There are games with no spectacular explosions, no photorealistic vistas, and no mind-blowing storylines — and yet they stay with us for years. Games you launch “just for a moment”, and suddenly it’s three hours later. Or eight. The Sims series is exactly that kind of experience — a little therapeutic, a little creative, a little silly, but absolutely one of a kind.
My relationship with the series is a bit like a childhood friendship — we don’t always understand each other’s decisions (EA, I’m looking at you), we remember each other’s dumb moments, and even if we sometimes go years without talking, we always end up coming back. Every now and then, when the urge to play hits, I promise myself that “this time I’ll just install it, build a cozy little house to relax, and turn it off”. And of course it ends the way it always does — with dozens (or hundreds) of hours played and three generations of a new family that’s living better than I do, lol.
But before I get into why I really love The Sims, let’s take a quick look at how this wonderfully chaotic, now-iconic franchise came to be.
Where Did The Sims Come From? A Short History of a Not-So-Ordinary Series
The Sims was born in 2000, and its creator is Will Wright — a man who quite literally turned personal tragedy into success. In the early ’90s, Wright lost his home and all his belongings in a fire, and he spent years rebuilding his life. That’s when the idea struck him: what if he turned the experience of starting from scratch into a game?
Wright pitched the idea to Maxis executives, and… let’s just say the response wasn’t positive. But when Maxis was acquired by Electronic Arts in 1997, the idea finally got some traction. Even then, it sounded so bizarre that no one was sure it would work. Luckily, it worked so well that it’s now considered one of the most important franchises in gaming history.
What Makes The Sims Stand Out?
What makes The Sims different from everything else? Well. Let’s be honest — it’s a game that blends creativity with pure absurdity. You can build gorgeous, realistic houses… or you can delete the pool ladder and wait for the chaos to unfold (we all did it, don’t act like you didn’t). Even though the world is based on real life, it doesn’t pretend to be serious — it has its own funny language, a very specific sense of humor, and an aesthetic you can spot a mile away.
Most importantly, The Sims was ahead of its time, and that changed gaming history. It was one of the first true life simulators — basically a digital dollhouse giving players full creative freedom. And while a few similar games existed before 2000 (like Little Computer People), none offered this scale or depth. Long before “cozy gaming” became a trend, The Sims gave us exactly that from day one.
Why I Love The Sims: 10 Reasons Most Players Will Relate To
Limitless Creativity
The Sims series (especially in later installments) gives us total freedom to create and customize — both the characters we play and the homes they live in. It’s creative mode on full blast: you can be an interior designer, a landscape architect, or, in a way… a tiny god creating and overseeing our tiny digital people.
Zero Pressure
There’s no time limit, no score, no “game over”, even if everything goes terribly wrong. You play how you want, when you want. 10 minutes? Cool. 3 hours? Also cool. Want to build a career and raise a family? Great. Prefer to only build and decorate? Also valid.
The Chance to Live Lives We Don’t Have
The Sims lets you recreate your real life if you want (your family, your house, your quirks), but it also lets you go wild. Want to be an astronaut living in a minimalist loft with a cat named General Pancake the Third? Go for it. Want to role-play as a dad of five, making a living off gardening in a house on the edge of town? Easy.
Instant Mood Booster
From the Simlish language and the iconic animations, to absurd situations like alien abductions or being eaten by the Cowplant — the game has its own vibe. And it’s the kind of vibe that can lift your mood even on the worst day.
A Built-In Relaxation Mode
Beyond the humor and chaos, The Sims is also incredibly relaxing. Clicking around, building, placing decorations on shelves, planning outfits — all accompanied by that calming soundtrack. It’s something between ASMR and meditation.
A Unique Community
The Sims community is one of the most creative in gaming — builders, designers, storytellers, modders. Thanks to them, we have beautifully designed homes, custom characters, story scenarios, and thousands of mods that completely transform the game. And the community bonds extend outside the game too — countless fan pages, groups, and online hubs keep fans connected.
Unpredictability
You theoretically control everything… but only theoretically. Sims (especially in The Sims 4) have emotions, moods, and a bit of chaotic autonomy. Step away for a minute without pausing, and your Sim might start a fight, get into trouble, or fall in love with a stray dog. And I’m not even mentioning the fires…
Perfect for All Ages
The game is genuinely enjoyable whether you’re 5 or 105. It’s intuitive, easy to learn, and free from violence or inappropriate content — but still deep enough for adults to enjoy. I started playing shortly after the very first game came out in the early 2000s, back in elementary school, and here I am in my thirties… still playing, still enjoying.
Constant Growth
Over 25 years, we’ve got 4 main games and over 60 expansions, game packs, and spin-offs. The creators continue updating the series to match modern tech, standards, and player expectations — which keeps the game “fresh,” even though The Sims 4 is already 11 years after its premiere. And with so much content, everyone can find something for themselves.
Nostalgia
The Sims began in 2000 — the era of my childhood. As I mentioned before, I started playing in elementary school, and even though I’m now an adult who could technically have kids old enough to play it, I still return to it happily myself. And even though the series evolved, it kept that same unmistakable vibe — one that brings back childhood memories and that cozy, warm nostalgia.
Top 5 Best Sims Games & Expansions Ever (According to My Heart)
1. The Sims 3 — the queen no one has dethroned (yet)
The Sims 2 was revolutionary, The Sims 4 is sleek and modern and has the most content… but The Sims 3, released in 2009, is still the best and most polished in my opinion.
First — the open world. You could take your Sim to the park, the library, a friend’s house… without loading screens. And that created the feeling of a truly “living” city. Then the traits’ system: not just a cosmetic detail. Traits in TS3 actually shaped the behaviors of our Sims. Artistic Sims behaved like artists, and nerds like nerds. Combinations created unique personalities you could observe like birds in their natural habitat.
Visually, the game still looks surprisingly good, with detailed animations and a vibe nothing else has recreated. Also, many expansions remain fan favorites to this day… TS3 wasn’t just a game — it was an ecosystem. A slightly chaotic, often laggy ecosystem, but totally iconic.
2. The Sims Medieval — an experiment so good we still want a sequel
Everything here felt more structured and story-driven. You had a kingdom to run, quests to complete, characters with personalities, and even moral choices (yes, Sims could be wicked). The costumes, architecture, and music created a beautifully fairy-tale atmosphere, and the humor stayed delightfully “sim-like”, just with swords and chainmails.
It was a one-off title with no DLCs or follow-ups — which is a crime, because it deserved both. Fans still beg for Medieval 2, and honestly? I get it.
3. The Sims 4: Cottage Living — the DLC that gave TS4 a soul
“Cottage Living” gave The Sims 4 something the game desperately needed: a vibe. Soft, warm, cozy, pastoral.
Chickens, cows, llamas, the Finchwick fair, giant vegetables, cottage core architecture — it finally felt like life sim meets slow life fantasy. It turned sim houses into real homes. Yes, it had bugs and goofy moments — it’s TS4, after all — but the charm outweighed them a hundred times.
4. The Sims 2 + Seasons — innovation meets legend
The Sims 2 was already groundbreaking: full 3D, detailed customization, genetics, aging, memories, meaningful relationships. The emotional attachment many players felt to TS2 is unmatched — it had soul.
And then came Seasons, adding time, weather, rhythm, and atmosphere. Snow, summer storms, autumn leaves, winter holidays — it was the realism we’d been waiting for since Sims 1. This expansion changed the feel of the game forever.
5. The Sims 3: Pets — because who doesn’t love animals?
Even though the pet-focused expansion for The Sims 4 — Cats & Dogs — offers far more animal traits, customization options, and pet-related build/buy items, I still consider The Sims 3: Pets to be the best and most truly “complete” expansion dedicated to our four-legged companions.
In addition to dogs and cats, we could also become the happy owners of horses and a whole range of minor pets (lizards, rodents, snakes, birds etc.), as well as interact with many wild animals wandering around the open world. On top of that, this expansion let us actually play as the pets belonging to our household — performing different actions and exploring the world from their perspective.
And, most importantly, there were unicorns!
What’s Next: The Future of Sims and Life Sims
The life-sim landscape is finally getting interesting — The Sims is no longer the only queen at the ball. Recently we got inZOI, which looks like a genuine competitor to TS4 with more realistic characters and stunning creation tools. Paralives is set to launch in mid-2026 and might crush The Sims in the building department.
But EA/Maxis isn’t standing still either. This year alone we got three expansions: Businesses & Hobbies, Enchanted by Nature, and Adventure Awaits — and 2026 will almost certainly bring more.
Plus, since 2022 the studio has been working on the mysterious Project Rene — presumably The Sims 5 or a next-gen evolution of the franchise. Maybe the new competition will push EA to give us something “more”? The Sims experience we’ve been dreaming of?
In Conclusion — Why I Still Adore The Sims
So many years, so many expansions, so many changes — and I’m still soft for this series. Maybe it’s nostalgia. Maybe it’s the creativity. Maybe it’s the silly moments when a Sim tries cooking for the first time, burns the pancakes and half of the kitchen, and wanders around looking like a chimney sweep that make me feel oddly warm inside.
The Sims isn’t a perfect game; it’s not a realistic simulator, and it won’t blow you away with its visuals or the story. But it does let you build the life you wish you had, relax after a long day, feel nostalgic, and sometimes laugh until you cry. And that’s probably why I love it.
And if you’ve never played it? I’ll say this: You don’t know what stories live inside you… until you create a Sim and let them live.