By Jenny Tran
Coming across a dead cat isn’t particularly the greatest sight upon coming home. And neither is realizing that your house is actually on fire and you just happened to be standing in the licking flames. And your neighbor who happened to be walking by is now standing there screaming at you instead of trying to help you.
In real life, this wouldn’t be an ideal scenario. But if you look up and find a floating green diamond above your head, you’re most likely just in a “Sims” game.
However, a similar and actual situation happened to creator Will Wright that sparked the idea of the game. After his house had burnt down in 1991, he started to contemplate humanity’s dependence on material things and whether happiness can be bought. Maxis, his company, released “SimCity” in 1989 and later built upon the concept to release the first “Sims” game in 2000.
Maxis has continuously added to the game—upping its quality and expanding on its realism to release new versions of The Sims. The most previous one is “The Sims 4”, which has been the most best-selling one yet. After a few decades, “The Sims” has become one of the best-selling PC games of all time, with tens of millions of active players. But what is it about the game that has captivated so many?
“The Sims” has always been based on one simple concept that we all know so well: life. It brings together the mundanities of everyday living and transforms it into an open world for the player’s inspection. While reality will always have its boundaries, the lives of Sims are akin to an endless canvas.
Especially for those who feel stuck in life, “The Sims” offers a rewarding escapism that surpasses such limits by miles. Players are able to exercise their creative freedom and craft their stories in harmless and entertaining ways.
From starting a new game, you are immediately able to create your Sims to your liking. Especially with the newer versions, the customization options are vast, allowing you to choose their appearances, traits, ambitions, and even their favorite meal or the way they walk. You don’t even have to put yourself in the game. If you feel the need to live as an old grandpa or a green alien look-alike, you can.
Maybe you don’t want to wreak absolute havoc on your Sim, but instead, want them to live a peaceful life in the suburbs with their alive cat. Or, maybe you want them to fulfill their life-long aspiration of climbing the ranks as a firefighter and also devote themselves to building a relationship with their neighbor.
All of this and more can be achieved through “The Sims.” With being able to hand-pick almost all of your Sims’ choices—from aspirations to careers to relationships, to even what they eat for breakfast—players are given a sense of freedom. If they wish, players can even purchase additional expansion packs, which are tailored to specific areas of the game, to enhance their experience.
From when they wake up to when they sleep, the scrutiny gives you the closure of utmost control. As a matter of fact, you can even just choose to not make your Sims sleep at all and have them live out endless days as a vampire. The game quite literally delivers all the power to the palm of your hand.
People, however, might concern themselves with just how addicting “The Sims” can become. Like with all video games, players have to make sure to not pass boundaries and become too obsessed with an artificial life.
And it’s true—in the end, “The Sims” is and will always be a game. Despite the gratification that “The Sims” can bring, it is always better to step back from the computer and face the realities that life brings you.
But, if you can shatter the limits in a video game, who’s to say that you can’t do it in real life? Your Sims didn’t live their lives to the fullest alone—you helped them. The exact same applies to your life too.
At the right times when life gets too tough to cope, the Sims will always be there to welcome you with endlessly long arms. And, maybe you can’t revive your dead cat. But, with the Sims promising you much more than nine lives, you can always end up just becoming the cat.
