Since its release in 2000, The Sims have sold over 150 million copies. This includes three generations of the game with numerous expansions and custom content created for each iteration. In spite of its success, it's not hard to wonder why a game about living just as we do in our daily lives has become so popular? Why do we spend our time off of work or school just to make our virtual selves do the same activities? Certainly we have more imaginative desires than this. As someone who owns each version and has logged more hours than I wish to count, I often find myself wondering why I am so drawn into this world. There are some aspects that differ from reality, such as vampires, aliens and fairies, but our sims are also made to do mundane chores and work a 9-5 job. So, what keeps us playing this game? By using Freud's ideas of psychoanalysis, I believe we can come close to answering this question.
PsychologyToday considers the factors that went into making the game and how they have influenced its popularity, while Gamesradar has listed "10 Reasons the Sims' World is Better Than the Real World." Reddit users also consider the factors in the Sims' gameplay that make it appealing. What they all appear to have in common, is that you have control. Some of the examples from Gamesradar are that there is a 0% unemployment rate, artists can easily become rich, your sim can easily gain money, and that you can easily alter your appearance. Not so easy in reality, right? PsychologyToday adds that you can design your dream home or you can remodel your current home.
Some of the Reddit users have suggested more questionable ideas of fun, but what all of these sources demonstrate are the many options available. Freud suggests that our unconscious desires are represented in our dreams, because we are unable to act them out in society due to learned social constructs. However, The Sims bridges this gap. It makes doing unthinkable things totally acceptable. If you want to send your sim to go swimming and then take out the ladder and let it die, you can. If you want to humiliate another sim with no real recourse, you can. In The Sims 3, you can "woo-hoo" in a treehouse if you really want. These are all representations of some of the things Freud says we must repress, but this game lets you act them out in what feels like real life, except, of course, that you have total control over what happens. This is the other important part which makes the Sims so addictive and interesting. You can, essentially, become a god. This resolves some of the feelings Freud talks about in the Oedipus complex. He says we feel a loss of power and privilege. Well, The Sims gives us all the power we could want and the ultimate privileges. Sure, you can work for your money and be honest. But as Gamesradar suggests, theres nothing saying we can even get a job in reality, let alone the one we want. In the game you can become any profession, including making money as an artist. And, yes, still have money left over for food. You can also go the darker route and use cheat codes to gain as much money as you want and build the ultimate mansion. The point is, you have total control. Even though these things exist in reality, you likely don't have access to them. Even still, if you choose to make your sim a representation of yourself, as PsychologyToday suggests most people do, you can do everything you can in reality. You do not have to choose between them. So, we keep playing The Sims because it lets us act on our unconscious desires without being judged or coming up short on money. And most importantly, it gives us control over them.
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