Life less ordinary: gamers are eager to lead double lives again with The Sims 4

On Tuesday, Electronic Arts will release the highly anticipated game for PC. When the series first appeared on the market in 2000, no one could have predicted that a video game set in the suburbs, featuring characters that go through the trials and tribulations of daily life, could become such a hit.

In real life, we have jobs and school and housework - so why would we want to repeat the grind during our leisure time? Yet many players are drawn to the Sim world: to date, the franchise has sold more than 175 million units across multiple gaming platforms.

I have been playing in its many incarnations on various consoles since 2001. (I do not play any other form of video game, lacking the hand-eye coordination required to shoot, slash or drive my way through fantasy landscapes.) Around that time, one of my roommates obtained a copy of the original game and began neglecting her hygiene and diet in order to help her Sim thrive. After three days, she asked me to hide the game and to never, ever return it. That's how I began playing.

I discovered that real life was hard, but game life was so very easy: I could become mayor within days, find love by just going next door to a neighbour's house, and become a gourmet chef by reading books. I could line up tasks for my Sims to complete while doing real-world housework. The whole process seemed so rewarding: I felt I was achieving so much. My addiction to the game peaked in 2005 - I had to sell my copy of so I could focus on finishing graduate school.

quotes and creator Will Wright as saying: "It occurred to me that most books and movies tend to be about realistic situations. Why shouldn't games be?"

Wright was right. Fans enjoy the gameplay even though there is no defined final goal, no big boss to conquer or magical item to obtain. In the Sim world we can fool ourselves into thinking that we have complete control over our destiny, save for the occasional kitchen fire or burglary. Here, renovating a house and buying lavish furnishings can be completed with a few clicks of the mouse. There are no uneven floors to level before laying down fancy marble floors, no contractors to bully, no weekend meltdowns at Ikea.