Have you ever played a life simulation game before? Well, let me tell you that you’re in for a ride with The Sims 4: my ultimate favorite life simulation game.
For those of you who don’t know about The Sims 4, this game series has been running ever since the year 2000 with the beginning title of The Sims. It was developed by Maxis video game developer and published by Electronic Arts company. You delve into a fictional world where you can create your own “sim”—which is highly customizable—and have your household, beginning with some funds and a starter house so you can take care of your sim and lead your sim into a good, working future.
But, that’s not all. The Sims 4 is a perfect way to spike your interest in architecture, landscape, or interior design careers with the game’s “Build Mode” tool.
In “Build Mode,” there are various sections for you to explore, such as the building of your sim’s house, the landscape, and the furniture or decorations for the interior of the house.
In the part for building your sim’s house, you can choose whether to build new walls, create beautiful gardens or add stairs, gates, columns, doors, windows, and rooftops where you want them. Be careful! You want to make your house suitable for your sim to live, just like any house for any person in the real world. If you put things in the middle of an entrance to a room, your sim’s “common sense” will not let him or her pass to the room and notify you that something is obstructing the way towards the room. This section of “Build Mode” is what takes up most of your time if you’re beginning to build a house from scratch. This is the part where you’ll get to know if you like designing houses or buildings either for fun or for a living, also known as the road to architecture.
The other section of “Build Mode” includes the interior design part, where you’ll have various furniture designs to choose from, lots of decorations to put up, and various tools for you to arrange a room to your liking. This section is divided into subsections demonstrating the usual furniture that goes in each type of room such as the living room subsection, bathroom, study room, etc. You’ll have to have an idea for how you want your house to look in both the building of the house and the interior, either if you want to go for a modern look or a more country look. Also, watch out for your sim’s funds! As in the real world, every little thing you add costs money.
One fun fact of the “Build Mode” is that you aren’t limited to designing houses. You can also design other public sites where your sims can go and explore. This includes libraries, parks, hotels, bars, gyms, you name it! Another fun feature that The Sims 4 has its called the “Sims Gallery” platform, where people who play The Sims 4 upload their content, such as houses, households, or public sites, and they’re ready to be downloaded for use any time you want!
On a more personal note, ever since I started to play The Sims 3 in middle school, I was hooked in designing houses for my sims to live in. That inspired me to research more on architecture careers and even join an architecture summer program where I learned a lot of new tools to work from and learned how fun but challenging this career was. Architecture will always have a place in my heart, but in the end, my creative self ignited my passion for writing and literature. So that’s where I ended up, studying English Literature to become an editor in the future. But who knows? Maybe The Sims 4 can help you out through its “Build Mode” feature in choosing the future you want and igniting your spark for architecture.
If you want to download the game, you can find The Sims 4 in Origin for P.C. or in stores for your PS4 or XBox One! Check out the soon-to-be release of the new The Sims 4 Expansion Pack, The Sims 4 Discover University, on November 15th!