I'm honestly surprised how accurate some simulators can be. Not saying you could make a career choice based on how well you do one but you can for sure learn some basics in things like Power Washing Simulator, Euro Truck Simulator, Lawn Mower Simulator, most farming sims, and yes the PC building sim is not bad. I think I remember watching Linus Tech Tips play it and he was pretty impressed. Not 100% but good enough to get the idea.

Goat Simulator can teach how to be a goat and I love that lol (that was a joke but you get the point)

Edit: not necessarily a sim but there is a gun disassembly game I played once and that taught me a lot about stripping and field stripping weapons. I've forgotten most of it but enough to know the basics.

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...yes and no.

Very often, they're a stripped down, more easily accessible and playable version of a given hobby, even if they're very information accurate. Invariably they're like LEGO for the chosen hobby. You're not getting the hands on information or the nitty gritty, but it gives you a basic idea of how things work compared to someone clueless.

Like, I'd rather have someone who has never played a Car Mechanic simulator and never done the job take an hour with YouTube to do my brakes, than have someone with 100 hours on Car Mechanic simulator do them from memory.

They tend to be skewed to focus on the elements of a hobby that are easier or more interesting to simulate, rather than the actual problem points you're likely to run into. I would only ever consider them supplemental to actual instructional materials, like written guides, classes, and video tutorials.

A lot of simulator games are also much more focused on simulating the business side of an activity, the buying and selling of parts, setting prices, interacting with customers. They're more like Lemonade Stand clones, basically. That said, Kerbal Space Program is a great tool for making the basic mechanics of spaceflight more intuitive.

But if you were to choose between the unskilled person with 100 hours in the Sim game who has access to YouTube, and compare that person to another unskilled person who never touched the sim, would you choose the person who used the sim?

I'd choose a thousand other factors first, to be honest. Like, if I were giving it a weighing score, the willingness to watch the YouTube video would be a +100 and the sim knowledge would be a +0.5-+1 at best.

I've played fucking thousands of hours of Call of Duty and I'm under no delusion that said experience means a god damned thing in anything remotely comparable.

PC Building Sim is really not a great way to learn. You are better off watching a few YT Videos. The Game obviously removes all the annoying clunky parts.

I'd pick whichever guy included the make, model, and year in his Google/ YouTube search.

In the case of PC Building Simulator, it does gives you a fairly good grasp of PC building, as well as basic level troubleshooting. Good for beginner imo.

After gran turismo, my ability to take turns is 10/10.

I'd choose the cheap one of the two.

If I had to choose between these 2 morons? Neither.

Cod is not a simulation, nor is it trying to be. I understand where you’re coming from, but it’s like you’re comparing driver’s ed software to need for speed. Obviously the program that helps you learn to do a thing is going to be more helpful than a pure entertainment product that makes no attempt at accuracy.

Agreed. You get the hang of it from most sims and it works as a "logical roadmap" but not as a step-by-step guide.

Car mechanic simulator is extremely realistic when it comes to removing and reinstalling parts in the correct order. However, being a mechanic is much more than replacing parts. It involves troubleshooting a problem. Depending on the problem this requires the use of specialized tools and equipment, which means knowing how to use that tool or equipment. You need to be able to identify a part that may not have completely failed, but may be just at the edge of a usable tolerance. Knowing what tool to use far a specific scenario is important. When you are working on a vehicle you need to know how to overcome challenges like removing damaged hardware, rusted parts, etc.

I work on my cars and the car mechanic simulator is pretty good. Nothing beats real world practice and watching videos on your specific car but the game does a good job of listing what the parts are called. You could definitely learn a good bit about the basics of what makes up a car and even how some pieces have to come off in specific order.