The Sims is a 2000 social simulation video game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. Designed by Will Wright, the game allows players to create and control virtual people called Sims, build and furnish homes, and manage the Sims' needs, relationships, careers, and household finances. Its open-ended gameplay has no fixed win condition.
Wright conceived the game after his work on the SimCity series. The project drew on architecture and design theory, including Christopher Alexander's A Pattern Language, and began as an architecture-oriented simulation before the development team shifted its focus toward the simulated people themselves. Seven expansion packs were released between 2000 and 2003.
The Sims received widespread critical acclaim and became a major commercial success. In 2002, Electronic Arts announced that it had surpassed Myst as the best-selling PC game at the time, with more than 6.3 million copies sold worldwide; by September 2004, combined sales of the game and its expansions had passed 41 million units. It won several Game of the Year awards and has been cited as one of the most influential video games of all time. It was followed by The Sims 2 (2004), The Sims 3 (2009), and The Sims 4 (2014). Electronic Arts re-released the game for modern Windows PCs in 2025 as The Sims Legacy Collection.
Gameplay The Sims is an artificial life game built around simulated characters who respond to needs, objects, and other Sims. Although Sims can act autonomously when free will is enabled, the player usually directs their actions, manages their household, and decides how they develop relationships, skills, careers, and homes. Because the game has no fixed win condition, it can be played indefinitely and has been described as more like a toy than a traditional game.
Sims are influenced by the player to interact with objects or other Sims. Sims may receive guests at their home lot, invited or not, from other playable lots, or from unhoused non-player character (NPC) Sims. If enabled in the game's options, Sims have a certain amount of free will, allowing them to autonomously interact with their world; however, the player can override most of these autonomous actions by canceling them in the action queue at the top of the screen. Unlike the simulated environments in games such as SimCity, SimEarth, or SimLife, Sims are not fully autonomous. They are unable to take certain actions without specific commands, such as paying bills, finding a job, exercising, and conceiving children. Sims communicate in a fictional language called Simlish, which is mostly composed of blowing raspberries and saying nonsense.
The player can make decisions about time spent in skill development, such as exercise, reading, creativity, and logic by adding activities to Sims' daily agenda. Daily needs such as hygiene and eating can and must also be scheduled. Although Sims can autonomously perform these actions, they may not prioritize them effectively and can suffer consequences for neglecting their own needs. In addition, Sims must maintain balanced budgets and usually supplement an income by obtaining a job. Sims may earn promotions by fulfilling skills and maintaining friendships with others for each level, which lead to new job titles, increased wages, and different work hours. Alternatively, Sims may create and sell various artwork and items at home.
Although there is no final objective, several failure states exist in The Sims. Sims can die if their needs are neglected or after accidents, and deaths are represented in-game by an urn or tombstone. Sims can also permanently leave a household after conflict, children can be sent to military school after prolonged poor grades, and neglected babies can be removed by a social care worker.
Building tools In Live mode, the player controls Sims directly, while Build and Buy modes pause time and allow the player to construct, renovate, and furnish lots. When the game begins, each family starts with 20,000 simoleons, regardless of its number of members. These funds can be used to purchase a small house or vacant lot on the neighborhood screen. After purchasing a lot, the player may construct or remodel a house in Build mode or purchase and move furniture in Buy mode. Architectural elements and furnishings follow a square-tile system in which items must be placed on tiles. Walls and fences extend along the edge of a tile and can follow the edge of the tile or cross it diagonally, but furniture items cannot be placed on either side of a crossed tile. The base game contains more than 150 items, including furniture and architectural elements.
The building system originated in the game's early design as an architecture simulator, in which the Sims existed mainly to evaluate houses. During development, the team decided that the Sims were more interesting than originally anticipated and expanded their role in the game. Players can purchase objects in eight broad categories: seating, surfaces, decorations, electronics, appliances, plumbing, lighting, and miscellaneous.
Development
The original inspiration for The Sims was Christopher Alexander's 1977 book on architecture and urban design, A Pattern Language. Game designer Will Wright was inspired by the book's focus on functionality in architecture, as Alexander based his design principles on structural usability rather than aesthetic values. Wright wanted to create a simulation game about enabling human behavior and interaction through design. Scott McCloud's 1993 book Understanding Comics became a big influence on the design of The Sims later on, as it advocates a certain type of "collaboration" between designer and consumer and outlines the value of abstraction for getting readers or players involved with a story.
Will Wright started working on The Sims after releasing SimAnt in 1991. It was during that same year that he lost his home during the Oakland firestorm of 1991, and he incorporated his experience of rebuilding his life into the game; however, the game's concept was very poorly received by a focus group, so Wright had difficulty getting the project off the ground. He managed to convince his company to let him work on the project (codenamed "Project X" at the time) in the background while developing SimCity 2000 and SimCopter. He was lent one programmer for the project, Jamie Doornbos, who went on to become the lead programmer for The Sims. During the first few years of the project, Wright and Doornbos were primarily developing an open-ended system of character behavior. As the project continued, Wright found that the social aspect of the game turned out to be highly engaging, and the team started to focus more on the characters of the game, such as by letting Sims visit one another's houses and by implementing long-term relationships.
Wright has mentioned playing Little Computer People and receiving valuable feedback on The Sims from several people involved with the game including its designer, Rich Gold. A demo of the game was presented at the 1999 Electronic Entertainment Expo. During a demonstration for the press, two female characters at an in-game wedding fell in love and kissed each other. After the event, the relationship mechanics were further modified so the character's sexual orientation was determined depending on the player's actions. The Sims uses a combination of 3D and 2D graphics techniques. The Sims themselves are rendered in 3D, whereas the house and all its objects are pre-rendered and displayed dimetrically. For the game's Japanese release, the game was renamed to SimPeople (シムピープル) to match the naming conventions of the other Sim games from Maxis.
Music The game music was composed by Jerry Martin, Marc Russo, Kirk R. Casey, and Dix Bruce, with additional participation from jazz pianist John R. Burr for the songs used in the game's Build Mode. The game disc contains 37 tracks, of which 15 were published in 2007 as an official soundtrack album. Most of the tracks contain no vocals, but some of them feature Simlish lyrics.
In later commentary, Alex Robert Ross of Vice highlighted the soundtrack's use of new age and jazz piano, particularly the Build Mode music.
Modding support The Sims is credited with opening modding to a new demographic by making the game accessible to "casual modders". The game was designed to make user-created content, also known as custom content, easy to add, and Wright stated that he wanted to put players in the design role. Maxis released modding tools for The Sims before the game itself, resulting in a suite of fan-created mods being available at launch.
Release Expansion packs The Sims had a total of seven expansion packs released during its original release cycle. Each expansion generally added new items, neighborhoods, characters, skins, and features.
Name Release date Description Livin' Large (known as Livin' It Up in Europe) Adds new unconventional characters, careers, items, and features for the home. House Party Gives players the ability and facilities to hold parties and gatherings in their Sims' homes. Drew Carey makes a cameo appearance in the game if the player's Sims hold a good enough party. Hot Date Adds new items, characters, and the ability for Sims to leave their homes and travel to new destinations. Adds new destination, "Downtown", composed of ten new lots. Introduces a revamped relationship system involving short- and long-term relationships. Adds ability to carry inventory and give gifts to other Sims. Vacation (known as On Holiday in the UK, Ireland, China, Portugal, and Scandinavia) Introduces a new destination called "Vacation Island" where Sims can take vacations with family members or with other Sims and marks the first time Sims can stay on lots away from home. Adds the ability to save the game while a Sim is on Vacation Island. Allows Sims to purchase or find souvenirs, stay at a hotel, or rent a tent/igloo. Unleashed Introduces pets into the game. Allows dogs and cats to be treated as Sims rather than objects. Introduces gardening and expands original ten-lot neighborhood to over forty lots, with the added ability to rezone these lots for residential or community use. Allows community lots to be modified to shops, cafes, and other commercial establishments. Superstar Allows Sims to become entertainment figures and includes representations of several famous personalities. Celebrities can make cameo appearances but cannot be controlled by the player. Adds new work and leisure items, and a new destination called "Studio Town", which functions as a workplace for celebrity Sims. Allows non-celebrity Sims to visit Studio Town for leisure. Makin' Magic Introduces magic to the game and allows Sims to cast spells, forge charms, and buy alchemical ingredients. Introduces the Magic Town lots, which house vendors of magical ingredients and items and a number of magic-related mini-games. Introduces baking and nectar-making. Adds additional residential lots in Magic Town.
Editions and compilations