A busman’s video game? Meet the people who play job sims of their own careers

From the ex-military air dispatcher who enjoys flight sims over Bournemouth to the train driver who copies his real-life routes, gamers explain the peculiar joy of playing at their jobs

The cliche about video games is that they're all about escapism. When people switch on a PlayStation or souped-up PC, they do it to lose themselves in a mythical world or intergalactic conflict. They do not come here to power wash a patio.

But increasingly, that orthodoxy is being tested. The surging success of the job simulator, in which players take on seemingly mundane real-world careers, shows that our relationship with games is a lot more complex. Type job sim" into the search window of PC digital games store Steam and a myriad of virtual employment opportunities open up. There are complex and accurate farming, beer brewing, bus driving, PC building, gas station managing and house selling sims, alongside the more recognisable flight and train options. And if you do want to jet wash a patio, there is PowerWash Simulator, which became such a viral hit on its release in July that it sold 3m copies within two months.