The Sims

by Jessica

I bet old-school gaming to most people dates back to maybe Atari or the Nintendo 64, but for me, since I didn’t have any of the “classic” gaming systems, the oldest thing I ever played video games on was my PC. Back in the day, say, oh, 2005 or so, my older sister and I loved to play the very first Sims game. I could never take care of more than two Sims, so I thought my sister was a genius since she could watch over even a baby! The skill! She was also very good at typing “rosebud” really quickly…

We had the first Sims, as well as The Sims: Unleashed, where you could own cats and dogs. The only problem I had with that one was that you couldn’t control what your pets did; they were free to roam and do whatever. They never slept until the meter was so low that you thought they were going to die. This worried me. But what I did love about the second game was being able to go into town! It always had a jazzy vibe, and you could buy cool masks, candles, and pets, as well as food for your Sims.

So that was fun. I played those games for a good while but never really played Sims 2. I think I just got too paranoid that I couldn’t handle more than Bella and Mortimer at once. Therefore I was hesitant to play Sims 3 when my friend showed it to me. Could I do it? Would I kill them? The answer is yes...and yes. I mean, who hasn’t killed some of their Sims, am I right?

But the fact of the matter here is that I did borrow her game and upload The Sims 3, and I have spent way too much of my life playing it. I know I’ve gone too many days in a row playing it when I start dreaming in Sims. Does anyone else do that?

I realized that some of you might not know what The Sims is, so I’ll tell you. “Sims” stands for “simulations,” and in this case, the simulations are people. You, as the gamer, get to control what your Sims do, when and how, with whom they interact, etc. The main game (not the expansion packs) starts you off in a town called Sunset Valley, which is indeed sunny, that has a beach, central park, diner, library, two pools, gym, school, and more. So it’s mostly regular life in a city, and your Sims can have whatever kind of lifestyle you want them to.

In the beginning of the game, you create your Sim(s) and set their favorite things, outfits, character traits, and lifetime wishes. Throughout the game, you can fulfill your Sims’ wishes to earn them Lifetime Happiness Points, which you can exchange for really cool in-game rewards, like Bookshop Bargainer or Steel Bladder.

Their main lifetime wish, however, that you set at the beginning of the game is basically your end goal. You want to set up your Sim's life in order for him or her to be able to complete that goal. For instance, there are really funny goals, like Gold Digger, where your Sim wants to live to see the ghost of his or her spouse, or Heartbreaker, where your Sim wants to break the hearts of ten other Sims. And trust me, that is not an easy task. Sims develop relationships really quickly and need to mourn over their breakups, so if you choose this wish, your Sim will be sad a lot, and I just didn’t like when my Sim was sad. Therefore, she only broke five hearts.

In order to fulfill the more...normal wishes, such as Superstar Athlete or Perfect Mind, Perfect Body, you have to raise your Sim’s skills and get them a job. There are many professions in Sunset Valley (and other cities in other expansion packs), such as athlete, musician, doctor, criminal, journalist, and politician. For each job, Sims are required to have certain skills. For example, an athlete needs to be athletic...fancy that. A musician can learn the guitar, a doctor needs mechanical and logic skills, the criminal also needs athletic skill, and a journalist and politician need charisma.

One of my favorite skills to increase is the cooking skill because there are so many dishes to fix, from the really easy ones like mac and cheese and autumn salad to really difficult recipes like ambrosia and tri-tip steak. It’s really awesome to see your Sims cook stuff up, from the fridge to the counter to the oven. I think the graphics are incredible, and I am anxiously awaiting The Sims 4, out fall 2014.

Now, don’t think that you’re limited to only Sunset Valley in this first game. The eleven amazing expansion packs that accompany the main bundle include anything from University Life to Island Paradise to Pets to Supernatural. I’ve played Generations, Pets, Supernatural, World Adventures, and Seasons. My personal favorites are definitely Generations and Seasons because they make gameplay more realistic.

Generations provides more toys and costumes and opportunities for children, like driving and imaginary friends who can become real. Seasons allows the weather to not just be sunny all the time. Your Sims experience all four seasons; they can get sunburned in the summer, frozen in the winter, go trick-or-treating with children and teens in the fall, and go to the kissing booth at the spring festival! This one is my favorite, especially because it can rain, snow, hail, and thunderstorm! Your Sims now have to check the weather before they make plans to go out on dates or to the seasonal festivals. There are umbrellas for the rain, and you can make snowmen, snow angels, and igloos in the winter.

These games take you and your Sims on a lifetime of adventure, from a baby to a toddler to a teenager to a young adult to an adult to an elder. Each period of life forms who your Sim is going to be and where they are going as people. I personally get quite attached to my Sims and only want the best for them. I hate when they burn their food, fall on the treadmill, or when I accidentally electrocute someone when I tell him to fix the stereo when his mechanical level is far too low for him to do that. Luckily, the Grim Reaper decided he’d let him live because unlucky was one of his traits...Death would laugh at his misfortunes again and again.

Another cool thing about The Sims is the traits your Sims can have. My very first Sim that I ever made I very unoriginally modeled her after myself, except I made her a young adult so she could have a proper job. So I picked my favorite traits (I don’t remember for sure, but I think these are the ones she had): good sense of humor, bookworm, excitable, genius, and ambitious. Each trait helps a little bit throughout the game and allows you to do different things with your Sims depending on what traits they have.

There are definitely some funny traits too: technophobe, never nude, childish, neurotic (that one’s hilarious, even if it’s not supposed to be), hydrophobic, kleptomaniac, and slob. I generally like for my Sims to have positive traits or ones that help them, like workaholic (they’ll like working and can work more without getting stressed), neat (they’ll make their beds and clean up their dishes), or natural cook (they gain the cooking skill faster and make better dishes).

Overall, The Sims is an extremely fun experience, and every game you start is new and unique. Tragedies and opportunities strike your Sims when you least expect them. Fires catch on stoves, burglars come in the night, teenagers throw raging parties; you never know what’s going to happen...just like in real life. And I think that’s the reason I, like so many other players, love The Sims. It’s a simulation indeed, and every day is exciting and eventful. You get to escape into a world of possibilities and forget about real life for a little while, which is always the best part about video games. The Sims will always welcome you in their Simlish way: sulsul!