The Sims is a 2000 social simulation video game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. The game allows players to create and control virtual people, called "Sims", and manage their daily lives in a suburban setting. The game features open-ended gameplay where players can choose their own goals and objectives, and customize their Sims' appearance, personality, skills, relationships, and environment. A series of expansion packs were also released that add new content and features to the game, such as new careers, items, locations, and scenarios.
The game's development was led by Will Wright, and the game was a follow-up to Wright's earlier SimCity series. Wright was inspired to create the game by Christopher Alexander's 1977 book A Pattern Language, and Scott McCloud's 1993 book Understanding Comics later played a role in the game's design. Seven expansion packs were released from 2000 to 2003, each of which added new items, characters, skins, and features.
Upon release, The Sims garnered widespread critical acclaim and was described by Wright as being successful in attracting casual male and female gamers. The game is regarded as one of the most influential and greatest games of all time. It won several awards and placed 31st on Times list of "The 50 Best Video Games of All Time". The game has also been commercially successful, having sold more than 41 million copies worldwide across the original game and its expansions by 2004. Currently the Sims has sold a estimated 70 million copies worldwide making it one of the best-selling PC games of all time. Several sequels in The Sims series have been released —The Sims 2 in 2004, The Sims 3 in 2009, and The Sims 4 in 2014. The game was re-released on Steam and EA desktop in January 2025 to coincide with the 25th anniversary of The Sims series.
Gameplay
The structure of the game is an artificial life program that is agent-based. The presentation of the game's artificial intelligence is advanced, and the Sims will respond to outside conditions independently, although often the player's intervention is necessary to keep the Sims on the right track. The Sims technically has unlimited replay value, in that there is no way to truly win the game, and the player can play indefinitely. It has been described as more like a toy than a game.
Sims are influenced by the player to interact with objects or other Sims. Sims may receive guests at their home lot, invited or not, from other playable lots, or from unhoused non-player character (NPC) Sims. If enabled in the game's options, Sims have a certain amount of free will, allowing them to autonomously interact with their world; however, the player can override most of these autonomous actions by canceling them in the action queue at the top of the screen. Unlike the simulated environments in games such as SimCity, SimEarth, or SimLife, Sims are not fully autonomous. They are unable to take certain actions without specific commands, such as paying bills, finding a job, exercising, and conceiving children. Sims communicate in a fictional language called Simlish, which is mostly composed of blowing raspberries and saying nonsense. Players have a broad choice of objects that their respective Sims may purchase. Objects fall into one of eight broad categories: seating, surfaces, decorations, electronics, appliances, plumbing, lighting, and miscellaneous.
Development
The original inspiration for The Sims was Christopher Alexander's 1977 book on architecture and urban design, A Pattern Language. Game designer Will Wright was inspired by the book's focus on functionality in architecture, as Alexander based his design principles on structural usability rather than aesthetic values. Wright wanted to create a simulation game about enabling human behavior and interaction through design. Scott McCloud's 1993 book Understanding Comics became a big influence on the design of The Sims later on, as it advocates a certain type of "collaboration" between designer and consumer and outlines the value of abstraction for getting readers or players involved with a story.
Will Wright started working on The Sims after releasing SimAnt in 1991. however, the game's concept was very poorly received by a focus group, so Wright had difficulty getting the project off the ground. He managed to convince his company to let him work on the project (codenamed "Project X" at the time) in the background while developing SimCity 2000 and SimCopter. He was lent one programmer for the project, Jamie Doornbos, who went on to become the lead programmer for The Sims. During the first few years of the project, Wright and Doornbos were primarily developing an open-ended system of character behavior. As the project continued, Wright found that the social aspect of the game turned out to be highly engaging, and the team started to focus more on the characters of the game, such as by letting Sims visit one another's houses and by implementing long-term relationships. A demo of the game was presented at the 1999 Electronic Entertainment Expo. During a displaying in front of the press, two female characters at an in-game wedding fell in love and kissed each other. After the event, the relationship mechanics were further modified so the character's sexual orientation was determined depending on the player's actions. The Sims uses a combination of 3D and 2D graphics techniques. The Sims themselves are rendered in 3D, whereas the house and all its objects are pre-rendered and displayed diametrically. For the game's Japanese release, the game was renamed to SimPeople (シムピープル) to match the naming conventions of the other Sim games from Maxis.
Music
The game music was composed by Jerry Martin, Marc Russo, Kirk R. Casey, and Dix Bruce, with additional participation from jazz pianist John R. Burr for the songs used in the game's Build Mode. The game disc contains 37 tracks, of which 15 were published in 2007 as an official soundtrack album. Most of the tracks contain no vocals, but some of them feature Simlish lyrics.
In recent years, critics have praised and noted the game's use of new age and jazz music.
Modding scene
The Sims is credited with opening up modding to a new demographic, making it easy enough for "casual modders" to modify the game. The Sims was designed in a way that it would be easy to add user-created content (also known as custom content or "CC") to the game, with Will Wright stating in an interview that he wanted to put the player in the design role. Websites for downloading CCs and mods include The Sims Resource and Mod The Sims. Maxis released modding tools for The Sims before the game itself, resulting in a suite of fan-created mods being available at launch.
| Adds new unconventional characters, careers, items, and features for the home.
|-
| House Party
|
| Gives players the ability and facilities to hold parties and gatherings in their Sims' homes. Drew Carey makes a cameo appearance in the game if the player's Sims hold a good enough party.
|-
| Hot Date
|
| Adds new items, characters, and the ability for Sims to leave their homes and travel to new destinations. Adds new destination, "Downtown", composed of ten new lots. Introduces a revamped relationship system involving short- and long-term relationships. Adds ability to carry inventory and give gifts to other Sims.
|-
| Vacation (known as On Holiday in the UK, Ireland, China, Portugal, and Scandinavia)
|
| Introduces a new destination called "Vacation Island" where Sims can take vacations with family members or with other Sims and marks the first time Sims can stay on lots away from home. Adds the ability to save the game while a Sim is on Vacation Island. Allows Sims to purchase or find souvenirs, stay at a hotel, or rent a tent/igloo.
|-
| Unleashed
|
| Introduces pets into the game. Allows dogs and cats to be treated as Sims rather than objects. Introduces gardening and expands original ten-lot neighborhood to over forty lots, with the added ability to rezone these lots for residential or community use. Allows community lots to be modified to shops, cafes, and other commercial establishments.
|-
| Superstar
|
| Allows Sims to become entertainment figures and includes representations of several famous personalities. Celebrities can make cameo appearances but cannot be controlled by the player. Adds new work and leisure items, and a new destination called "Studio Town", which functions as a workplace for celebrity Sims. Allows non-celebrity Sims to visit Studio Town for leisure.
|-
| Makin' Magic
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| Introduces magic to the game and allows Sims to cast spells, forge charms, and buy alchemical ingredients. Introduces the Magic Town lots, which house vendors of magical ingredients and items and a number of magic-related mini-games. Introduces baking and nectar-making. Adds additional residential lots in Magic Town.
|}
Core game editions
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 100%;"
|-
! style="width: 25%;height:50px;" | Name
! style="width: 25%;" | Release date
! Includes
|-
| The Sims
|| Windows:<br /> Mac OS X:<br />July 18, 2000<br />Linux:<br />March 12, 2003
|| The first release of the core game on a single CD. 2001 international reissues came with an additional disc containing digital documentation.
|-
| The Sims Collector's Edition
|| Windows:<br />
|| The core game, The Sims: Livin' it Up and the 2001 documentation disc.
|-
| The Sims Party Pack
|| Windows:<br />
|| The core game, The Sims: House Party and the 2001 documentation disc.
|-
| The Sims Deluxe Edition
|| Windows:<br />
|| Contains an updated version of the core game, The Sims: Livin' Large, The Sims Creator and exclusive items and clothing on a two-disc installation. It can also be installed as an expansion for existing game owners.
|-
| The Sims Double Deluxe
|| Windows:<br />
|| The Sims: Deluxe Edition, The Sims: House Party, and a disc containing African and Asian-themed items and previously-downloadable items from the game's website.
|-
| The Sims Mega Deluxe
|| Windows:<br /> Mac OS X:<br />
|| The Sims Double Deluxe and The Sims: Hot Date. Known as The Sims Party Pack in Europe, and only released on Mac OS X.
|-
| The Sims Triple Deluxe
|| Windows:<br />
|| The Sims Double Deluxe and The Sims: On Holiday.
|-
| The Sims Full House
|| Windows:<br />
|| The core game, all seven expansions, a disc of digital documentation and an extra disc containing preview footage from The Sims 2 within a thirteen-disc boxset.
|-
| The Complete Collection of The Sims
|| Windows:<br />
|| The Sims Triple Deluxe, The Sims: Hot Date, The Sims: Unleashed, The Sims: Superstar and The Sims: Makin' Magic within a twelve-disc boxset.
|-
| The Sims Complete Collection
|| Windows:<br />
|| The core game, all seven expansions, The Sims Creator and bonus content from Deluxe Edition and Double Deluxe on a four-disc installation.
|-
| The Sims Legacy Collection
|| Windows:<br /> January 31, 2025
|| Re-release of Complete Collection, containing the core game, all seven expansions and bonus content from Deluxe Edition and Double Deluxe. Also includes The Sims 4: Throwback Fit Kit.
|}
Expansion-only compilations
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 100%;"
|-
! style="width: 23%;" | Collection Name || style="width: 13%;" | Windows<br/>release date || Volumes
|-
| The Sims Expansion Collection || March 15, 2005 || Volume One – The Sims: House Party and The Sims: Unleashed<br/>Volume Two – The Sims: Hot Date and The Sims: Makin' Magic<br/>Volume Three – The Sims: Vacation and The Sims: Superstar
|-
| The Sims Expansion Three-Pack || November 1, 2005 || Volume One – The Sims: House Party, The Sims: Unleashed, and The Sims: Superstar<br/>Volume Two – The Sims: Hot Date, The Sims: Vacation, and The Sims: Makin' Magic
|}
Reception
Critical reception
The Sims received "universal acclaim" according to review aggregator Metacritic, which assigned the game a score of 92%. IGN gave the game a score of 9.4/10, and praised its easy-to-use user interface. In 2012, the game was one of 14 video games selected by the Museum of Modern Art as the basis for an intended collection of 40 games. The PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube ports received scores ranging from 81.05% to 85.80% on GameRankings. Game Informer ranked it the 80th best game ever made in its 100th issue in 2001. In 2005, The Sims was inducted into GameSpots list of the greatest games of all time. In 2016, The Strong National Museum of Play inducted The Sims to its World Video Game Hall of Fame. In August 2016, The Sims placed 31st on Times "50 Best Video Games of All Time" list. In 2019, it was ranked 17th on The Guardians "50 Best Video Games of the 21st Century" list.
Sales
The Sims was released on February 4, 2000, and became a best-seller shortly after launch. It remained the country's No. 1 computer title in 2001, when it sold an additional 1.48 million units and earned another $60.4 million in revenue. In 2002, The Sims became the top-selling PC game in history at the time, displacing Myst by selling more than 6.3 million copies worldwide.
By September 2004, the game and its expansions had sold 41 million copies worldwide. Next Generation ranked The Sims as the 45th highest-selling game launched for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, or GameCube between January 2000 and July 2006 in the United States. When completing the game, Will Wright dedicated The Sims to the late Danielle Bunten Berry, an influential trans game designer known for her innovation and contributions to multiplayer gaming.
See also
- Simulated reality
- Simulation
Notes
References
Further reading
External links
- The Sims at MobyGames