It was the year 2000. We survived Y2K and sat at our computers obsessed with a strange new game called The Sims. It was the first game I ever played where the protagonist could be late to work, forget to take out the garbage, or be so preoccupied by the doldrums of life that they might pee themselves. 

I, alongside millions, was hooked and could not articulate why.

Born from the mind of Will Wright—the same designer who bucked the industry’s penchant for arcade games for world simulators like SimCity—The Sims is almost as hard to define now as it was then. Is it a virtual dollhouse? A simulacrum of suburban life? A neighborhood of tamagotchis with jobs? An HGTV home improvement show crossed with Real Housewives?

By design, whatever you call The Sims may reflect on you more than it. From its earliest days, The Sims universe has attempted to be anything but prescriptive—right down to its progressive view on relationships without labels or gender expectations. Twenty-five years later, the franchise, now owned by EA, has amassed half a billion players. The Sims 4 came out over a decade ago at this point, but after it became free-to-play in 2022, its popularity ballooned to reach 85 million players, and it’s released 17 expansions that allow people to do everything from arguing over family inheritance to convening a court of vampires.

For the 25th anniversary, I sat down with two creatives that have been with the franchise since the original game to discuss their core design approach of The Sims, what’s kept players obsessed, and why fewer of these little characters are peeing themselves these days.

The Sims may have a quiet premise—create a character and their home, choose a profession, and socialize with neighbors—but nothing about the presentation from there is literal. Through every bit of its art, design, and animation, the world balances the mundane with the zany. That not only brings an element of fun to The Sims; it expands what’s plausible at any moment.

“We definitely talk more about being relatable than realistic, which means that we do lean more dramatic in our acting and our animation,” says Lyndsay Pearson, VP of franchise creative for The Sims. “That’s partially because of the way you play the game: You’re........

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