A tiny house, tiny people, and suddenly hours vanish without you noticing.

The Sims profile tells a story full of tension. Ask which game you truly bond with, and it lands right at the bottom, behind almost everything else. Same for rediscovery. And yet, the moment it is about picking what to bring to a desert island, it jumps up, ahead of three quarters of all titles. That is the paradox: little affection, but a real urge to take it with you. The rest of the board stays low, fun and the feel of the controller, the art style, the music. Still, careful, nearly all of this rests on very few votes, so these are first impressions to confirm rather than a carved verdict.

Against the big adventure or role-playing games that play on emotion and memory, The Sims starts at a disadvantage: it does not tell a story, it lets you make one. It is a sandbox, not a narrative. What measures attachment to a hero or a soundtrack simply misses what makes it addictive.

So, who is it for? For you if you love tinkering with lives, building, watching, getting lost in the small details of everyday routine. Much less so if you want a game that marks you with its story or its soundtrack.