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Simulation

Life simulation

You run the everyday lives of one or more people: tending to their needs, their jobs and their relationships with other characters. There is no ending to reach; the challenge is keeping everyone well and seeing what stories emerge.

Also known as: social simulator, life sim, social simulation game

This is a basic entry: it has the definition and the classification. Full entries add history, games and a demo.

History

  1. 1985
    Origin

    Little Computer People (1985), for the Commodore 64, was one of the first commercially viable artificial life games: you typed requests to a character living in a virtual house.

    Life simulation game (Wikipedia)
  2. 2000

    The Sims refines the Little Computer People formula and becomes the genre's great success.

    Life simulation game (Wikipedia)
  3. 2001

    Animal Crossing, for the Nintendo 64, moves social simulation to a village inhabited by animals.

    Animal Crossing (video game) (Wikipedia)

Subgenres

  • Dating simYou talk, pick activities and manage your time to win the affection of one or more characters. The challenge is learning what matters to each of them and spending your days so as to reach the ending you want.
  • Virtual petYou look after a creature that lives on the screen: feeding it, cleaning up after it and playing with it so it doesn't fall ill or get sad. Its needs keep ticking with the clock even when you look away, so the challenge is checking back in time and watching it grow.