The Sims FreePlay
Introduction
The Sims FreePlay is a mobile video game where players create and manage their own virtual characters, known as Sims. You can determine their personality and customise their appearance, including their clothing, hairstyles, and facial features. Players are then tasked to fulfil the needs and desires of their characters by cooking meals, going to work, and building relationships with other Sims. Once you have designed your house, there is a store where you can purchase furniture, appliances, and other items to decorate your home and keep your Sim happy.
The game’s community is an important part of its success. You can visit and interact with other Sims, play against friends in in multiplayer competitions, and compare your scores and achievements.
Released in 2011 and still available on iOS and Android devices, this virtual town and story builder is free to play, but users are able to purchase in-game items with real money to speed up progress or unlock additional features. If you have over 1GB of spare memory on your phone, download the game and see why The Sims FreePlay scores 4.5 out of 5 in the App Store and remains in the top ten of the Free Apps Charts.
The tremendous popularity of The Sims FreePlay makes it an interesting text to evaluate the influence mobile games have on our identity and behaviour, especially in terms of representation and the way users play an active role in the production process. We will also explore the game’s business model and how it attracts and retains consumers. You might be unfamiliar with the Sims franchise so let’s start with the gameplay.
Game Play
There are 55 levels in The Sims FreePlay with plenty of main quests and discovery quests to pursue. These objectives include building and decorating your home, going on holiday, organising a party, and interacting with other Sims. When you complete each quest, you will be rewarded with new content and experience points to use in the game.
The first thing you need to do is create your unique Sim. Type a name into the two fields. Click the buttons to choose their gender and skin tone. Customise the look of your avatar from the default pants, shoes, outfits, hats, and other accessories available in the wardrobe tab. This ability to construct your own Sim gives you a sense of ownership over the character and a closer connection to the virtual world.
You are then asked to test out the touch controls: swipe around the screen to pan the camera, rotate the view, and pinch to zoom in and out. A thumbs up icon and an uplifting sound effect will confirm your actions. Easy.
Your Sim moves into their prebuilt home, and you have to complete a series of tasks. Maybe the builders forgot to add a toilet, so you need to purchase one from the home store and install it in your bathroom. Or you need to take a shower because your Sim reeks from their long trip to the town. Follow the instructions in the pop-up screen and you will be rewarded with “TASK COMPLETE” and a tick symbol congratulating you on your success. Your Sim might yell with excitement, or you will hear a pleasing applause sound effect. Each positive reinforcement is designed make you feel good about your accomplishments. Even the green progress bar encourages you to continue playing.
The tutorial then takes you through the basic aspects of the game to get you started. Producers want you to feel comfortable using the controls, so you don’t get disorientated and frustrated. In Tomb Raider: Anniversary, for example, you can solve the fun puzzles and complete the time trials in Croft Manor to develop your skills controlling the avatar before you start the more demanding story mode.
Once you complete the tutorial, the town is yours to explore.
The following walkthrough is the first video in a series on all The Sims FreePlay quests, hobbies and limited time events.
Revenue
David Hesmondhalgh argued companies involved in the cultural industries, such as EA, were just like any other business who wanted to minimise risk and maximise profit. The Sims FreePlay follows the freemium business model – a strategy commonly used in the media industry to attract users to try the product or service. The basic version of The Sims Freeplay is available to download for free and there are standard items and hobbies which can be unlocked as you progress through the game. For example, if you complete the Two and a Half Sims quest within the time limit, you will be able to add babies to your town and access the baby decoration pack in the home store. Or the Life Dreams and Legacies quest enables automatic ageing and personality options.
By completing these quests and tasks, players also earn Simoleons and Lifestyle Points which are used to pay for additional features and special items, such as haircuts, pets, exclusive clothing, and unique clothing.
However, you can also use real money to buy these in-game currencies through the App Store. £5 will get you 30,000 Simoleons or 40 Lifestyle Points.
Many players measure their success in The Sims FreePlay by the size of their house and its contents, so they spend plenty of cash in the home store on virtual coffee machines, exclusive wallpapers, large swimming pools, suits of armour, and pianos for their spoilt teenagers. To be honest, a couple of pounds for the automatic pool cleaner is worth the investment.
When you purchase items from the online store, you earn VIP points and unlock more perks, including the ability to increase the number of Sims you can have in your town. If you are bored watching your Sim drink water for two minutes or sleep for hours in real time, you can pay for Lifestyle Points to complete the task sooner.
Another way EA tempt users to spend money is through their collaborations with other companies, such as product placements. You can upgrade your pixelated wardrobe with the Moschino collections from the luxury Italian fashion house. There is also a lucrative crossover with LEGO DOTS.
All these microtransactions generate huge profits for EA because lots of players are willing to spend hundreds of pounds on expansion packs and exclusive perks. Overall, in 2021-2 fiscal year, the company received $3.91 billion in revenue from extra content sales, including the controversial loot boxes which are often viewed as a form of gambling.
The Sims FreePlay is free to download and play. But you will be tempted to spend your pocket money on the automatic pool cleaner for your mansion. It is interesting to note the designer of the original Sims game, Will Wright, stated his idea was “actually meant to be a satire of US consumer culture” because objects which were supposed to make your character happy would somehow make them feel miserable. That automatic pool cleaner is going to break, and your virtual life will become unbearable until you pay to get it fixed.
Values and Ideology
Instead of poking fun at our obsession with material possessions and home comforts, The Sims FreePlay encourages the player to shop in the home store to buy more and more expensive goods. Progress is measured by the number of floors in your beach house and whether or not you have a stable for your horses.
This focus on consumerism is epitomised by the mall quests. Once you reach level 12, you can choose to start The Sunset Mall Quest and build your own centre “filled to the brim with stores, clothes and activities”. If you complete the various tasks within the time limit, you unlock the Pickle Sauce Burger Bar to enjoy burgers and milkshakes with other Sims. You can then work through the Pretty Little Planters Quest to unlock a second floor with even more ways to waste your Simoleons.
Put simply, the game reinforces a capitalist culture by normalising the desire for wealth and status.
Identity and Representation
David Gauntlett argues the media and technology play a significant role in shaping our identities and provide us with new ways to express ourselves and connect with others. For instance, the choice of skin tones available at the start of The Sims FreePlay is a recognition of the racial diversity of the audience. Although the gender options follow the simple binary of male and female, players can reject traditional gender roles when they explore the virtual world. In this way, the town will soon become a place which reflects the player’s identity and values.
In terms of collective identity, The Sims FreePlay has a dedicated group of players who call themselves Simmers. They exchange tips and ideas on forums such as the fandom page – a wiki platform for fans to celebrate and engage with their favourite media products. It offers strategies to gain more points, advice about levelling up, and interesting profiles about non-playing characters (NPCs). There are also walkthroughs available to watch on YouTube and blogs with top tips if you are struggling with a particular quest.
Henry Jenkins suggested fandoms are social entities with distinct dimensions. The online forums provide opportunities for Simmers to develop a social community around the game where they can praise the text and protest against aspects of the gameplay. Obviously, the mode of reception for some fans is much more intense than the casual player.
Audience Profile
The 2020 survey from The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) found “video games transcend age, gender and where we live” and that “there’s a game for everyone”.
Interestingly, women were more likely to play games on their smartphones with a strong preference in casual games. Is it significant that the default Sim is a woman in The Sims FreePlay? Does the focus on the domestic sphere suggest the target audience are women?
The survey also revealed different uses and gratifications. 55% of women in the 18-34 age group said “games help them stay connected with friends and family”. This obviously reinforces the argument audiences consume media to develop their personal relationships or, according to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, their sense of social belonging. Competing against friends in The Sims FreePlay might also improve the player’s self-esteem because they will feel accepted by their social circle.
77% of women surveyed in 35-54 age group said they played games to “help them relax”. For women aged 55-64, games provided “mental stimulation”. These motivations are examples of diversion because they are using the games to escape the stresses and strains of the real world. In The Sims FreePlay, who wouldn’t want to unlock the pirate ship or the ghost hunting hobby?
Genre
Although Steve Neale was describing cinema as a “signifying process”, we can also use his semiotic approach to understand how the interplay of codes creates different genres of computer games. For instance, in The Sims FreePlay, players create and modify their own avatars, including their personalities. This is in contrast to the specific characters in action-adventure games, such as Samus Aran in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes or Aloy in Horizon Forbidden West.
The games offer players realistic and immersive experiences their incredible settings, but their narrative structures are another notable difference. The Sims FreePlay is a life simulation game because it focuses on the he emotional and social needs of the characters which Neale might call the “process of desire”. By contrast, Samus is a bounty hunter who is wants to save the universe from the evil Ing and Aloy hunts for the source of mysterious and deadly plague to restore balance to the world. In terms of Todorov’s narrative theory, the disruptions in these stories are obviously violent.
These three games are also open worlds and include quests which lead to rewards. However, The Sims FreePlay is a sandbox game with plenty of updates and expansion packs to keep you playing – and spending your money.
Obviously, the mode of address is very different. Instead of fighting wild creatures or animalistic machines with a range of powerful weapons, you want to unlock puppies and kittens in The Sims FreePlay to keep your character satisfied in their virtual world.
Finally, according to Thomas Schatz, genre films are a “social force”. Since the two protagonists want to eliminate physical threats to society, we can place Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and Horizon Forbidden West into the genre of order. The outcomes in The Sims FreePlay are often determined by your relationships so the game could be classified into the genre of integration.
Regulation
In the United Kingdom, computer games are mostly rated and regulated by the Video Standards Council which applies the PEGI content descriptors. This independent organisation classifies games according to their suitability for different age groups, taking account of a number of factors, including the game’s themes, language, violence, and content. The Sims FreePlay is rated 12 because it “may contain themes that are not suitable for younger children”, such as the potential for violent fist fights and “woohoo!”.
These content descriptors are designed to help consumers make informed choices about the games. This is particularly important for parents who want to ensure the well-being of their children. We should also note it is illegal to sell or rent a video game to someone who is below the age rating on the game.
Many critics have called for the regulation of gambling-like behaviours in computer games. In The Sims FreePlay, when you reach level 7, completing The Money Grows in Trees Quest unlocks the Social Point Flower where you bet 5 Lifestyle Points to try to win Social Points. Remember, you can use real money to purchase Lifestyle Points. Real money which can be lost with the spin of a virtual reel.
The UK government investigated the use of loot boxes in video games and decided to pursue “enhanced industry-led measures to deliver protections for children and young people and all players” rather than regulating the practice by amending the Gambling Act 2005. In other words, the Social Point Flower game remains unregulated.
Privacy
The developer offers its own warning of “infrequent or mild references to violence, profanity, or crude themes”. EA also draws attention to the “location detection, user generated content, advertisements” in the game which might be inappropriate for younger audiences.
In terms of privacy, the company stores some of your personal information, such as age and gender, and tracks your use of the app. They might even collect data when you access other apps and websites so they can improve their targeted advertising.
Many critics are worried about the potential for personal information to be mishandled or misused. That is why the European Union strengthened the data protection laws in all its member states in 2018 with the introduction of The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The law sets out a number of rights for individuals in relation to their personal data, including the right to be informed about the collection and use of their personal data. The GDPR also requires companies to implement appropriate measures to protect personal data and to report any breaches to the relevant authorities and affected individuals. Companies which fail to comply with the law can face significant fines.
Of course, all participatory media come with real world risks, especially for young and vulnerable children who may not realise the importance of keeping their personal information private.
Censorship
Although The Sims FreePlay looks like harmless fun compared to the more violent titles available to play, EA made the game unavailable in some countries in 2018 because of “regional standards”. Many users were quick to suggest the ban was implemented because of the possibility of establishing same-sex relationships in the virtual world. If you want to play the game in places such as China, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, you need to use a VPN and change your location.
The Sims Freeplay’s Socials
We are studying The Sims FreePlay because it offers a great insight into participatory media and online communities, so it is worth analysing the game’s social media output. Here is a link to the latest tweets but you should also check out the Facebook page.
Essay Questions
- “Computer games are worthy of study because they are capable of conveying important cultural meanings”. To what extent do you agree with this statement?
- To what extent is narrative theory useful in explaining the success of simulation games?
- How useful is Jean Baudrillard’s concepts of hyperreality and simulation in understanding how computer games construct meaning?
- “Players may interpret simulation games differently depending on their goals or purposes for consuming the text.” To what extent do you agree with this statement?
- David Gauntlett suggests media texts help audiences construct their identities. Explore this idea in relation to life simulation games.
- How valid are Judith Butler’s ideas of gender trouble and performativity to understanding simulation games such as The Sims FreePlay?
- What are the values, attitudes and beliefs embodied in the representations found in The Sims FreePlay?
- “When we see representations of ethnicity in computer games, we need to critically assess those representations”. To what extent do you agree with this statement?
- “Computer games should be regulated to protect young consumers from potential health risks.” To what extent do you agree with this statement?
- Explain why the Close Study Product The Sims FreePlay demonstrates the target audience for computer games continues to change.
- How useful is Henry Jenkins’ theory of fandom in explaining the audience’s engagement with computer games?
- To what extent do computer games blur the definitions of producer and audience? You should refer to the Close Study Product The Sims FreePlay to support your answer.
