Now that The Sims 4 game is free for all to play, you may wonder what it’s like playing the game for many years, sometimes for hours a day. Our reporter Molly Monaghan started playing the game eight years ago when she was 12.
I can still remember the hours I spent hiding away in my computer cupboard playing the game, ignoring the outside world because, with this game, there were endless possibilities.
Fast forward to today, I am 20 and still buying expansion packs, although, now I pay for them rather than my mum.
Sims 4 is a life simulation game that allows you to create characters, get jobs, have families, and achieve ‘lifetime aspirations’. Extra gameplay opportunities can be added when you either buy ‘expansion packs’ or download ‘mods’ to the game.
For me, The Sims 4 is a break from reality, one which allows you to easily avoid mundane activities and create crazy, intense storylines.
Although The Sims is ultimately a game, I would consider it a form of self-care, specifically, during times when I feel like the real world is too much to handle. I suffer from anxiety and it can be hard to end up completing daily tasks or reaching deadlines. I use the game to take a moment out of everything that is stressing me out and to re-evaluate everything.
I believe other Sims players would agree that Sims could be used as a form of self-care due to a current trend on TikTok called “manifesting my life through the sims”. These posts often consist of video montages showing their Sim selves achieving personal goals and things they hope to achieve in real life.
One of my favourite things about the game is the community; the ongoing conversations, the opposing opinions, and the suggested mods to make your game better. It is what keeps the game current and fresh.
The community spans all social media, but specifically Twitter, YouTube, and Twitch. There is also a large community growing on TikTok, where people will upload 30 to 60-second sped-up videos showing their building skills or creating characters.
I enjoy the game so much that I have also created separate social media accounts where I will post my creations, mainly the Sims themselves. I usually upload these onto TikTok and sometimes stream myself on Twitch playing the game. I haven’t personally made online friends through these accounts, but it is very possible to do so with the amount of interaction online.
If I could change or adapt one thing about the game to make it more engaging, I would include more aspects of previous Sims games. For example, in The Sims 3, they had a design tool called ‘create a style’ which allowed you to create your own colours and patterns outside the base options. There were also more design choices, whether that was for your character or the house’s exterior and interior, which allowed you to be more creative with it.
However, in The Sims 4, they removed that element and replaced it with sliders (sliders allow you to adjust the sim’s facial and body structure in more detail) instead and limited colour swatches which can sometimes be hard to navigate especially if you are a new player.
Another aspect I wish to see would be more of the “lore” from the original Sims. Lore is important because it continues the background story for the overall game series. For example, “the goths” is a family that has existed since the beginning of the franchise and a large background plot has surrounded the mother of this family (Bella Goth) and her disappearance. I want to have this additional storytelling because it maximises gameplay without needing to modify the game to have different family structures.
The base game is free forever from the 18th of October, which I found out about via TikTok. I am incredibly excited for a new wave of ‘simmers.’ Although many people are upset at the fact they had to pay for the base game, I am not, as back then I did not know the game would ever be free. I have enjoyed the game thoroughly for years regardless of the price, and I am glad that now even more people can as well.
One thing I am not excited about is the constant updates as it breaks the game more each time rather than fixing it. I have had many issues with the update corrupting my game and losing progress along the way. I am hoping that they will focus on updates that will fix the game rather than break the game even further, now that they have opened the game to everyone.
I am incredibly excited for a new wave of ‘simmers’ to experience something that has shaped my adolescence as well as how it will continue to impact my life.