Other Life Simulations (not quite as good as Sims, but good!)

[supaclova]

I love life simulation-type games and The Sims is by far the best, but there are others out there! I figured anyone who plays The Sims would be interested in other similar games. Here are my favorites:
Virtual Villagers (http://www.arcadetown.com/virtualvillagers/game.asp)
VV 2 and 3 are also on that site. Really addicting and in real time. The village will continue to grow even when you aren't playing.
Virtual Families (http://www.arcadetown.com/virtualfamilies/game.asp)
Spin-off of Virtual Villagers. Haven't quite tried it yet, but it can't be too bad.
Kudos (http://www.arcadetown.com/kudos/game.asp)
Kudos 2 and Kudos Rock Legend are also available somewhere on the site. A little less interactive, but still addicting.

Any other additions?

[Rikachu]

I've tried virtual Families, it's not good. :/

[Vanito]

Virtual villagers is no good either. Would be cool to have more sims like games.

[CuddlesdaTeddlyBear]

Sorry but Virtual Villagers is a waste of money. It's only good for the first few hours. The only other simulator I've heard of that came remotely close to Sims was Singles, and I can't find a copy anywhere. (Namely Amazon because I don't live in the States).

[supaclova]

Oooh Singles is good too. I forgot about that one. I know Virtual Villagers is stupid, but for some reason I love it.

[CuddlesdaTeddlyBear]

Yeah, I was suckered in by it at first and it was around that time EA was putting SecuROM in their games so I really wanted to substitute it for Sims but ended up despising it because it couldn't. That is my fault but, if they lived longer, if there was more customization and if the island was bigger then maybe it would be better.

Creatures was a great life sim back in the day. I only had the demo and it wasn't enough, I longed for the full version but they didn't sell it here. I'd definitely pick up that game if they made a new one.

[1ove]

You can't, because Sims is the original!

I believe this has been discussed before.

We've had Second Life and all of that, but they're just mediocre.

[minus.]

I've played Kudos and Kudos Rock Legend. Rock Legend was fine until the point you were the awesomest of all, and then your band members lost motivation and left you. That pissed me off so I stopped playing. I don't know what was wrong with Kudos though. Maybe I got bored.

[mitzymoo589]

Virtual Villagers is alright but it gets boring after a while

[Oaktree]

I've tried Virtual Villagers and My Tribe, and I think My Tribe is better. Both get old after a few hours, but there are little things that provide some small amount of interest to keep you going in My Tribe.

[ElPresidente]

You can't, because Sims is the original!

A common but incorrect misconception.

The idea of virtual life games was not born in Will Wright's mind. He was just the one who gave it the biggest effort and produced the biggest hit.

While it is hard to pin down the very first virtual life game the first game of this genre that got some strong publicity was Little Computer People for the Commodore 64 way way back in 1985.

http://www.richmace.co.uk/c64/images/little_computer_people_screenshot.jpg

</game historian prez> :P

[simbalena]

Yeah Little Computer People!!!

It took hours for him to die, I used to try to kill him but when he went orange and was about to die I'd feel guilty and let him live!

[1ove]

A common but incorrect misconception.

The idea of virtual life games was not born in Will Wright's mind. He was just the one who gave it the biggest effort and produced the biggest hit.

While it is hard to pin down the very first virtual life game the first game of this genre that got some strong publicity was Little Computer People for the Commodore 64 way way back in 1985.

http://www.richmace.co.uk/c64/images/little_computer_people_screenshot.jpg

</game historian prez> :P

I didn't mean he's the first one to make it. His is the funnest! :up:

[Misty_2004]

Aside from Sims, my favorite life simulation games would be Harvest Moon: Magical Melody. Of course it's nothing like The Sims but it is still a whole lot of fun. I've played several HM games but MM is my absolute favorite.

I also tried Virtual Villagers at one point and that was about the lamest thing I ever installed on my computer.

[itsnotozzyitsozzy]

What about second life?
I never played it but I hear that it is a good sim game.

[ElPresidente]

It isn't anything like The Sims. Second Life is an MMO where you control your own avatar and interact with other people. Very different style of game though both Second Life and The Sims are aimed at similar demographics.

[Rawra]

Alter Ego! It so rocks! And it's online. You don't have to download it, if you don't want. It's only with text like "Your boyfriend left you. What will you do:" and there are a lot of options and then you see what happened. God, that game is cool.

Singles is the worst imitation of TS I've ever seen.

I like SL, but up to a point where I have like 10 boyfriends... And I have to make a new account. Last time I played it was last year, it's really boring, really.

[unalisaa]

The only other simulator I've heard of that came remotely close to Sims was Singles, and I can't find a copy anywhere. (Namely Amazon because I don't live in the States).
TS2 has superior graphics and interaction. Singles was pretty much just a ZOMG SIMS FOR GROWN-UPS (They do the naughty stuff!!!). It's nowhere as flexible in terms of storytelling, and its focus is pretty narrow -- namely, getting your character to fall in wuv and bump hi-res uglies with NPCs. Singles is a dating sim, and a reasonably well-made one, but it's not as broad or good a simulation game at the Sims. You'd be better off sticking to TS2 and downloading risqué stuff from adult sites.
If you're still interested, though, a search on Amazon.co.uk reveals to have it available, and I'm sure you can buy a direct download somewhere, too.

EDIT: Creeper, thanks for the recommendation. I tried Alter Ego and quite enjoyed it!

[itsnotozzyitsozzy]

The Movies which was made by lionhead, is a VERY good game, it is all about making a movie studio and the graphics are AMAZINg for a tycoon game, if it is one...it's worth a look if you want to search it on youtube then just search The Movies PC...it's really cool and it is easier to make films on there than the sims 2 with I think the same or better graphics.

[tofanpw]

i hate virtual families, it's just so slow, apart from sims, i prefer singles 2(narrow gameplay, but the characters, fashions and objects are better than sims 2, and even 3) and harvest moon, specifically rune factory 1 & 2

[unalisaa]

The Movies which was made by lionhead, is a VERY good game, it is all about making a movie studio and the graphics are AMAZINg for a tycoon game, if it is one...it's worth a look if you want to search it on youtube then just search The Movies PC...it's really cool and it is easier to make films on there than the sims 2 with I think the same or better graphics.
The Movies is hardly a life simulator.
While I enjoyed playing it, the AI was poor, and the game quickly became incredibly uninteresting to play. Once you had stars enough to make decent movies, it got unmanageable. It's a good engine for machinima if you play it in sandbox mode, and the actual game is good, too -- until you reach that point of unplayability.

I do prefer TS2 machinima, though. The Movies have more animations, but they all have a "loose" feel to them; as if you were playing with rag dolls.

[itsnotozzyitsozzy]

Okay then, Black and White 1 and 2?

I know of good simulations just not directly a life simulation...

[hotaru801]

I like Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life. It makes me happy to do meaningless repetitive tasks over and over... Kind of like sex. (Exactly how I explained it to my boyfriend when he complained about the game. Bet you he hasn't complained since. *wink*)

[Robodl95]

Animal Crossing and Sims aren't really comparable but AC is a great game in the genre.

[BeechWell2]

TS2 has superior graphics and interaction. Singles was pretty much just a ZOMG SIMS FOR GROWN-UPS (They do the naughty stuff!!!). It's nowhere as flexible in terms of storytelling, and its focus is pretty narrow -- namely, getting your character to fall in wuv and bump hi-res uglies with NPCs. Singles is a dating sim, and a reasonably well-made one, but it's not as broad or good a simulation game at the Sims. You'd be better off sticking to TS2 and downloading risqué stuff from adult sites.
Actually I thought Singles had quite a few good ideas, and nice visual design (the objects more than the characters).
Of course it was way too limited to be fun for more than maybe a couple of weeks, but with a budged comparable to The Sims I think it could have become an excellent game.

Also there was once an online game that was set up as a social simulation. It was an episodic concept, I remember in the first episode you had to get a promotion at your workplace or something. I can't remember what it was called though, only that it became infamous in the Sims community for making an ad that poked fun of The Sims (a Sim losing his plumbob and rejoycing for finally being free or something like that).
Unfortunately it was discontinued and I only played the demo for a few hours so couldn't say if it would have been any good in the long run.

[twilightgarden0]

Oh yeah, Harvest Moon is a sim isn't it? I love HM: A Wonderful Life. The best of the series by far.

[Oaktree]

I didn't think of Harvest Moon as the same type of simulation, but I do love it. My favorites are the original Game Boy version, the N64 version, Harvest Moon DS and DS Cute, and the Rune Factory games. Overall, I prefer the versions that are more permissive in the amount you can do in a day. Some of the console versions don't allow you to do much of anything before you collapse, so I never really got that into those. I like the Rune Factory games because it sort of combines Harvest Moon with RPGs, another genre I like. It's not a true or expansive RPG, but it is nice to have the added elements in a HM game.

[milkiemybaby]

Virtual Villagers creeps me out for some reason...

[acid_paradox]

Also there was once an online game that was set up as a social simulation. It was an episodic concept, I remember in the first episode you had to get a promotion at your workplace or something. I can't remember what it was called though, only that it became infamous in the Sims community for making an ad that poked fun of The Sims (a Sim losing his plumbob and rejoycing for finally being free or something like that).
Unfortunately it was discontinued and I only played the demo for a few hours so couldn't say if it would have been any good in the long run.
I believe the game you are referring to is called Supple, and it is a very decent game, in my opinion.

[Drakesecaravdis]

I know this thread is hella old but I'm glad I came across it because I couldn't remember what that game was called with those creatures. I find out it's just called Creatures. don't I feel stupid now?
I kinda miss that game dunno what happened to it

anyway I loved Petz 4. although I wouldn't dress up pets in real life, I like the idea of it in the game. the toys are fun to play with and the puppies are so cute. I like that you can get all kinds of breeds. also you can get pigs and bunnies too. you can also paint your pets. I remember I painted one of my bunnies chocolate.
unfortunately I don't know what happened to Dogz 4 either (and I'm a dogs person so Catz doesn't do much for me)
I also love Dogz 5. it has the fun of 4 and some fun mini games.
I think I lost this one too ):