Desktop Simulators (games like Hypnospace Outlaw)

[TheFrugalGamer]

Hacking classic Uplink. I used to be obsessed with this game!

Yeah, this one reminds me of Hacknet, which is also a terminal-based game and one I've really enjoyed. Hack-mud seems to be similar but it's multiplayer. Orwell is a game about surveillance that takes place in a custom OS. Then there's a game called Kingsway, which is basically an RPG, but the interface is via a simulated desktop. I didn't ultimately enjoy it, but that's because I'm not always into RPGs.

[13BECC]

Hacking classic Uplink. I used to be obsessed with this game!

i've been meaning to play Uplink for a while now. I also got into HACKNET a little while back but never completed it.

[Leekleeks]

I love the idea of desktop sims, but I don't like how they've got like a bad/uneasy vibe to them.  I just played hypnospace this week, and I really enjoyed it! But I would rather a more wholesome approach to this genre.

[PainterFight]

The closest thing to a Desktop Simulator on itch.io is a game called Secret Little Haven, and apparently It's about a transgender woman logging onto the internet and seeing what the Sanctuary OS has to offer? That sounded wholesome! I'll probably play it when I have the money for it!

[YoungsterJ4y]

I recently finished Secret Little Haven, which is also similar to Emily Is Away. You log into the OS, chat with people, browse sites on the computer, play around with software on the PC (a tamagotchi clone, a Doll Maker etc.) and can write your own fanfiction in the word processor. The story also features some puzzles and passwords to figure out, and you learn to use the terminal of the OS. Takes about 5 hours to play.

God I LOVE Secret Little Haven, 10000/10 recommendation. Such a heartwarming and personal touch on gender identity in the beginnings of the digital age. I've played it quite a few times now, the climax still gives me chills. I love it so much. One of my favorite games ever.

[PainterFight]

Hey, I just talked about Secret Little Haven earlier. I didn't realize that game was discussed already.

[shevek]

Needy Streamer Overload is also in this «genre» though it functions more like a disturbing virtual care-taking/time management that just happens to be in a desktop environment. It's good, it feels like a fast-paced Tamagotchi, though I wouldn't recommend it to everyone as the subjects it covers are rather violent and off-putting. It's certainly not a game for all ages, ahah.

I've started playing this yesterday! I kind of love how messed up it is while being in this cute style. To me it has a similar vibe to Doki Doki Literature club in a specific way (though they are a bit different in their genre and DDLC isn't a Desktop sim).
Haven't yet hit the 30 days with a million followers, but got a lot of endings and achievements already.

[Dibs]

Not quite a desktop simulator, but Neurocracy 2.049 is told entirely through the medium of a futuristic, privatised Wikipedia. You can play it with a dedicated app which gives you access to a conspiracy board integration, or you can play it in your browser at omnipedia.app!

Nominally, your task is solving the assassination of the CEO of Zhupao, a technological monopoly which is responsible for the omnipresent neural implants of the year 2049. In actuality, there is so much more to unravel. I cannot recommend it enough.

[PurpleHello98]

I second whoever said Windows Flash parodies! I especially liked Windows Doors, LOL.

One of my favourite YouTubers made a desktop sim game ages ago called Histacom, where you had to save the Internet from being destroyed, but never finished it. I just remembered it after seeing this post and might finally try it out!