For many neurodiverse people, 'The Sims' has been a lifelong comfort Article Realm.com Free Article Directory

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Oct 12, 2018

by Alexander Martin on Sep 1, 2022 Computers 491 Views

(CNN)Life would be much more simple with a few directions. A status bar, for instance, to remind you to take care of yourself. Perhaps a few clues about other people's intentions. Oh, and it wouldn't hurt to have a place to experiment with it all, free from real-world consequences and the awkwardness of choices gone wrong.

Pixel by pixel, life-simulation game "The Sims" has been providing that experience for more than 20 years. Since its first release in 2000, "The Sims" has become one of the best-selling PC games in the world. Time has not dulled its shine, either.

"Sims" creators on Twitch and YouTube put the game through its paces, building complex houses and trying absurd challenges like having as many babies as possible or subjecting their Sims to Kafka-esque psychological tortures (all in good fun, of course). Some pioneering "Sims" creators even role play on Instagram, displaying picture-perfect Sim lives for their other Sim friends to praise and envy.

But "The Sims" is also a haven for neurodiverse players, some of whom grew up with the game and continue to revisit it well into adulthood. "The Sims" is an open-world game, meaning there is no right or wrong way to experience it. Whether one wants to speed-run the apocalypse or just help their little Sims do some laundry, there are no expectations that aren't set by the player themselves. For some with autism, ADHD or other conditions, that means they can tailor the game to be whatever they want: a place of comfort in a confusing world, a social road map of sorts, an alternate reality where they are in control, or just a lifelong special interest.

Will Wright, creator of "SimCity" and "The Sims," in 2008.

The notion that "The Sims" offers a neater, easier version of our own world is built into the game's DNA. Game creator Will Wright lost his home in California's 1991 Oakland-Berkeley firestorm. While rebuilding, he was moved to consider what life was really made of. A series of needs to be met? Items to own? People to love?

"When something like this happens, you get a big picture," he told Berkeleyside in 2011. "Where do I want to live? What sort of things do I need to buy? You see your life almost as a project in process."

This outlook particularly resonates with people with autism or ADHD who spoke to CNN. "Neurodivergent is a nonmedical term that describes people whose brain develops or works differently for some reason," according to the Cleveland Clinic. Such conditions present opportunities and challenges in equal measure. Parts of life others might find easy or automatic, like completing daily tasks, looking after basic physical needs and interpreting social situations, are often, to ape Wright's words, "a project in process."

Helen Ashcroft, a Sims player and video games editor with autism, first picked up the original "Sims" game when she was 20 years old. Through different life stages, she has found both comfort and creativity in the game's open-ended play.

"I've always been fascinated by human behavior. I also love any game that allows me to build and create. The Sims combined both of these," she tells CNN.

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