members.

Euro Truck Simulator, £29.99

The object of this newly released trucking game is to grow a trucking business by earning money on deliveries that will enable you to purchase a fleet of high-spec lorries and start working new trade routes across Europe, transporting everything from packaged food to petrol.