In The Sims FreePlay, players can determine the personality and customise the appearance of their Sims, including their clothing, hairstyles, and facial features.
The Sims FreePlay tasks players with fulfilling the needs and desires of their characters by cooking meals, going to work, and building relationships with other Sims.
The Sims FreePlay's community is an important part of its success, allowing players to visit and interact with other Sims, play against friends in multiplayer competitions, and compare their scores and achievements.
The Sims FreePlay is a game that offers a great insight into participatory media and online communities, making it worth analysing the game’s social media output.
Each positive reinforcement in The Sims FreePlay is designed to make players feel good about their accomplishments, with a green progress bar encouraging them to continue playing.
The tutorial in The Sims FreePlay takes new players through the basic aspects of the game to get them started, with the goal of making them comfortable using the controls.
The online forums provide opportunities for Simmers to develop a social community around the game where they can praise the text and protest against aspects of the gameplay.
Although the gender options in The Sims FreePlay follow the simple binary of male and female, players can reject traditional gender roles when they explore the virtual world.
Simmers exchange tips and ideas on forums such as the fandom page, a wiki platform for fans to celebrate and engage with their favourite media products.
This is in contrast to the specific characters in action-adventure games, such as Samus Aran in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes or Aloy in Horizon Forbidden West.
The Sims FreePlay is a life simulation game because it focuses on the emotional and social needs of the characters which Neale might call the “process of desire”.
The games offer players realistic and immersive experiences in their incredible settings, but their narrative structures are another notable difference.
The 2020 survey from The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) found “video games transcend age, gender and where we live” and that “there’s a game for everyone”.
By completing these quests and tasks, players also earn Simoleons and Lifestyle Points which are used to pay for additional features and special items, such as haircuts, pets, exclusive clothing, and unique clothing.
For example, if you complete the Two and a Half Sims quest within the time limit, you will be able to add babies to your town and access the baby decoration pack in the home store.
All these microtransactions generate huge profits for EA because lots of players are willing to spend hundreds of pounds on expansion packs and exclusive perks.