What In The World Is The Sims 4??
The Sims is a series of life simulation video games developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. The franchise has sold nearly 200 million copies worldwide, and it is one of the best-selling video game series of all time.
Above is the definition of What is the Sims? Now, like me tell you about it as a fan fanatic! The Game was introduced in 2000 after a very successful game called SimCity (1989).
The Sims started as a PC game and has since branched out to include console games. I personally play PC, or as I love to call it, the “Greatest Gaming Laptop of all time!” (YES!!!! we explicitly bought the gaming laptop to play the Sims 4)
Introduction
In an uncomprehensive explanation, it is a game about life. You, the player, create Sims (simulated people), and you place them in a pre-constructed house, or you can build and furnish them a home. You supply their basic needs and keep them happy as they live daily in this world you create for them. They can meet their true love, get married, have children, have grandchildren, become elders, and pass away after a long, fulfilling life.
OR you can make them miserable, their basic needs can be neglected, and their wife can cheat on them, and later divorce them and take the house, and lighting could strike, and your Sim is 6 feet under after the Grim reaper comes to take their sorry self away! You, the player, decide the fate of the Sims you control!
Play Style
There are so many play styles! My style tends to be “Happily ever after.” I love making my Sims very rich, giving them awesome things, and keeping all their needs met. I have played a “Rags to Riches” style also. That style is where your Sim starts with nothing on an empty lot and has to find or grow things to survive.
The object of the Game
The object of the Game is – there is not one! You, the player, decide what you what to accomplish. There are so many possibilities! You may want to focus on your Sims career, their family, or aspirations. It is open gameplay at its finest! This is another reason why I am so engrossed with the Game; I can play how I want to play. I can be set on goals or just have my Sim live out each day with no direction whatsoever.
Create a Sim
Some players make a million Sims. The feature for creating Sims is very detailed; people really get into it! The Sims are fully customizable. When you play on a PC, you also have the option to download custom content that can be used to bring more details to Sims or their houses. The player can customize every aspect of the Sim, from hairstyle right down to painted fingernails. Another fun feature is picking out their clothing! Yes! I love this part, and it seriously reminds me of playing Barbies.
Houses
Building houses in the Sims is an art! You really have to practice, practice, and practice some more! I am not good at this! I generally create boxes, and they look awful. Just like the Sims themselves, the houses are entirely customizable. The range is from room shape to gardens, down to foundation colors. I prefer to download my houses from the Gallery.
The Gallery
The Gallery is where people can share Sims or houses they have created. Each item has a downloads counter, and it is very rewarding to see your creations being downloaded by other players. There are some incredible creators on the Gallery that are very popular. It is definitely an online community where players who love the Sims can share all of their creations.
Online Community
Speaking of community, Facebook is flooded with player groups dedicated strictly to the Game. Facebook is not the only source of social media where the Sims is shared; it is across all platforms. There are numerous blogs about the Game as well. Players love to share their experiences, ask questions and chat with like-minded people.
The first Facebook group for simmers, that I still belong to, is SimWatch. This group started as a Yahoo email group when the Game was first introduced. It does not have the traffic as of the more prominent groups, but I have made forever friends from this group and enjoy posting there.
YouTube is also a happening format for the Sims. Creators take a Game video that tells about gameplay, helpful tips, or tells a story. The community on YouTube is extensive! I do have a favorite creator! Her name is lilsimsie (online) Kayla in RL. You can follow the YouTube channel here.
Story Telling
The Sims game has a feature that takes screenshots in-game. This feature has led people to create stories of the lives of their Sims. As the Game plays, the player takes screenshots and then writes a story to accompany the pictures. The screenshots and stories are then uploaded to social media or blogs. I personally LOVE this feature. I have not created one myself, but I follow several stories.
My favorite right now is Sim Life Chronicles.
The story follows the life of Hannah McCoy and is full of drama! The story starts as Ms. Hannah looks for love in every loser in the Game! Will she finally find her true love? I have read this story from the beginning and always watch for new posts on Facebook or the blog.
Expansions, Game Packs, Stuff Packs, and Kits
Electronic Arts creates new content regularly. This content comes in the form of expansions, game packs, stuff packs, and kits. Each addition brings new gameplay or objects or create-a-sim items to the Game. The packs have kept the Game going for over 20 years.
Worlds
New packs bring new worlds for players to place the Sims houses in and explore. They are all different; one world is set in the country, another is downtown city life, as well as an Asian-inspired world with many others not named here for a total of 19 at this time of writing. Other types of lots consist of a Sim world like bars and restaurants, downtown areas, and woods and snowy trails to go skiing on.
Conclusion
I have enjoyed this Game from the start! It is really a part of my life. As for me, this Game helps tremendously regarding my mental health. I can become entirely involved with it, and my mind is removed from worry and anxiety. I have heard other people say that the Games help with their mental illnesses as well. This is just a brief introduction to say what the Game is about. I plan to cover it in depth, focusing on my Sims and their stories.
A huge Thank you to my Forever Friend Ms Tracey for helping me edit this post!
