How The Sims accidentally invented the cosy game genre

By Adam Jerrett, Lecturer, Faculty of Creative & Cultural Industries, University of Portsmouth

Ooboo Vroose Baa Dooo! That’s “happy birthday” in Simlish, the delightfully nonsensical language of The Sims. The life simulation video game franchise turns 25 this year, making me feel officially old.

Like many others, I grew up playing The Sims, oscillating between designing dream homes and orchestrating ideal careers, and trapping my Sim characters in a tiny block room, removing all the doors and watching the chaos ensue. For the more benevolent among us, The Sims was an…

Read complete article

~	President Trump may think he is President Jackson reincarnated − but there are lessons in Old Hickory’s resistance to sycophants

~	Front-of-package food labels: A path to healthier choices

~	Government needs to show that its AI plan can be trusted to deal with serious risks when it comes to health data

~	The way UK inflation is worked out is changing – and it will matter for everyone

~	Immigration rules keep changing, and the confusion can cause real problems for migrants

~	The world wildlife trade regulator is 50 – here’s what has worked and what needs to change

~	I’ve Never Wanted Anyone More: Goethe adaptation feels more American Pie than high literature

~	Addicted: how the world got hooked on illicit drugs – and why we need to view this as a global threat like climate change

~	North Korea: Kim Jong-un is sending a second wave of soldiers to Ukraine – here’s why

~	Banning wildlife trade can increase trade of other threatened species