29 March 2024

Life simulation

The Sims is the most popular life simulation game and one of the best-selling video games of all time. Like SimCity (which was also created by Will Wright), in The Sims, players control the individual aspects of artificial life. Simulations may allow players to manipulate a character’s genetics or their ecosystem. Even the character’s reaction to a certain situation may be under the player’s control.

Virtual pet games like Nintendogs and Tamagotchi are considered part of the subgenre of this category as pet-raising simulations. Thus, The Sims is considered a social simulation. Both types of subgenres fall into the life simulation category.