The Sims (PC, 2000)

After two decades of simulation games about cities, societies, theme parks, zoos, ancient civilizations, farming, and even ant colonies, you'd think The Sims would have come out much sooner than it actually did. It's amazing that it took so long to develop a simulation game that just about anyone would want to play: one in which you run other people's lives.

Work it baby!

I can't even describe the countless hours I spent on this game, designing sims that looked like me and my friends, building us all designer houses, accidentally setting our sim kitchens on fire, and feeling awkward whenever my best buddy went to go sit on the john. This is the ultimate "playing God" game as you have direct control over practically every aspect of your sims' lives.

Or you can choose no control. Sims aren't very motivated on their own.

You can start the game with a pre-existing family, or you can design your own. Obviously, everyone chooses the latter, because what fun is it playing with the pre-designed family? The selection of heads, hair, clothing, etc. is all pretty limited, but luckily a Sims Creator was eventually released which allowed you to make custom designs for your sims' appearance and decor. Designing skins for The Sims became an extremely popular hobby; a woman I once worked with actually purchased an entire Lord of the Rings household to play with. I myself enjoyed toying around with the Creator, my greatest achievement being a set of Resident Evil skins.

Design your own home.

Once you have a family, you move them into a lot: either an empty lot of land that you can build a house upon, or a pre-existing home that just needs to be furnished to make it your own. Once you move the family in, it's time to find a job so you can pay the bills. There are multiple career paths available, from law enforcement, to business, to even criminal. In addition to fulfilling your sims monetary needs, you also need to make sure their base needs are being covered: a kitchen full of food to feed them with, a comfortable bed to sleep in, a clean shower and a toilet that isn't broken. While Sims will generally take care of these physiological needs on their own, you may need to assist them once in awhile: for example, if your sim wants to use the bathroom, another sim seems to have no problem waltzing right in while they're in the middle of doing their "business" - you will often need to shoo sims out of the way on various occasions.

Chaos ensuing.

Of course, letting sims run amok is part of the fun of this game. Sims who possess zero cooking skill will often set the kitchen on fire, and if the firemen don't get there on time, they'll die. The Livin' Large expansion pack introduces the Grim Reaper, who will come to collect them. Sometimes sims will get into arguments, particularly when you have a total slob and a neat freak living in one house. It's fun to watch them get into fist fights. When you create sim versions of your friends, watching the mayhem that ensues has often spurred me to tell stories about the game to the real-life versions. It's fun times! Got someone you don't like in real life? Create a sim and let the aggression fly! "You stole my boyfriend, huh? How would you like to take a dip in my swimming pool? Oh, WHAT? The ladder mysteriously vanished?!?! Enjoy sleeping with the fishes, bitch!!"

Take away the ladder and there's no escape!

Ahem.

Okay, I'll be good.

There are some flaws in the game, which are resolved in the next two installments: basically things like non-existent weekends, the fact that sims don't age (aside from infants) and family links. I can't tell you how many times I put a male and a female sim in one household with the intention of them being brother and sister, only to find them making out a week later. Eww, come on guys!! 

Bobby Joe, stop looking at your sister like that!

Despite these flaws, with seven expansion packs to build off the game, The Sims provides hours and hours of entertainment. This game shattered the best-selling PC game record back in 2000, and it's easy to see why. Although you might find more value in the improvements made in the Sims 2 and 3, this is still a great game that most anyone can enjoy.  

The Sims is available on PC and Mac, as well as multiple consoles. As highly as I recommend the computer games, I can't say the same for the console ones - the gameplay as limited due to the space restrictions of console-based games. If you're interested in The Sims, it's available on Amazon new and used for varying prices.