Spillet fungerede – og fungerer stadig – som en slags dukkehus eller eksperimentarium for det virkelige liv. 

The Sims har desuden haft en markant appel til piger og unge kvinder og har spillet en vigtig rolle i at udvide forestillingen om, hvem en “gamer” er. I en branche historisk domineret af drenge og mænd blev det et mainstreamfænomen, der inviterede nye spillergrupper ind i det digitale rum.

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Jeg var selv en af de piger. I mine teenageår brugte jeg utallige timer i spillets univers – timer, der ikke blot var underholdning, men som påvirkede mit blik på hverdagsliv, relationer og fremtidsforestillinger. Den personlige betydning har jeg skrevet om i en klumme for Heartbeats, som du finder links til nedenfor.

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Klummen førte til en invitation i studiet hos Go' Morgen Danmark, hvor jeg sammen med livsstilsekspert Julia Lahme og spilekspert Thomas Bense talte om, hvad The Sims har betydet for den generation, der er vokset op med det – og hvorfor det er kulturelt interessant, at der nu arbejdes på en filmatisering af spillet. Og mon ikke jeg vender tilbage til emnet, når filmen får premiere.

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Efterfølgende har forfatter Christine Kærulv udgivet digtsamlingen Motherlode – opkaldt efter den ikoniske snydekode i The Sims.

Jeg har interviewet hende om digtsamlingen og om den betydning, spillet havde for hende som barn. I samme artikel taler jeg med psykolog David Madsen, der arbejder med unges digitale dannelse, trivsel og forholdet mellem digitalt og analogt liv.

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English

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The Sims was released in 2000 and quickly became one of the most influential video games of all time. Created by Will Wright and published by Electronic Arts, it revolutionised the medium by making everyday life – relationships, homes, work and identity – the very core of its gameplay.

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While many video games have traditionally been driven by competition, combat and linear progression, The Sims introduced an open-ended and domestic universe with no real conclusion. The player was not the hero of a predetermined narrative, but the architect of small digital life worlds. The game functioned – and continues to function – as a kind of dollhouse or laboratory for real life.

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The Sims has also had a significant appeal to girls and young women and has played an important role in expanding the notion of who a “gamer” can be. In an industry historically dominated by boys and men, it became a mainstream phenomenon that invited new player groups into the digital sphere.

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I was one of those girls. During my teenage years, I spent countless hours in the game’s universe – hours that were not merely entertainment, but that shaped the way I came to see everyday life, relationships and future aspirations. I have written about the personal significance of this experience in a column for Heartbeats, which you will find linked below.

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The column led to an invitation to appear on Go' Morgen Danmark, where I spoke alongside lifestyle expert Julia Lahme and gaming expert Thomas Bense about what The Sims has meant to the generation that grew up with it – and why it is culturally significant that a film adaptation of the game is now in development. And I will no doubt return to the subject when the film premieres.

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More recently, author Christine Kærulv published the poetry collection Motherlode – named after the iconic cheat code in The Sims. I interviewed her about the collection and about the significance the game had for her as a child. In the same article, I also spoke with psychologist David Madsen, who works with young people’s digital literacy, wellbeing, and the relationship between digital and analogue life.

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