La simulazione come addestramento Interfacce e sistemi di ricompensa nell’apparato ideologico dei management games

Management simulation games present themselves to players as neutral sandboxes for creativity and optimization. This article argues instead that they operate as power- ful ideological apparatuses. Drawing on the framework of procedural rhetoric, it examines how user interface (UI) architecture and reward-system design systema- tically train players to internalize and enact neoliberal or authoritarian logics. We argue that the UI functions as an ideological “dashboard” that filters the game’s re- ality: it privileges metrics such as profit and efficiency while obscuring human and environmental costs. In parallel, reward systems (e.g., progression and unlocks) create feedback loops that reinforce these behaviors, disguising ideological adhe- rence as “good management.” Through a comparative analysis of Cities: Skylines II (2023) (a paradigm of neoliberal optimization), Frostpunk 2 (2024) (a paradigm of the political management of crisis), and Suzerain (2020) (the proceduralization of authoritarian Realpolitik), the article shows that “playing well” in these systems is not an act of free choice, but a form of trained submission to a proceduralized ideology.