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The Sims
The Sims lets players build a household, shape each Sim's personality, and guide everyday needs, work, friendships, and home life without a fixed ending.
Game Overview
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The Sims turns a suburban lot into an open-ended life simulation. Create one or more Sims, choose personality points, move them into a house, and decide what daily life should look like. The game does not give the household a final victory screen. Instead, progress comes from keeping needs under control, earning money, improving a home, building skills, finding work, and watching relationships change through ordinary routines and unexpected accidents.
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The three main modes divide the work clearly. Live Mode runs the household clock and lets players direct actions. Build Mode changes walls, doors, windows, roofs, and landscaping. Buy Mode spends household funds on beds, appliances, entertainment, lighting, and objects that affect comfort or skill development. Sims can cook, clean, study, socialize, argue, fall in love, and pursue careers while their needs move in different directions.
A first household is easier to manage when the house is small and the budget covers essentials before decoration. Buy a bed, toilet, refrigerator, shower, and a simple way to have fun, then watch how each object changes a need. Pause before construction or large purchases, and use the personality screen to make a Sim whose strengths match the routine you want to play.
This page covers Maxis and EA's original 2000 base game, not The Sims 2, a later Deluxe or Complete Collection package, or the 2025 Legacy Collection re-release with bundled expansions and modern compatibility changes.
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