SIMoleons and Globalism: How The Sims Teaches us to be in Community.

World Building Wednesdays #5... Simoleons, Globalism, and The Sims.

Welcome to World Building Wednesdays! Every Wednesday we will publish a piece examining a fictional world based on our favorite books, games and more!

I don’t know if it’s because I have justice sensitivity, but I only want the best for my Sims. When I go through a small hyper-fixated burst of marathon playing Sims every 3 months, I’m striving for my Sims to thrive. Whenever I read on social media that someone is creating chaos in their Sims game, sometimes I laugh, but 100% of the time I do not relate. Why would you escape into an even more chaotic reality when you don’t have to? 

I am a fairly new player, but long-time spectator. In the early 2000s, my friends with older siblings would ask if I wanted to play The Sims (probably Sims 2). I was the oldest and my parents had no idea what the game was, so I had to sit at my friends’ houses, helping them create new families (sometimes of our elementary school crushes/enemies) and being in awe of this little world on a PC. One Christmas, my parents tried and bought me Sims 3, I believe, but our PC wasn’t powerful enough or we threw away the box with the instructions, or both (that was 20 years ago, the same length as January 2025).

For years, I didn’t think about the Sims at all. I went about my life, trying different jobs like PR, advertising, comedy, working retail (okay, it’s giving Get To Work expansion pack…). I thought in order to play, I would have to have a gaming computer (probably still should), until I met a gamer when I worked at the Apple Store. She told me she had a 5 year old original MacBook Air that was still going strong despite playing multiple games, including Sims 4. Big mistake to tell me this, because once I got my new Air with that sweet discount, I downloaded the base game immediately. 

The COVID-19 pandemic was well underway and Animal Crossing was taking up most of my time, but I wanted something more. I wanted more options of customization. I wanted more options for interior design, outfits, and jewelry. I wanted more control, to be honest. The pandemic was the first time I felt utterly and completely out of control.

From The Sims 4, For Rent Expansion Pack

The Sims gave me a place where I could make all the decisions of an entire world. It felt to me that the people in charge were making horrible decisions, and I needed to prove I could do it better.  I didn’t want to be God, by any means. I just wanted to create a place where everyone had a chance. Where diversity was currency, where you could avoid people you don’t like and have drama free parties with everyone you get along with. And whenever a pack went on sale and I felt like I wanted to expand the world, I’d snatch it up.

There’s a lot to learn from the Sims. When I say this to my friends, even the ones who are avid players, they laugh at me because they think I’m joking. But I’m not! One of the things I appreciate about the Sims 4 is how much of the real world they inject into the gameplay. And unlike a lot of games from the U.S., it brings in elements from around the world.

I read that the creator, Will Wright, created this now massive franchise as a satire of U.S. consumerism. You can see the 70s inspiration today in many of the current base game houses, especially in the world of Oasis Springs. Even though that was how the game started, in my opinion, it has morphed into a positive representation of globalism. Living in a world where DEIA is under attack, escaping to a virtual world that doesn’t care about race, class, gender, or orientation and celebrates different cultures is extremely refreshing. You don’t need an in-game passport or a certain amount of Simoleons (Sims’ currency) to travel to places that are based on Japan, Polynesia, Arizona, Southeast Asia, Mexico, Wyoming/Montana, Germany, Los Angeles, Seattle, Oxford, and so much more. You can cook and learn about different foods, some of which provide descriptions and their cultural and/or religious significance. There are different events and holidays, costumes and wedding traditions, as well.

I could go on and on, so for the next couple of weeks I will discuss what we can learn from how the Sims approach politics, health and wellness, fashion, LGBTQ+, disabilities, the environment, housing, education, even the occult! And that’s just in the game. I want to discuss how they approach the concept of community in a time where we are so divided and falling further and further into national isolationism.

I hope to inspire people to download the base game (which is free! Unfortunately the packs aren’t, but you can do a lot with community created mods and custom content (cc)) and explore community building through the world of Sims. And for those of you who are addicted to making pools with no ladders or creating celebrity death matches (these are real), I challenge you to explore a fantasy of a world where everyone benefits and reaches old age (unless they laugh themselves to death randomly).