With all the stay-at-home orders taking place right now, our lives have been greatly affected. It feels as though we have lost control of our lives and the world around us. As such, many of us are unsure what to do with ourselves. I know, for me personally, I have been trying to destress through video games. Many people have also chosen this route since many video games are going on sale during this pandemic. One game that I have been playing a lot is The Sims 4 on PC.
I have had The Sims 4 on PC for a while now and it has been a favorite game for storytelling. I would create characters that I have in mind for stories I am writing to see what they might look like. My favorite part of the game is creating the homes (even though I am still not very good at that). While The Sims 4 is not an action-packed game that requires much focus, it is a calming game to kill some time.
COVID-19, as I stated earlier, has made us feel like we no longer have control. Yes, we have control over ourselves to stay home, if we can, and practice good hygiene, but our lives have been changed. With staying home most of the time, we are limited in our communication with other people. We also can’t do the things we used to, such as go to the gym. Since our lives have been turned upside-down, The Sims 4 give us a chance to make our lives *virtually* different. You can build your dream home, change your look, create your dream partner, or have a cool career. You could create your actual life, minus COVID-19, or make something up. I have even seen some people on YouTube forcing their Sims into quarantine too. With The Sims 4, the universe is the limit, especially since you can create an alien with one of the packs!
If you want to spend the money, you can buy packs to make the base game of The Sims 4 much more interesting. I recommend the following packs:
- Get to Work (Aliens, doctors, scientists, and cops)
- City Living (Apartments and brick walls)
- Cats and Dogs (Make a furry friend)
- Seasons (Play in whatever season you want)
- Island Living (Become a Merperson and live by the ocean)
- Discover University (Go back to Campus and ride your bike there)
- Get Famous (Become an actor and be famous)
- Realm of Magic (“Yer a wizard, Harry”)
- Vampires (Thirsty for blood)
- Dine Out (Go out to eat or own a restaurant)
- Spa Day (Do some yoga and chill)
- Parenthood (Teach your kids to wash their hands)
- Tiny Living (Cute decor for small quarters)
- Moschino (City windows and photography)
- Laundry Day (Do your wash *virtually*)
- Bowling Night (Go out and bowl)
- Backyard (Slip-and-Slides)
- Movie Hangout (Have a movie night with your Sim friends)
- Cool Kitchen (Make some ice cream)
If you can’t afford some of the packs, as only some are on sale at any given time, look at custom content and mods for the Sims 4. Custom Content is normally clothes or decor that are made by fans of the game that you can download and add to your gaming experience.
BE CAREFUL when doing this, as some may affect how your game works. Look for custom content on theSimsResource page. Their custom content is safe to download and is pretty cool. When looking for mods (which change the gameplay—look for stuff that is recommended by other Simmers), I recommend looking at YouTubers that play The Sims 4. They can take the risk of downloading the mods and let you know if it is good or not.
So, if you have nothing else to do and what to play a game that you can control, I highly recommend The Sims 4!