The Sims franchise has been an incredible success since its release in the early 2000s and to this day there haven’t been any real competitors. Despite The Sims being truly one of a kind, the life simulation genre is alive and well. In The Sims, you can create your own character (known as a “Sim”), build a home for your Sim, interact with other Sims, and live out the life you want-the possibilities are endless. Players orchestrate the mundane daily activities of their Sims and their success is dependent upon the players’ decisions. While nothing can truly match the full Sims experience, here are just a few games we think you’ll enjoy if you like The Sims.
It’s also worth noting that you can play The Sims 4 for free, so if you’re just looking for the latest Sims game, that’s your best bet.
Stardew Valley
Stardew Valley comes first to mind since it hits all of the right notes in a life simulator game. Stardew Valley is a charming town with plenty to do but focuses primarily on enjoying your character’s life to the fullest by becoming a successful farmer in a pixelated countryside. Besides farming, there’s endless freedom in your day-to-day activities: building up the farm, decorating your home, woo’ing the resident characters, beating up monsters in the nearby caves, fishing, and so much more. This RPG has so many elements and secrets to keep yourself occupied. It even has an achievement system, so if you’re the type of player who enjoys completing everything there is to do in a game, this is for you. The developer, ConcernedApe, has constantly updated the game since its release so there’s always fresh content to explore with a thriving modding community as well to keep the game alive.
Stardew Valley creator Eric Baron has also revealed his next game to be Haunted Chocolatier, which should have a similar feel.
Developer: ConcernedApe Platforms: Windows PC
Cities: Skylines
Just like SimCity, this simulator focuses more on building a metropolis for your Sims to live in rather than controlling your Sims directly. However, Cities: Skylines is a newer game (released in 2015) and, like The Sims, has had a steady and ongoing stream of new DLC and base game updates. Even better, the modding community (PC exclusive) has continued to churn out amazing content, offering everything from custom assets for buildings and vehicles, gameplay adjustments to increase (or reduce!) realism in the simulation, and even bug fixes to improve performance. Players can engage in urban planning by controlling zoning, road placement, taxation, public services, and public transportation of an area. If building and designing is your thing, then this simulator is for you. It’s astonishing what you can build in this game; in fact, you can build replicas of real-life cities if you so desire. If you’re too overwhelmed with controlling Sims and would rather build a city from the ground-up, then this one is for you.
Rumor has it, Cities: Skylines 2 might be coming our way soon.
Developer: Colossal Order