I don’t know what to call it, but there has been a growing genre, and particularly a subgenre within that which I find intriguing.
The general genre is games which simulate an ordinary job, often in an extraordinary setting, involving customers. For example, games where the player must prepare meals for customers.
The general genre has gradually evolved into a subgenre.
Most of the earlier games of this type where impersonal. Generic customers would line up for service, and the focus of the game was exclusively on the mechanics of the service tasks.
But then games started putting a more social spin on the genre.
Socializing with the customers became an important part of the games. The customers took on more distinct personalities.
Service tasks were still usually a part of the gameplay as well, but now the gameplay was a hybrid.
Except it wasn’t like there wasn’t room for both the technical and social mechanics. They actually compliment each other nicely. In a way, they are two sides of the same coin, and the games which focused exclusively on the technical mechanics were blurring the social aspect.
The customer service genre in general, particularly when it emphasizes socialization, has become a fertile ground for the cozy aesthetic that is rising in popularity with this generation.
In such cases, the location where the player works becomes a welcoming refuge for customers to visit.
Since most of the player’s time is spent on the job site, whether or not that location is the player avatars home, it effectively feels like the players home.
When this cozy element is added to the mix, maybe a better term for this genre is “Hospitality games”. (Hospitality)
It’s important to highlight that a key ingredient to the hospitality genre is it almost always involves a small business.
The technically focused games in the genre tend to have a more corporate feel. Even when the player is working at a small restaurant, that restaurant is often a part of a chain. The player is simply an employee.
When the player owns the business, the business feels more personal, and makes the player feel more invested in the workspace. The player is inviting customers into the player’s workspace.