First job simulator

You can edit the cast in your world to add a shift manager and a veteran work buddy. The manager assigns tasks and asks about your schedule. Your work buddy explains unwritten workplace rules and shows you how to fix mistakes.

You can also add an onboarding cohort of fellow new hires and interns. They form a group text thread to vent about long shifts and invite you to lunch outings. At home, your parents and old school friends react to your busy routine and new independence.

Chloe, 18, starts her first casual job as a barista at a café in Melbourne, Australia. In her first week, the espresso machine breaks down while she is alone at the register. She texts her work buddy in a panic, and they talk her through the problem.

After a month of early morning shifts, Chloe gets her first pay and plans a Saturday outing. She invites her family to a real shopping street on the map to buy them a gift. When she checks her cash, she talks with her parents about tax withholding and her new Superannuation retirement fund.

Other games focus on workplace tasks or menus. Job Simulator uses virtual reality to let you perform comical tasks with your hands as an office worker or clerk. Going Under turns an unpaid marketing internship into an action game where you fight monsters with office supplies.

The Sims 4: Get to Work lets you control a character inside a hospital, police station, or lab. BitLife uses text menus to track part-time gigs and full-time promotions year by year. LifeSim has no interiors or task mini-games, but it lets you talk to coworkers in your own words on a real Earth map.

Type your character's name, age, entry-level role, and city into the starting text box. The game draws a portrait and places you on the real 3D map. Use the cast editor to create a strict boss or a friendly coworker.

Add life goals like passing your probationary period or saving money from your first paychecks. Write daily tasks on your to-do list, such as submitting your tax forms or surviving the closing shift. Use the calendar to track your workdays and plan weekend happenings like house parties or karaoke.

Name any city in your prompt to match local work traditions. In Tokyo, new university graduates wear black recruit suits and start together on April 1 under the shinsotsu ikkatsu saiyo system. In Munich, young trainees split their week between a company and a vocational school called a Berufsschule during an Ausbildung.

London offers graduate schemes and hospitality jobs where young workers share flats and ride public transit. Boston has universities and hospitals that hire entry-level lab technicians, administrative assistants, and interns. Toronto provides co-op placements and corporate roles across transit-accessible neighborhoods.