Social simulation game

Video game genre involving social interactions

Part of a series on
Simulation video games

Subgenres

* Construction and management simulation
* Business simulation game
* City-building game
* Government simulation
* Life simulation game
* God game
* Social simulation game
* Dating sim
* Eroge
* Bishōjo
* Otome
* Farm life sim
* Virtual pet
* Immersive sim
* Sports game
* Racing game
* Sim racing
* Kart racing
* Sports management game
* Fishing video game
* Vehicle simulations
* Flight simulation
* Combat flight simulator
* Space flight simulator
* Space combat game
* Space trading game
* Submarine simulator
* Train simulator
* Vehicular combat game

History

* List of business simulation video games
* List of city-building video games
* List of god games
* List of space flight simulation games

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Social simulation games are a subgenre of life simulation games that explore social interactions between multiple artificial lives. Some examples include The Sims and Animal Crossing series.

## History

[edit]

### Influences and origins

[edit]

When The Sims was released in 2000, it was referred to as "almost the only game of its kind".[1] But there are several important precursors to The Sims and the social simulation genre. Firstly, the game's creator Will Wright acknowledged the influence of Little Computer People,[2] a Commodore 64 game from 1985. The games are similar, although The Sims is described as having a richer gameplay experience.[1] Secondly, Will Wright also acknowledged the influence of dollhouses on The Sims,[3] which have generally also informed the gameplay of this genre.

Animal Crossing was released in 2001 for the Nintendo 64 in Japan. While released towards the end of the life cycle of the Nintendo 64, it developed a following that led to it being ported to the GameCube and released throughout the world. As the game's popularity has surged, this series has also been described as a social simulation game.[4][5] Story of Seasons, a series that began in 1996 and is often compared to Animal Crossing,[6] has also been described as a social simulation game. Its social simulation elements are derived from dating sims,[7] a subgenre that dates back to the early 1980s, with games such as Tenshitachi no gogo[8] in 1985[9] and Girl's Garden in 1984.[10]

Since the initial success of these games in the early 2000s, video game journalists have begun to refer to a group of similar games as belonging to the social simulation game genre.

### Recent history

[edit]

Several other social simulation games have emerged to capitalize on the success of The Sims.[11] This includes several sequels and expansion packs, as well as games like Singles: Flirt Up Your Life with heavy similarities.[12]

## Types

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### Farming sim

[edit]

Main article: Farm life sim

A farming sim is a specific type of social sim in which the player tends to a farm at the same time they interact with other townspeople. A direct connection can be drawn from early games in the genre such as Harvest Moon (1996) to the more recent Stardew Valley (2016). Other games, such as the Rune Factory series and Harvestella (2022) put a fantasy spin on the genre,[13] while there are also sci-fi examples such as Lightyear Frontier.[14] The 2.0 update of Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020) added the ability to create a farm and grow produce.[15]

## Examples

[edit]

* Little Computer People (1985)—by David Crane, published by Activision
* Tenshitachi no Gogo (1985)—One of the earliest dating sims,[8] released for the 16-bit NEC PC-9801 computer.[9]
* Alter Ego (1986)—a personality video game by Activision
* The Money Game series (1988–1989)
* The Money Game (1988)—a Famicom life simulation about balance love with high finance
* Wall Street Kid (1989)—the Famicom sequel to The Money Game (The Money Game II: Kabutochou no Kiseki)
* Jones in the Fast Lane (1990)—by Sierra Entertainment is one of the earliest life simulators.
* My Life My Love: Boku no Yume: Watashi no Negai (1991)—a life simulation for the Japanese Famicom system
* Princess Maker series (1991–2007)—by Gainax
* Princess Maker (1991)—by Gainax, a raising sim which the player must raise an adoptive daughter until she reaches adulthood. The final result varies from a ruling queen, to an ordinary housewife, to even a prostitute if the player looks after her poorly.
* Princess Maker 2 (1993)
* Princess Maker: Legend of Another World (1995)
* Princess Maker 3: Fairy Tales Come True (1997)
* Princess Maker 4 (2006)—by GeneX
* Princess Maker 5 (2007)
* Tokimeki Memorial series (1994–2014)—6 main games and a large number of spin-offs
* True Love (1995)—a Japanese erotic dating sim and general life simulation game where the player must manage the player's daily activities, such as studying, exercise, and employment.
* Persona series (1996–2024)—6 main games and several spin-offs, although the first 3 games do not emphasize this aspect very much.
* Story of Seasons series (1996–2016)—by Marvelous Entertainment, farming simulator, role-playing game, and dating sim rolled into one.
* Shenmue series (1999–2019)[16]
* The Sims series (2000–2014)
* The Sims (2000)—by Will Wright, published by EA for the PC.
* The Sims 2 (2004).
* The Sims 3 (2009).
* The Sims 4 (2014).
* Animal Crossing series (2001–2020)—a life simulator by Nintendo. It has also been dubbed as a "communication game" by the company as had Cubivore, Doshin the Giant and GiFTPiA.[17]
* Real Lives (2001)—an educational life simulator by Educational Simulations where the player is randomly "born" somewhere in the world and often must deal with third-world difficulties such as disease, malnutrition, and civil war.
* Singles series (2003–2005)
* Singles: Flirt Up Your Life (2003)
* Singles 2: Triple Trouble (2005)
* Democracy (2005)—a government simulation game that was first developed by Positech Games, with a sequel released in December 2007 and a third game in 2013.
* Eccky (2005)—by Media Republic.
* Façade (2005)—An artificial-intelligence-based interactive story created by Michael Mateas and Andrew Stern.
* Nights series (2005–2008)
* New York Nights: Success in the City (2005)—a social simulation created and designed by Gameloft released for mobile phones.
* Miami Nights: Singles in the City (2006)
* Tokyo City Nights (2008)
* The Idolmaster series (2005–)—an idol raising sim by Namco.
* Kudos (2006)—by Positech Games. There is a 2008 sequel Kudos 2.
* Virtual Villagers series (2006–2010)—by Last Day of Work.
* Tomodachi series (2009–2026)—by Nintendo
* Tomodachi Collection (2009)
* Tomodachi Life (2013)
* Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream (2026)
* Castaway Paradise (2014)
* Stardew Valley (2016)
* Disney Dreamlight Valley (2023)—a social simulation adventure game developed by Gameloft
* Life: the Social Game (2011)—a social game inspired by the Conway's Game of Life

## See also

[edit]

* Dating sim
* List of simulation video games
* Simulated reality
* Social simulation

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Rollings, Andrew; Ernest Adams (2003). Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Game Design. New Riders Publishing. pp. 477–487\. ISBN 1-59273-001-9. Archived from the original on 2020-05-02. Retrieved 2008-03-18.
2. ^ Wright, Will. "A chat about the "The Sims" and "SimCity"". CNN. Retrieved 2008-03-18.
3. ^ Keighley, Geoff. "Gamespot - Simply Divine: The Story of Maxis Software". Retrieved 2008-03-18.
4. ^ Felix, Chef. "Animal Crossing Wild World Review". Archived from the original on 2008-03-17. Retrieved 2008-03-18.
5. ^ "Anti-Cheating Proposed Guidelines". Retrieved 2008-03-18.
6. ^ Astro Ranch: iPhone Gets Its Harvest Moon, Wired.com
7. ^ Rune Factory 2: A Fantasy Harvest Moon Review Archived 2009-03-22 at the Wayback Machine, GameSpot
8. ^ a b Tenshitachi no Gogo at MobyGames
9. ^ a b Tenshi-Tachi no Gogo Archived 2012-07-31 at archive.today, GameSpot
10. ^ AtariAge at CGE2010, Atari Age
11. ^ "Life Simulation Games Like The Sims". Games Finder. Retrieved 2013-01-10.
12. ^ Butts, Steve. "Review: Singles - Flirt up your life". Archived from the original on June 9, 2004. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
13. ^ "Harvestella is Square Enix's new fantasy farming sim/RPG on Switch". VentureBeat. 2022-06-28. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
14. ^ "Mech-Themed Farming Sim, Lightyear Frontier, Revealed At Xbox Games Showcase". GameSpot. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
15. ^ Parkin, Jeffrey (2021-11-05). "Animal Crossing: New Horizons farming guide". Polygon. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
16. ^ "New Shenmue 2 information". SPOnG.
17. ^ "Designed as a 'communication' game, Animal Crossing defied genre". www.gamedeveloper.com. Retrieved 2025-04-27.

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Video game genres

* List of video game genres

Action|

| Platformer|

* Endless runner
* Platform fighter

|

Shooter|

* Arena
* First-person
* Hero
* Light gun
* Shoot 'em up
* Bullet hell
* Rail
* Twin-stick
* Tactical
* Third-person

Survival|

* Battle royale
* Survival horror

Other|

* Beat 'em up
* Hack and slash
* Fighting
* Platform fighter
* Maze
* Pac-Man clone
* Snake
* Stealth

Action-adventure|

* Grand Theft Auto clone
* Metroidvania

Adventure|

* Escape room
* Graphic adventure
* Interactive fiction
* Interactive film
* Visual novel
* Walking sim

Digital tabletop|

* Deck-building
* Roguelike deck-building
* Digital collectible card

Puzzle|

* Hidden object
* Sokoban
* Tile-matching

Role-playing|

* Action role-playing
* Looter shooter
* Soulslike
* Dungeon crawl
* MMORPG
* Monster-taming
* Roguelike
* Roguelike deck-building
* Tactical role-playing
* Turn-based role-playing

Simulation|

| Life|

* Dating
* Farming
* God
* Social
* Virtual pet

|

CMS|

* Business
* City-building
* Government

Sports|

* Fishing
* Racing
* Kart racing
* Sim racing

Vehicle|

* Flight simulation
* Combat
* Lunar Lander
* Space
* Submarine simulator
* Train simulator
* Vehicular combat

Other|

* Falling-sand
* Immersive sim

Strategy|

* 4X
* Auto battler
* MOBA
* Real-time strategy
* Time management
* Real-time tactics
* Tactical role-playing
* Tower defense
* Turn-based strategy
* Turn-based tactics
* Artillery
* Wargame
* Grand strategy

Other genres|

* Cozy
* Fitness
* Horror
* Survival horror
* Incremental
* Music
* Rhythm
* Non-game
* Party
* Photography
* Programming
* Typing

Related concepts|

| Themes|

* Advergame
* Bishōjo
* Christian
* Comedy
* Educational
* Girls
* Licensed
* Otome
* Sexual
* Eroge
* Nonviolent
* Personalized
* Sci-fi
* Serious
* Art
* Climate change
* News

|

Player modes|

* Multiplayer
* Co-op
* PVP
* Single-player

Production|

* AAA
* Indie
* Doujin soft
* Fan game

Design|

* Casual
* Hypercasual
* Emergent gameplay
* FMV
* Gacha
* Kaizo
* Masocore
* Nonlinear gameplay
* Open world
* Sandbox
* Side-scrolling
* Twitch gameplay
* Vertically scrolling

Other|

* Minigame
* Toys-to-life
* Video game clone
* Video game modding
* Video game remake

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