'I Would Like to Speak to Your Manager’: 17 Sims Memes for Ex-Players Who Miss It Every Day

Olivia Arocena • Writer and Editor

Nov 15, 2026 5:00 PM EST

I have 27 Sim Families and No-Follow Through: The Lost Art of Playing Only for the Vibes

"And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife. And you may ask yourself, 'Well... how did I get here?'"

Am I the only one who keeps creating new Sim families instead of following a story? I started playing when I was very little, and unlike any of my friends, who apparently had more organised personalities, I tended to play games only for the vibes, and not necessarily for reaching a goal or ascending in any kind of way.

I remember I used to play Age of Empires like this, and I know it seems contradictory because you necessarily have to achieve certain milestones to keep the game going, but I did nothing but the bare minimum only to be able to keep playing, and if I got stuck, I started over.

I did something similar with The Sims. I had a lot of fun creating everyone's look and personality and designing the house; after that, I played for a short amount of time, and I quit the family completely.

I didn't feel any sense of responsibility over these virtual beings. I just wanted to go back to the field of eternal possibilities, and that's what I did every time I restarted the game.

Hey! Perhaps the appeal of the game isn't to play an entire story, but to build perfect little lives that you'll admire for ten minutes, get them a job or a baby, and that's it.

I need to know whether somebody else played the game like this.

I think the numbness you feel when you finish a house and all your Sims' perfect little lives is comparable to the void you can feel when you've reached most of your goals, and you stand there, in your clean, organised home, looking out the window like: How did I get here?

This might be getting a little too philosophical, but to me, The Sims is a very philosophical game; it allows us to look at humanity in perspective and to reflect on our limitations, our possibilities, and the fragility of our ecosystems.

Also, it always makes us wonder if we're some magical being's The Sims, and whether he has abandoned us or not.

I think mine has controlled some parts of my storyline more than others… I don't blame him, though.