With Indiana Jones and the Great Circle now on PS5, let's crown it the friendliest immersive sim yet and a celebration of muddling through

When speaking to Indiana Jones and the Great Circle design director Jens Andersson last year, I wondered aloud whether his game might be an immersive sim. He bristled slightly at the suggestion, and I completely understand why. The term coined by Looking Glass, creators of System Shock and Thief, speaks of player-led possibilities - the freedom to approach dangerous scenarios your own way, and to define your own moral compass. But it’s also limiting. Invoking the imsim is a little like the ringing of a bell, conjuring all sorts of very specific yet arbitrary expectations, from hacking and turrets to an unbroken first-person perspective - the latter of which Indiana Jones doesn’t have.

“It’s like using the word Metroidvania,” Andersson said. “It means different things to different people.” So it would be counterproductive to label Indiana Jones and the Great Circle as an immersive sim, but rather, let's celebrate its unique take on the genre. This game is a masterclass in creating an experience that feels both challenging and forgiving.

The Great Circle makes it easier than ever to embrace the improvisation that fans of Dishonored and Dark Messiah have always loved - to bungle a stealth takedown and so find yourself hurling a spade into a man’s face, then shoving his fellow into a table, before desperately clambering onto a roof to dance between the rocks thrown by a growing crowd of Nazis. More often than not, you’ll react your way both into and out of trouble, and wind up with a new anecdote on the other side.

A procedurally generated scene that Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford might have come up with on the fly - just like the unexpected punchline that cuts short the sword fight in Raiders of the Lost Ark, conceived for the sake of a cast and crew overrun by dysentery. The first time you trip over yourself in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, you might reach for the most recent checkpoint. But not for long. Soon enough you’ll be joyously barrelling through the consequences of your inelegant actions, just to see whether you can land on your feet.

After all, there’s only one rule in Indiana Jones: the hat might get knocked off, trampled or heated to the point of almost bursting into flame. But so long as it can be dusted off and ends up back on our hero’s head, the day is won. This game is a love letter to George Lucas's hero, who embodies the spirit of resilience and determination that makes Indiana Jones and the Great Circle such a joy to play.